Introduction to the Free Church Memorial display for congregants who lost their lives during WW2
The research into the members of the Free church congregation that lost their lives during the Second World War and are listed on the Free Church War Memorial 1939-45 was undertaken by Anne Lowe, archivist for the Free Church. The display was intended for V.E. Day in 2020 but was not installed until Remembrance Sunday in November and had little opportunity to be seen because of the Covid 19 lockdowns. The information has been sourced from Free Church Newsletters, cradle rolls and from the War Graves Commission and the Golders Green Memorial .
One side of the display is devoted men who died in service, whilst the reverse also contains names of civilians who died in bomb raids on Hampstead Garden Suburb. Of the service men, Robert Lockie and Sir John Abraham are recorded in the Hampstead Garden Suburb Book of Remembrance under those that died at sea. Also included in the Book of Remembrance are Charlotte Hughes and the Emmoney family who died in the bomb that fell in Coleridge Walk and the Hunter family who died when 63 Brookland Rise was hit in a bombing raid.
The display includes a detailed report about the erection of the Free Church Memorial dedicated on Easter Sunday 1949, designed by the renowned Hampstead artist and typographer Percy Delf Smith. Also at this time, the Pulpit Bible was rebound and had the names of those who lost their lives inscribed on specially prepared vellum leaves.
