Skip to main content

    War MemorialsRegister

    • Home
    • Search Memorials
    • Search Names
    • Help
    Imperial War Museums LogoImperial War Museums home
    • About
      • About us
      • Submit a photograph
      • Volunteering
    • Legal
      • Accessibility Statement
      • Cookies
      • Copyright
      • Privacy
      • Terms of use

    © Imperial War Museums 2026

    Memorial

    Metropolitan Police K Division - WW1

    Metropolitan Police K Division WW1 names tablet

    Source: Copyright Police History Society

    1/5

    Current Location

    Set against the wall, next to the gates leading from Green Street into the rear entrance yard of the Police Station., Forest Gate Police Station, 350-360 Romford Road (junction with Green Street), Forest Gate, Newham, Greater London, E7 8BS, England

    OS Grid Reference

    TQ 40912 85047

    View location on Google Maps

    Names listed on this memorial

    Contribute to the War Memorials Register

    Send us details and photographs of your local war memorials, to help enhance the information about the people, places and events they commemorate.

    Contribute now

    This record shows everything IWM currently knows about this memorial. We are continually updating our records.

    © WMR-66369

    To share information or photographs, contact us.

    Type of Memorial
    Board / Plaque / Tablet
    WMR Reference Number
    66369
    Description
    Beneath a separate stone tablet that bears the carved crest of East Ham Police Station (a former member of 'K' Division), an arched-topped oblong white marble tablet is fixed to the red-brick wall at Forest Gate Police Station. The dedication and names are inscribed in black lettering. Two caskets of earth from the Somme and Passchendaele battlefields are buried in the ground beneath the stone. (N.B. The memorial includes civilian casualty PC Edward G B Greenoff, who was mortally wounded in the Silvertown Brunner Mond Explosion on 19/1/1917).
    Inscription
    THE GLORIOUS DEAD/ 'K' DIVISION/ THE GREAT WAR/ 1914-1918/ THE FOLLOWING/ POLICE OFFICERS/ GAVE THEIR LIVES/ (Names) An associated separate tablet at the foot of the Memorial reads: HERE LIES SACRED SOIL FROM THE/WW1 BATTLEFIELDS OF THE SOMME/AND PASSSCHENDAELE/4TH AUGUST 2014
    War
    First World War (1914-1918)
    Number Commemorated
    22
    Died
    22
    Information shown
    Military rank, forenames, surname
    Order of names
    Alphabetically by surname
    War
    Military Service
    Number Commemorated
    1
    Died
    1
    Information shown
    Police rank, forenames, surname, additional
    Additional Information
    P.C. Edward Greenoff was a "civilian" casualty, who died due to wounds sustained in the course of Police duty
    Costs
    c. £3000
    Sponsor Type
    other
    Sponsored By
    The Memorial was funded through money raised from charity football matches etc, organised by police officers at the station.

    Ceremonies

    Unveiled

    4 August 2014

    Local Clergy/Dignitaries, Police officers/staff

    Dedicated

    4 August 2014

    The main Memorial was dedicated in the presence of Local Clergy/Dignitaries

    Consecrated

    28/8/2014

    The two caskets of soil, from the battlefields of the Somme and Paschendaele, were blessed

    Custodian
    Metropolitan Police

    Components

    Tablet

    Height: c1200mm

    Width: c650mm


    Made from: Marble


    Condition: Good


    • 'Memorial stone to First World War's fallen police officers unveiled', Newham Recorder 5/8/2014 https://www.newhamrecorder.co.uk/news/pictures-memorial-stone-to-first-world-war-s-fallen-police-officers-unveiled-1-3713771
    • Barking and Dagenham Post 4/8/2014: 'Police rally to remember colleagues from across East London who died in war': https://www.barkinganddagenhampost.co.uk/news/heritage/first-world-war-police-rally-to-remember-officers-from-across-east-london-who-died-in-war-1-3711582
    • "Operation Valour" notice, displayed on the day the Memorial was unveiled (see photo).
    • Barking and Dagenham Post 29/7/2014 (re the blessing of the caskets of earth from Somme and Passchendaele) https://www.barkinganddagenhampost.co.uk/news/first-world-war-fallen-police-officers-remembered-in-barking-abbey-service-1-3704527
    • The K Division memorial includes P.C. Edward Greenoff, who died on 29/1/1917 from wounds sustained in an explosion at a munitions factory. He is also commemorated on the Watts' Memorial - see our reference WMR 39014, https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/39014 (Our record of the Silvertown Brunner Mond Memorial, re the incident in which PC Greenoff died, can be viewed at https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/12390 )
    • The full story of the Silvertown explosion (in which PC Greenoff died), and an image of the memorial can be viewed at http://www.colin-grainger.co.uk/poignant-anniversary-of-the-shocking-silvertown-explosion-an-accident-waiting-to-happen/
    • The War Memorials Trust's record of this memorial is WMO 256819, see https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/256819/