Horsham Post Office war memorial rededicated ... 98 years on

Eleven postal workers were killed in the war and former colleagues raised funds for a memorial - inscribed with each of their names - when the war ended.

The memorial was placed on a wall in the public area of the old Post Office in Horsham’s Carfax on November 19 1921.

The County Times reported at the time that so many people wanted to attend the unveiling and dedication ceremony that, even though some seating had been provided, it was standing room only for the majority.

The memorial stayed there for 50 years before it was temporarily moved while a new Post Office was built. In 1972 it was placed in the entrance hall of the new Carfax Post Office and there it remained until the post office closed and moved into WH Smith in Swan Walk.

It was decided that the memorial should be kept on Post Office premises and it was moved to the sorting office in Hurst Road. The oak memorial was in a state of neglect so Post Office staff decided to raise funds for its restoration.

Now that the restoration work has been completed, the memorial is on display in the sorting office canteen.

Beside it sits some information on the lives of the eleven individuals who died.

Horsham District Council chairman Kate Rowbottom and vice chairman Karen Burgess attended the rededication ceremony on Saturday, together with Nigel Caplin, chairman of the Horsham branch of the Royal British Legion.

Paul Kurn, who has been a postman for 32 years, gave an introduction to the ceremony and read out the names of the eleven postal workers named on the memorial.

The Last Post was played and the standard lowered in memory of the men, followed by a two minute silence. The rededication ceremony concluded with the sounding of the Reveille as it did at the original service in 1921.