What IWM's War Memorials Register records

The War Memorials Register documents memorials that meet our guidelines below.

What is a war memorial? 

A war memorial is any physical object created or dedicated to commemorate:

• War or conflict
• Victory or peace
• People who served in, were affected by, or died as a result of war, conflict or peacekeeping. 
• People who died from accidents or disease while in military service.

War Memorials can take many forms including:

• Freestanding Monuments such as sculpted figures, crosses, obelisks, cenotaphs or columns
• Boards, plaques and tablets, displayed either inside or outside buildings
• Rolls of honour or books of remembrance
• Dedicated buildings that serve as community halls, hospitals, bus shelters, clock towers, streets, museums or galleries
• Church fittings like bells, pews, lecterns, lighting, windows, altars, screens or candlesticks
• Trophies and relics for example a preserved gun or aircraft remains at a crash-site.
• Land, including parks, gardens, playing fields and woodland
• Additions to gravestones (but not the graves themselves)
• Musical Instruments

Memorials We Record

Location

Memorials located in the UK, Channel Islands or the Isle of Man.

Conflicts covered

• Memorials linked to any conflict, from any point in history to the present day.
• Memorials that mark the impact or acts of war, conflict or victory.

Who is commemorated

• Service personnel who served, returned safely, were affected by, or died in war, conflict or peacekeeping.
• Those who died during military service in war, conflict or peacetime, including:
  • deaths from wounds
  • deaths caused by long‑term effects of service
  • deaths not directly caused by enemy action
• Civilians serving in non‑combatant organisations during wartime.
• Civilians, including refugees or internees, who suffered or died as a result of:
  • enemy action
  • war‑related accidents
  • wider consequences of conflict
• Animals whose service, suffering or death during wartime is commemorated.

Other memorial types

• Thanksgiving memorials marking peace, the prevention of war or the safe return of individuals.
• Additional inscriptions on existing gravestones that commemorate a war casualty buried elsewhere.

Memorials we do not record

Location

• Memorials outside the UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man, even if they refer to British individuals.

Burial markers

• Headstones or grave markers that simply identify where war casualties are buried.

Items without a memorial dedication

• Buildings, houses or objects (including medals) associated with someone’s wartime experience without a formal memorial dedication.
• Plaques, badges, medals or symbols recognising a military unit’s existence, but not its active service or involvement in conflict.

Commemorations not linked to war

• Memorials to people who once served but whose death was unrelated to their service.
• Plaques commemorating non‑military wartime campaigns or activities.
• Memorials at a birthplace, home or to the life of a notable person that are not dedicated to their wartime service.

Mass‑produced or official Items

• Published or mass‑produced rolls of honour.
• Official issued items, such as:
  • Next of Kin Memorial Plaques ("Dead Man’s Pennies")
  • Memorial scrolls
  • Service medals

Individual landscape Features

• Single trees or horticultural elements within a garden or arboretum, unless the whole site is dedicated as a memorial.