Great Western War Memorial, Paddington Station

The very moving war memorial to the employees of the 2,524 men of the GWR who lost their lives in the First World War is on Platform 1 at Paddington Station.

The statue of a Tommy reading a letter from home.

The Memorial is on Platform 1 which in 1922 when the memorial was unveiled was the principal departure platform and is under the central transept immediately in front of the royal waiting room. The arms of the Monarch and the GWR are visible in this picture.

At the unveiling by the Chairman of the GWR, Lord Churchill said to the assembled relatives of GW men who fell in the Great War:

"The memorial is the work of the eminent sculptor, Mr. Jagger, who stands close to me here, and who himself fought for his country and served in the trenches. It depicts a fighting man, though at the moment in no fighting humour, for he is reading a letter from his dear ones at home. I can only hope that when you gaze upon it you may find some solace in the remembrance of those many letters that you wrote to your loved ones at the front, and that you will realise not only what a comfort they were to them, but also how they imbued them with fresh strength and fresh spirit to endure the many horrors and hardships of war."