Welland’s war memorial is on the green near the village hall (see map). It was installed in 2005 and dedicated on Sunday 8th May that year, the 60th anniversary of VE Day. There were already plaques in St James’ Church listing the war dead of the parish but the memorial, set amongst grass and trees, is visible to anyone passing.

The memorial consists of a slab of granite donated by the Malvern Hills Conservators (now the Malvern Hills Trust). Inset is a stainless steel plaque bearing the names of the men who died in World War I and II and the inscriptions ‘In memory of the men of this parish and former pupils of Welland School’ and ‘For your tomorrow, we gave our today.’ This was provided by the Friends of Welland and Little Malvern.

The dedication started with a church service led by the Revd Frances Wookey, vicar of Welland, at 11:00 am. Villagers and representatives from various regiments and the Royal British Legion then walked across to the green to complete the ceremony as shown on the photos. Refreshments at The Pheasant rounded off the event.

St James’ churchyard has three war graves, the headstones being provided by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. These are the graves of: John Edgar Brown, d 1940, George Harwood, d 1917, and John Whittern, d 1915.

Photographs of the dedication ceremony courtesy of Bernette Arrowsmith, taken by the late Mary Purser. A folder kept on the Welland Library shelves in the village hall holds more photos of the installation of the memorial and the dedication ceremony, together with biographies of our war dead and their burial locations.