Recall the echoes of Cambridge’s past as we gather before the Coming Home War Memorial. This memorial stands as a testament to courage sacrifice and homecoming. It is located on Hills Road outside Cambridge University Botanic Garden.
The Coming Home War Memorial is more than bronze and stone. It’s a story etched in time. After the First World War Cambridge debated how to best honor its fallen. Ideas ranged from clock towers to cottages for injured soldiers. A memorial committee was formed in January 1919. It included representatives from the city the university and the county council. They finally decided on three memorials. One at Addenbrooke’s Hospital one at Ely Cathedral and this monument in Cambridge.
Here at the Coming Home War Memorial, fundraising proved difficult. The colleges focused on commemorating their own dead. By October 1920 they approved memorials for Ely and Cambridge. The Cambridge War Memorial was to be a large sculpture of a soldier.
Canadian sculptor Robert Tait McKenzie designed the Coming Home War Memorial. He was known for sculpting athletes and working with soldiers. He captured the spirit of homecoming. The model was Kenneth Hamilton a student at Christ’s College Cambridge.
Look closely at the Coming Home War Memorial. The soldier strides purposefully his rifle sloped. He glances back toward the railway station. It is a poignant reminder of those who would not return. He holds his helmet in one hand and a rose in the other. A German helmet hangs on his back a war trophy. The statue shows a private soldier returning. Discipline relaxed he is striding along bare-headed. The sculptor tried to express the type on whom the future of England must depend.
The Coming Home War Memorial’s plinth bears an inscription. It reads To the men of Cambridgeshire and the Isle of Ely the Borough and University of Cambridge who served in the Great War 1914-1919. Later they added And in the World War 1939-1945.
The Duke of York unveiled the Coming Home War Memorial on July 3 1922. Thousands attended the ceremony. The bronze statue wasn’t ready so a plaster cast stood in its place. The bronze statue was dedicated the following year.
The Coming Home War Memorial has been moved twice. In 1952 it was moved further down Hills Road. In 2012 it was moved to its present site outside the Botanic Garden.
Consider the symbolism embodied in the Coming Home War Memorial. It’s a powerful reminder of war’s cost and the enduring hope for peace. It stands as a Grade II listed building a protected piece of history. The Coming Home War Memorial is a tribute to those who served. It is a reminder of the sacrifices made for freedom.