Great War Connections

FOWNC Norwood and the Great War by John Clarke and Peter Hodgkinson

The result of much painstaking research, our new 400-page full-colour volume Norwood and the Great War - Reflections on Military and Social History is now available, price £15.00. A spreadsheet giving key information concerning the 595 servicemen or women who died either during, or after the war of service-related conditions, 27 who served and died well after the war, and 16 civilians with WW1 connections is available below.

There are also photographs of all the Great War graves and of family graves bearing commemorative inscriptions that survive in the cemetery, as well as web links to photographs of some of the individuals. In addition, there are photographs of some now lost gravestones.

Please see our Publications page to order this book

Commemoration of those who died in conflict changed significantly in 1914. Service personnel who died as a result of injuries received during combat or sickness were normally buried close to where they died. This left many bereaved families in need of a focus for their mourning and existing memorials often received inscriptions reflecting the loss of a son or daughter who had died. Many were poignant reflections of the pain felt by those left behind. This book stands as a tribute to the sacrifices of service personnel and their families from South London in general and from Norwood especially at this time.

Sadly, Lambeth Council carried out extensive, indiscriminate, illegal clearance operations that continued until 1991, when they were stopped by order of the Consistory Court of the Diocese of Southwark. The clearances swept away unrecorded many thousands of gravestones including some that marked the locations of ‘war graves’. Fortunately, and perceptively, the late Eric E.F. Smith FSA recorded the inscriptions of many, but by no means all, of these now lost monuments.

Detailed study of these and other records has enabled Peter Hodgkinson and John Clarke to compile as detailed a picture as is now possible of the sacrifices made by the individuals and families of Norwood and elsewhere as recorded originally in the Cemetery. Not only were there burials and some cremations of those who died on active service, but also many hundreds of those who gave their lives overseas were recorded on family memorials. Notably, 38% of these have no known grave. In addition, some who contributed to the war effort in other ways came to rest at Norwood and are also discussed in the book.

The following PDF contains amendments and additions to the original volume:

Amendments and additions (PDF)

This spreadsheet contains a summary of key information concerning all the individuals listed in the book:

Database (XLS)

The PDF albums contain photographs of all the surviving Great War graves and family graves bearing comemmorations in the cemetery, as well as web links to photographs of some of the individuals. In some cases there are old photographs of graves now lost.