War Memorials Survey Project

Hear this page read aloud

To enable the content of this page to be read aloud, download and install the latest Flash Player from Adobe's web site

Download - Help with audio

The Post Office today remains the second largest custodian of war memorials in Britain, behind only the Church.

The World Wars of 1914-1918 and 1939-1945 caused massive loss of life in Britain and around the world. Almost everyone in Britain was affected in one way or another, not least the British Post Office.

The Post Office contribution

The Post Office had an exemplary war record, not only allowing many thousands of its employees to be recruited as soldiers but in carrying on the vital business of post and telecommunications and maintaining other vital services for the war effort.

In Remembrance

Photograph of King Edward building memorial plaqueAt the end of both the First and Second World Wars, as a reflection of remembrance and gratitude, war memorials were erected all over the country to the memory of those who sacrificed their lives in defending their country and fighting for freedom. As a measure of the heavy involvement by the Post Office in the war, and as a reflection of the number of lives lost amongst postal workers the Post Office today remains the second largest custodian of war memorials in Britain, behind only the Church.

War memorials remain in around 500 of Royal Mail’s buildings and a great number are still visited by relatives of those named on them. Royal Mail Group Limited have, over a number of years, shown great care and respect for their memorials and have signed up to support the government’s publication War Memorials: A Code of Practice for Custodians of War Memorials.

In order to do this however, Royal Mail recognised the need to better record the memorials in its care, to make information on them more accessible to the public that funded them and to maintain an active database to record changes or re-locations of its memorials.

In recognition of this the BPMA have now been commissioned by Royal Mail to undertake a survey of all the memorials on Royal Mail premises and to make the data captured available online. This follows work begun during a pilot project in 2004 and the completion of the project will coincide with an exhibition to mark the 90th anniversary of the end the First World War that will be developed by the BPMA in November 2008.

Latest News