War Memorial Of 22Nd Battalion, The London Regiment (The Queen'S)

War Memorial of 22nd Battalion, The London Regiment (The Queen's)

This First World War memorial was unveiled in 1921 on Old Jamaica Road, with a plaque added after the Second World War. The memorial was built by the 22nd Battalion The London Regiment (The Queen's), a Territorial unit that traced its origins to the Rifle Volunteer movement of 1859. The battalion later became the 6th (Bermondsey) Battalion of The Queen's Royal Regiment in 1937.

The memorial is constructed of Portland stone blocks in the form of a wall set back approximately 1 metre from the pavement edge, with flanking walls that advance to the pavement edge on either side. Along the top of the main wall is the inscription "22ND BATTN LONDON REGT 1914–1918". Above this runs a carved relief of the regimental crest, showing the Paschal lamb over a banner reading "THE QUEEN'S". Beneath the inscription is the Roll of Honour carved into the stone face.

The ends of the flanking walls bear Latin inscriptions with English translations: "BE THOU MINDFUL OF THE COURAGE OF HIM THAT IS FALLEN" and "FOR HIS ASHES DO CRY OUT IN TRIUMPH". The inside of the flanking walls lists the campaigns and battles in which the battalion fought, including the ten battles for which they were awarded battle honours under Army Order 55 of 1925.

At the centre of the memorial, beneath the Roll of Honour, is a bronze plaque commemorating all ranks of the 6th (Bermondsey) Battalion of the Queen's Royal Regiment who fell in the Second World War. The Roll of Honour for this conflict is held at the parish church. Planters dating from the 1990s occupy the left and right corners of the memorial, one dedicated to Colonel C.H. Nice, TD, DL, and the other to Colonel J.G. Bevington, TD.

The memorial was originally unveiled by General Sir Charles Monro and stood adjacent to the yard of the battalion's drill hall along the boundary fronting Old Jamaica Road. The memorial originally featured a chain hung between the inside of the flank walls and supported by two low tapering stone piers; these have since been lost. In 1953, when the drill hall was extended, the memorial was incorporated into the exterior wall of the new building. A mid-twentieth-century building now surrounds the memorial, with the flank walls connected to it by a short brick linking wall with stone quoins. This later building is not of special architectural or historic interest. In 1994 the memorial was restored and lettering was re-cut into the stone where environmental damage had occurred.

The battalion originated in 1859 when fear of French invasion under Napoleon III prompted a national movement for civil defence and the formation of Rifle Volunteer units. The 26 Rifle Volunteer Corps based in Surrey were later grouped into the Surrey Rifle Volunteer Battalions. In 1908 the Territorial Force was formed by merging volunteer, militia and yeomanry units into a unified structure, and the 4th Battalion of the Surrey Rifle Volunteers became the 22nd Battalion of the London Regiment (The Queen's).