Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway War Memorial

Heritage listing

Details A memorial unveiled on 8 March 1922 commemorating employees of the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway who served in the armed forces during the First World War, formerly at Highbridge Station and moved to its current location in c1965. The memorial comprises a large bronze relief tablet in Classical style, set against a wall (the latter dating from the mid-1960s). The relief shows a central wreath motive flanked by fluted columns and a triangular pediment above depicting a cross and crown. The pediment carries the words '1914 -1918 / FOR / KING & COUNTRY / FREEDOM & HONOUR' with below it ' "CALLED, TESTED, WORTHY, VICTORIOUS" ' and 'OUR GLORIOUS DEAD' followed by the names of the fallen in the centre of the wreath and to the three rectangular raised fields around it. The base of the fluted columns list the various battle sites: 'FRANCE / BELGIUM / AFRICA / PALESTINE / SALONICA' to the left and 'HIGH SEAS / ITALY / GALLIPOLI / ARABIA / MESOPOTAMIA' to the right. The base of the memorial reads: 'THIS TABLET IS ERECTED BY THEIR FELLOW-WORKERS IN MEMORY OF THE MEN WHO LEFT THE LOCO. CARR. AND WAGON DEPTS OF THE SOMERSET AND DORSET JOINT RAILWAY TO SERVE WITH THE FORCES DURING THE GREAT WAR'. Four granite plaques with names of fallen soldiers, added later, are attached to the stone base on which the memorial rests. A further granite plaque was added in 2012, replacing an earlier bronze plaque unveiled in 2000, inscribed with the words: 'IN HONOUR OF / MAJOR FRANK FOLEY / THE SPY WHO SAVED THE LIVES / OF MORE THAN 10.000 JEWS / FROM THE HOLOCAUST / BORN AT 1 WALROW TERRACE / HIGHBRIDGE ON 23RD NOVEMBER 1884 / DIED 8TH MAY 1958 / RIGHTEOUS AMONG NATIONS'. This plaque is flanked by a further plaque stating: 'UNVEILED BY / SABINE MEYER - MICHAEL / ON 7TH MAY 2000 / ONE OF

From the Historic England List Entry under OGL v3.