The historic war memorial at King’s Cross station has been reinstated at a special service held on Sunday 27th October ahead of Remembrance Day.
Placed in temporary storage during the £550m redevelopment of King’s Cross station, which was recently completed, the newly designed memorial by Network Rail aims to echo the eleven soldiers depicted by John Singer Sargent’s well-known 1919 painting ‘Gassed’.
Eleven marble tablets list the names of the fallen inside new individual steel frames. The memorial was first erected in 1920 by the Great Northern Railway in memory of employees who fell in World War One. It was further dedicated to employees of the London and North Eastern Railway who lost their lives in World War Two.
Dedicated service
Veteran groups and railway- employed reservists were joined by representatives from The Royal British Legion, Western Front Association, St John Ambulance and Network Rail to take part in the dedicated service at King’s Cross platform 0.
The Right Reverend Nigel McCulloch, National Chaplain of the Royal British Legion, and Jeff Potter and Humphrey Gillott, Railway Mission chaplains for King’s Cross, officiated.
Speaking at the service, Robin Gisby, Network Rail managing director of network operations, said, ‘Today’s service is dedicated to the unveiling of the re-instated
King’s Cross memorial as we look ahead to London Poppy Day, an occasion Network Rail continues to support.
‘The memorial is ingrained in the heritage of King’s Cross and now the station has a new-look following its recent redevelopment, it is only fitting that the reintroduced memorial has been brought up to date to reflect its surroundings whilst staying true to its historic roots.’
Traditionally Remembrance Day marks the time the guns fell silent on the Western Front at 11.00 on 11th November 1918. The Armistice had been signed at five that morning. The peace treaty concluding hostilities was signed at Versailles in June 1919.
Remembrance Day this year will be marked on Sunday 10 November 2013. The Royal British Legion raises funds for ex- servicemen and their families.
