HONORING THE AMERICAN SERVICEMEN BASED IN THE BRITISH ISLES
WHO LOST THEIR LIVES DURING WORLD WAR II
How the American Memorial Chapel came to be:
A moving account from the St Paul's Cathedral
Service of Commemoration and Dedication brochure,
July 4, 1951
During the years of the second world war, when the peoples of Britain and the United States once more united in a common endeavour and common sacrifices in the defence of liberty, 28,000 Americans of the armed forces lost their lives. These dead had served in the United States Navy, the Merchant Navy, army or Army Air Force, or were American nationals serving in British or Canadian formations. The great American cemetery at Cambridge, like the American cemetery at Brockwood of the earlier war, marks the last resting place of many who gave their lives, but the majority of the dead, particularly among those who fought in air battles over Europe, have no known grave.
There are numerous local memorials in Britain to the American dead. Most are the gifts of their American comrades who survived, some are wholly British offerings; others still represent the joint homage of an American fighting unit and an English village community. They are diverse in form. Thus in parish churches in East Anglia chapels have been dedicated to the memory of the fallen who were stationed at nearby American heavy bomber bases, a fourteenth-century English chapel has been restored, a memorial organ in a Devonshire parish church dedicated in honour of the dead who served in American naval contingents operating from a neighbouring base, a memorial tower erected on the sea shore, a plaque erected at the side of a road, a stained-glass window presented to the garrison church of the two Staffordshire infantry regiments, a village community recreation centre established. All these are tributes, rich in local and intimate British-American associations, to the memory of those Americans who lived among us and died in a common cause. But a national tribute, which would stand as an act of commemoration by the people of this country as a whole, has called for something more. Out of the deep desire to create a central and enduring British memorial to these American dead, which would serve as a shrine and a perpetual remembrance of all soldiers, sailors and airmen of the United States of America in their wartime comradeship with the British people, was born the plan of an American Chapel in St. Paul's Cathedral.
The plan, originally conceived towards the end of the war, took definite shape during the months after victory was won in Europe and in Asia. It was announced to the public, in an appeal for funds for the purpose, by Marshal of the Royal Air Force Viscount Trenchard and Sir Clive Baillieu, president and chairman respectively of the American British-Commonwealth Association, which had been formed in 1941 to promote the closest cooperation between the American and British people both in war and in peace (and which has since been amalgamated with the English-Speaking Union). In sponsoring the appeal the Association invited the body of ordinary men and women in Great Britain to contribute "their pennies, their sixpences or their pounds."
From the beginning, the project, which had been wholeheartedly welcomed by the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's, met with the warm approval of their Majesties the King and Queen and of the greatly honoured United States Ambassador at that time in this country, the late John G. Winant. The Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's gladly agreed to set aside the necessary space within the cathedral. The memorial also received the warm support of General Eisenhower, who in acknowledgment asked to be allowed to cooperate in preparing a Roll of Honour, suitably inscribed, to be handed to the Dean and Chapter for safe keeping in the Chapel.
Trustees of the fund were appointed and a council was set up under the chairmanship of the Archbishop of Canterbury. There was a nation-wide response to the appeal for funds, and in the event some millions of people in this country contributed in all a sum of nearly £100,000.
The choice of St. Paul's Cathedral for the American Memorial Chapel bears eloquent witness to the sentiment that inspires this tribute of the British people. For St. Paul's, which is the national cathedral, enshrines not a little of the history of British valour and sacrifice. Within its walls lie or are commemorated a glorious muster of our fighting leaders, headed by the greatest of sea captains and the victor of Waterloo. The American comrades-at-arms of our people commemorated in St. Paul's keep noble company.
St. Paul's itself shared and suffered in the ordeal of war. Guarded in the London "blitz" during the hours of darkness by a band of volunteers known as St. Paul's Watch, it twice sustained direct hits by high-explosive bombs and was grievously damaged. No Londoner will ever forget the spectacle of the night of December 29-30, 1940, when St. Paul's appeared as though miraculously islanded in a sea of fire. Under Providence it was spared from the fury of the enemy and still stands, in the midst of heavy destruction, as a symbol of our faith and endurance.
At the centre of the extreme east end of the cathedral, behind the high altar, is the semi-circular apse, known until now as the Jesus Chapel, which was wrecked by blasts from bombs falling close to the east end. This is the space set aside for the American Memorial Chapel. The plans for rebuilding at this point form part of a larger scheme, approved by the royal Free Art Commission, for the internal reconstruction of the entire east end. Under this scheme the severely damaged reredos, dominating the choir, will be replaced by a lighter and less obstructive baldachino over the high altar, thus extending the view from the entrance to the cathedral in the western end of the whole length of the nave and choir and disclosing more fully the grand sweep of the apse. The whole effect will be to realize in greater measure the original architectural conception of Sir Christopher Wren.
The design for the American Memorial Chapel conforms to the existing standard of the cathedral and meets the requirements of the Dean and Chapter. It takes in the three great windows of the apse, for which designs of new stained-glass panels are being prepared that will find place for the insignia of the forty-eight States of the American Union.
The work of rebuilding, however, has of necessity had to wait upon urgent tasks of national reconstruction after the war. The repair of widespread war damage throughout the country, in homes, industry and communications, came first; the immediate need for building new houses could least of all be denied. Delay in starting work at St. Paul's thus sprang from the exigencies of an era or shortages in building materials as in so much else. But a start on the work of reconstruction at St. Paul's was made in February of this year. The American Memorial Chapel stands at the head of the list.
The Roll of Honour to be dedicated to-day, presented by General Eisenhower to the Dean and Chapter for safe keeping until the Chapel is ready to receive it, is a richly illuminated manuscript of 473 pages, bearing on its cover a gold V plaque and corner shields and is set with precious stones. It contains 28,000 names, arranged in alphabetical order, each followed by details of rank and service.
On this same occasion the gift which His Majesty the King is making to Washington Cathedral of a silver cross is a replica of that designed for the Royal Victorian Order and presented to the King's Chapel of the Savoy; the candlesticks follow the design of the cross. Each piece is of octagonal form with flutes interspaced and bears the engraved cipher of the King.
