War Memorial Unveiled

A memorial to four WWII servicemen was unveiled at St George’s at our Remembrance Sunday service this week.

The memorial was original displayed in Farm Road Church, which closed in 2014. The Church Management Committee asked St George’s to take the memorial when their building was threatened with demolition.

The plaque commemorates Gerald Rodgers, Laurence Frost, Percy Brown and Derrick Wood who lived on the St Helier Estate in Morden. All of the men were of a similar age and knew each other well. Rodgers was only 19 years old.

The plaque is said to have been made from materials from one of the WWII battlefields. Made from dark wood and metal, it has been hung next to a framed short biography of the men including photos of three of them (view).

Major Phil Shannon (above) unveiled the memorial at the St George’s Church Remembrance Sunday service. He spoke of the bravery of the men and hoped that the memorial would be a reminder of their sacrifice for our country.

We were delighted to be joined by members of Laurence Frost’s family, who laid wreaths at the memorial in loving memory of the men. One of the bouquets of flowers was from Rosetta, Laurence’s sister, who is still alive aged 95 years old.

Her hand-written card read, “To my dear brave brother Laurie so sadly missed. From your loving sister, Rosetta. R.I.P.”

(Click on photos to view)

The family contacted the church after it ran a campaign to try to find the relatives of the four servicemen. Over 18,000 people saw the church’s social media post and the South London Press and Church Times ran a story on the search.

A short video tribute to the men was played at the service (below). You can read more about the men and our search here. We are grateful for any further contacts with information about the other men and their families.