The Silvertown War Memorial stands tall as a solemn reminder of the tragic event that took place on a cold January night in 1919, when an explosion at the Brunner Mond chemical plant in East London claimed the lives of 73 workers and injured hundreds more. This memorial, which was Grade II listed in 1999, is a limestone obelisk, approximately 1.5 meters high, with carved inscriptions and a list of names on each face. The east face bears the inscription 'TO THE GLORIOUS / MEMORY OF THE / MEN FROM THESE / WORKS WHO FELL / IN THE GREAT WAR 1914–1919', while the west face bears the inscription 'AND TO THE MEMORY / OF THOSE WHO WHILST / SERVING THEIR COUNTRY / BY MAKING T.N.T.
/ PERISHED IN THE / EXPLOSION IN THESE / WORKS. JANUARY 19TH / 1917'. The memorial, once located near the road at the entrance to the site, was removed, restored, and re-erected elsewhere on the site, closer to the River Thames, as part of the Royal Wharf development in 2015. The memorial continues to serve as a symbol of remembrance for the victims of the Silvertown explosion, with relatives attending a service beside it to commemorate the centenary of the explosion on 17th January 2017.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
Written by Nicolo Ciampini
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