Second World War Roll of Honour
On 25th September 1948, a service was held in College for the ‘dedication of the memorial to the men who died in the war of 1939-1945’. The memorial was unveiled by the Master, Sir Lionel Whitby, and dedicated by the Bishop of Ely in the presence of relatives of the fallen and members of the Association and their wives assembled for the Annual Meeting. The Order of Service from that day reads:
“Brethren, we are gathered together as one family to remember before God the men of this House who in the years of the war laid down their lives for our deliverance and for the freedom of mankind: and to dedicate this place where their names have been recorded as a lasting memorial of their sacrifice. In so doing, we shall not fail to have in remembrance those who in the earlier war made the same sacrifice in the same cause.
We shall affirm our faith in the final sovereignty of God and after commending to his mercy the souls of those who died we shall pray that we who remain may prove worthy of the heritage which by their faithfulness has been defended and preserved.
Let us remember with all honour before God and Man the names of those who died so that we might live:
Robert Frederick Barlow
Richard Stewart Beale
Kenneth Roy Beeching
Thomas Maurice Twynam Bostock
Anthony Harley Brindley
Victor Julius Carlton
Richard James David Carrick
Oswald Chan
Frankham Noel John Church
Michael Wilfrid Peter Clarke
Keith Cunningham Cowie
John Michael Darlow
Peter Ewart Davison
John Stuart Devereux
Basil Whitfield Drew
Charles Theodore Dufton
William Lionel Edwards
Alexander McKenzie Elliott
John Evans
Horace Marsden Geldard
John Malcolm Glaisher
Ernest Osmond Goulden
George James Harden
William Hind
Louis Alexander Howard
John Douglas Hughes
Cedric Alfred Humphries
Kenneth George Iremonger
Michael Isdell Blyth Job
Francis Alfred George Lascelles
Peter Wyndham Riou Lawford
Thomas Ellis Mitchell
Denis Geach Parnall
Philip Trevor Parsons
John Henry Pearson
Augustus Huws Rocyn-Jones
Errol Devereux Lancelot Shaw
Hugh Templeton Slight
George Stanislaus Sokolow
Noel Geoffrey Sprake
Donald Stevens
Geoffrey Stephenson Stout
John Peter Houghton Stratton
Sim Eng Tan
Harry Varley
Arthur Waymouth
William Robert Humphrey Whiting
Charles Frank Horace Wiessner
John Percival Wilkie
Thomas Stanley Winton
Harold Walter Woodhouse
We also honour and commemorate a member of staff of the College Office:
Maxwell Charles Elsden.”
In addition, H. G. Earl (1902) survived the war but died on board a hospital ship during repatriation after internment by the Japanese.
The memorial tablet was designed by Mr Bamford of Northfield and Company, Cambridge, and was cast in bronze by the Birmingham Guild. It was installed on the eastern portico of the North Range.
Link to Downing College in the Second World War (including digitised history of 'Downing and the two World Wars' featuring WW2 memories of alumni).