The Wanstead ’15’ to be marked at Westminster Abbey

Margaretha Pollitt Brown and Diana Forster in front of the memorial bearing the names

A historical project which traced the stories of 15 members of Wanstead United Reformed Church who died in WW1 is to be marked in the centenary events on Armistice Day in Westminster Abbey.

The project, called ‘Our 15’, pieced together the stories of the 15 members of the congregation who died. The church decided to embark on the project when it realised that only one of the families still had members in the congregation. Though the names were marked on a memorial, there were few written memories – the church decided to “attempt to turn the names in stone back into remembered lives”. With the aid of a Heritage Lottery Fund grant, their stories were reconstructed.

Margaretha Pollitt Brown, the project co-ordinator, and Diana Forster, researcher and exhibition guide, will be attending the Westminster service marking 100 years since the end of the war. They have been invited in recognition of the contribution the project made to commemorating the war.