WW1 British Memorial Plaques

[douglas2496]

Hi everyone, thought I would show some memorial plaques to British soldiers, along with related items.

These plaques were made from 1919 at Acton and Woolwich, and sent to next of kin along with a letter from the King.

[Jerry B]

I have two plaques but none of the letters or packets, though I have two memorial certificates, and one ceramic memorial plaque and one letter sent to the family notifying them of the posthumous award of a pair to an officer in the RWF.

[douglas2496]

Hi Jerry, thanks for showing- lovely items. I find this sort of thing very poignant- I can imagine that these plaques and scrolls meant a great deal to many people who had lost loved ones.

[AndyM35]

Douglas and Jerry, those are some very nice pieces. I also find them very poignant.

I have one British memorial plaque and have done a little research and believe I might have the right man. Private Wilmot Lightfoot, 20313, Yorkshire and Lancaster Regiment, 1st Btn. Died 30th September 1915, aged 27 years. He is buried or commemorated at Loos cemetery, panel 105/106.

Son of Albert and Anne Lightfoot, of "Woodside", Little Madeley, Crewe, he is also remembered at the Madeley Heath War Memorial in Staffordshire. I’ve found that I can obtain a copy of his medal card from the National Archives at Kew, and will likely do that at some stage. I guess it would be my own way of honouring his memory.

Andy

[Adrian Stevenson]

Although I don't have any in my collection, I too like these.

I have sold many over the last five years at work and they always sell very well.

Cheers, Ade.

[BlackCat1982]

I also don't own any but they still evoke a lot of emotion. My wife had a great Uncle who was killed in 1918 and after she'd asked me about what his Mother would have received she realised that his death plaque and medals had probably been lost when his own Mother passed away. I don't think you could put a value on such an item if you are fortunate enough to be the custodian of one of your own ancestors plaques.

[BrodieBartfast]

I have one of these plaques, as part of a medal group concerning two brothers (one of whom was the recipient of the plaque) and the surviving brother's son.



Regards, B.B.

[Watchdog]

Yes, these are a very emotive item and are really "hand held" memorials to victims of the carnage.

When I was a nipper I would often see these hanging in frames on the living room walls of the older families amongst my neighbours. Very precious to the descendants of the fallen in most cases (understandably though some just laid in cupboards and drawers as unwanted reminders of grief) yet those that were not treasured, you could not give away. Nowadays of course they have a real collectors value.

The sad thing is that despite the huge number produced many have ended up melted downs as scrap because they are made of good quality bronze which certain sectors of society find very profitable!

I don't seek these out but perhaps every WWI militaria collection should perhaps include something like this as a kind of counterpoise to the instruments of war itself.

The ones I have all came with other items that as mentioned in the OP are often found with them. EG the Princess Mary gift tin which was often repurposed by the Tommies when the contents had been consumed thus making them even more personal and evocative!

One thing I don't have is the memorial scoll which usually ended up in a frame and ultimately was discarded in house clearances as just another old wall hanging.

Here are the ones I have and a few of the items often found with them;

Regards

Mark

[Watchdog]

Points to note regarding the Memorial Plaques produced at the two locations are that Acton production ran from 1918 - 1920 when it moved to Woolwich where it continued for some time although there doesn't seem to be a confirmed date for the end of production.

Initially the Acton plaques had no production markings at all. Later Acton plaques had the individual worker identified by a numeric stamp behind the lions hind right leg.

Woolwich made plaques had this number stamped in between the hind right leg and the tail. Also a WA monogram in a circle was stamped on the reverse but that is rarely perfect as it was hand done.

I have read that fakes exist but I have not personally seen one. I would imagine that a fake would be easy to spot when compared to a genuine item and would likey not be made of real bronze. I would not expect to see many as the originals were literally hand made with the individual name tablet being added at the time of casting using a similar process to that used by a printing compositer.
If anyone can show an image of a confirmed fake I would be very interested to see it.

Here are a couple of pics of the marks on a Woolwich plaque.

Regards

Mark

[Watchdog]

Well I said I had never seen a fake then almost immediately found this;



As I expected, very nasty (as are the medals) and easy to spot when you are familiar with the real thing. Unsurprisingly it has no name and this detail could only be added by engraving or impressing when an original would be in relief. I can't say what the metal is but it is certainly an applied finish and you can be sure the base metal is not bronze! To be fair these are offered as reproductions but I am sure some shark will add a name and try to con the unwary

There are plenty of repro scrolls, letters etc out there and whilst most are obviously modern (and not very good) some are quite good and if aged might look plausible so watch your step!

Regards

Mark