Herts and Essex Observer Saturday 23/7/1921 reported on page 3: 'War Memorials Unveiled. The two war memorials to the 84 Dunmow men who fell in the Great War were publicly unveiled on Sunday in the presence of large gatherings. In the morning the marble tablet in the Parish Church was unveiled and dedicated by the Bishop of Chelmsford, and in the afternoon the public memorial, a stone column erected in High-street upon the open space at the bottom of New-street, was unveiled by Lord Byng of Vimy, who resided for some years at Newton Hall, Dunmow. The tablet in the church, of beautiful design, was provided by the relatives of the fallen soldiers, and the public memorial in High-street was erected at a cost of £800 raised by subscription in the parish. The public memorial is a handsome triangular Portland stone column upon a circular granite base, and upon each side there is carved in relief a cross. Upon the front panel of the monument is inscribed: "Remember the men of this place who died for freedom and honour, A.D. 1914 - 1918." The names occupy the sides of the column. In welcoming General Lord Byng on behalf of the townspeople, Col. J.M. Welch, T.D., D.L., mentioned that out of a population of 2,800 Dunmow contributed over 600 men to the fighting forces of the country during the war, and of that number he was glad to say that 418 offered themselves during the early stages of the war, when men were most urgently needed, and before any form of compulsory service was introduced. There were 84 Dunmow men who fell. Their names on that monument would serve to remind future generations of duty nobly done, and the sacrifices made, that our people might live in peace and freedom. They would further remind people that they had a duty to perform by their lives and conduct to be worthy of the great sacrifice made. Col. T. Gibbons, D.S.O., who commanded the 5th Essex in Egypt, read the deed conveying the memorial to the Parish Council, and the Chairman (Mr J. W. Beard) accepted the memorial on behalf of the parish. Buglers sounded the "Last Post." The Bishop of Chelmsford pronounced the Benediction; buglers sounded "Reveille" and the proceedings closed with the singing of the National Anthem. Relatives then placed floral tributes on the monument. Lieut. Lockwood, 5th Essex, placed a laurel wreath tied with the Essex Regiment colours from the 5th Essex Comrades' Association. Mr W. P. Siggers a wreath from the Dunmow branch N.A.D.S.S.. and Mr A. E. Perry a floral tribute from the Dunmow Priory Lodge, R.A.O.B.' https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003122/19210723/036/0003

The Herts and Essex Observer reported on Saturday 13/12/1947: 'On Sunday afternoon Col. A. C. Newman. V.C., will unveil the Dunmow War Memorial, which now bears the names of men who died in the 1939-45 war. The Band of the Grenadier Guards will lead the procession of members of the British Legion and troops. The parade forms up on the Downs and the service at the Memorial is at 2.30'. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003122/19471213/088/0006

Chelmsford Chronicle Friday 19/12/1947 printed a photo of the unveiling of the WW2 names on the memorial, with the following accompanying text: 'TWO V.C.s AT DUNMOW UNVEILING. Lieut.-Col, A. C. Newman, V.C., T.D., D.L., seen in picture with Col. Tom Gibbons, D.S.O., T.D., J.P., D.L., on Sunday unveiled Dunmow's War Memorial (1939-45) which has 24 names. British Legion presidents laid wreaths after the unveiling. A second V.C. took part in the ceremony - the Rev. E. Noel Mellish, the vicar, who is just leaving for Somerset'. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000516/19471219/040/0007

The War Memorials Trust's record of this memorial can be found at https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/69390/ Their record includes details of the grant of £1460 that they made in 2011 to conserve the memorial: 'In July 2012 War Memorials Trust gave a grant of £1,460.00 for cleaning of the memorial using low pressure water cleaning, re-pointing of the joints to the plinth, steps and the monument using a colour-matched lime mortar mix and the re-cutting of the inscription. Approximately 430 letters on the memorial were re-cut by hand. This was carried out using a fishtail chisel in order to avoid delamination of the letter edges'. http://www.warmemorials.org/search-grants/?gID=952

Historic England's record of the Grade II* listing of the memorial on 14/10/2016 can be found at https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1438524 Their principle reasons for that Designation were as follows: '*Historic interest: as an eloquent witness to the tragic impact of world events on this community, and the sacrifices it made in the conflicts of the C20; * Architectural interest: by the nationally renowned sculptor, Eric Gill. It is an unusual design with a three-sided, tapering pillar, with crosses at the head, all executed in Portland stone; * Sculptural interest: as a proficient and subtle piece of work produced by a close collaboration between stonemasons and sculptors, incorporating fine lettering designed by Eric Gill, mainly executed by Joseph Cribb (who returned to carve the Second World War names later); * Historic association: as a feature of Leonard Pomeroy’s influential article in the Town Planning Review in 1922 in which he uses the production of Great Dunmow war memorial as an exemplar of the Civic Arts Association’s approach to collaboration between architects, stonemasons and sculptors; * Group value: with Grade II listed buildings and structures on the High Street and New Street'.

Town Planning Review 213-216 / Vol IX, No 4 1922 Pomeroy, Leonard 'The Making of a War Memorial'

"Lest We Forget: The First World War Memorials of Uttlesford District", published by Recorders of Uttlesford History, 2014; ISBN 978-1-873669-14-3, pages 34 and 35 record the memorial and give biographical details of some of the men commemorated on it.

Carter Postcard Collection