World War 1 Memorials
War Memorial stone and ash tree
To co-incide with Armistice Day 2004 the committee of the Essex Police Memorial Trust, under the chairmanship of Deputy Chief Constable Charles Clark introduced a new feature into the Memorial Garden at Essex Police Headquarters.
Two marble stones, backed by English Ash trees were installed on either side of the main Portland Stone memorial and flagstaff, which provides a place for relatives of 62 officers fallen during the World Wars to place their tributes in tranquil settings.
One is for the policemen of the three police forces (Essex Constabulary, Colchester Borough Police and the Southend on Sea Constabulary) who were killed whilst in the armed services during the Great War. The other is for those of those same forces who were killed whilst serving as policemen or in the armed services during World War 2.
November 11, 2004 - Essex Police staff attend remembrance ceremony
Essex County Constabulary
The memorial, which consists of a commemorative plaque containing 22 names, is situated within the Reception Area of Police HQ in Chelmsford above the Book of Remembrance. It is based on the original memorial sited at the Shire Hall in Chelmsford, but adjusted to match the dimensions and style of the Second World War Essex County Constabulary memorial.
The replica was erected at Police HQ in the summer of 2000. The original memorial, made from marble and dark wood, was paid for by contributions to the Essex Constabulary War Memorial Fund, established under Force Order 313 on 8th July 1918. In all, 153 Essex County Constabulary officers joined the armed services during the war.
Southend Borough Constabulary
The war memorial which contains the names of eight officers consists of a bronze plate and is located at Southend Police Station in Victoria Avenue. The name of a ninth officer, Private Thomas Joyce, is due to be added shortly. It was unveiled around 1946 by Chief Constable A J Hunt.
Colchester Borough Constabulary
The war memorial, containing the names of two officers from the First World War and one officer from the Second (David Kirk) is located at Colchester Police Station in Southway. It consists of a bronze plaque on American oak and was unveiled on 10th November 1995 by James Conlan, Assistant Chief Constable for Essex Police.
