War memorials
Over a thousand Trinity men (fellows, students and staff) who gave their lives in the two World Wars are commemorated on the walls of this building.
At the east end, either side of the altar, the oak panels are engraved with the 619 names of those who died in the First World War, and the following dedication:
IUXTA FIDEM DEFUNCTI SUNT OMNES ISTI NON ACCEPTIS REPROMISSIONIBUS
SED A LONGE ASPICIENTES ET SALUTANTES
ET CONFITENTES QUIA PEREGRINI ET HOSPITES SUNT SUPER TERRAM.
All of these died in faith without having received the promises,
but from a distance they saw and greeted them.
They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth.
(Hebrews 11: 13)
The memorial carved on the floor of the pavement, in front of the high altar, reads: ‘In memory of the men of this College who gave their lives in war MCMXIV – MCMXVIII’.
The admissions figures at Trinity dropped dramatically during the war years. In 1917/18 only 19 men were admitted, whereas the following year, after the end of the war, the number leapt to 313. The Royal Army Medical Corps established the headquarters of the First Eastern General Hospital at Trinity, and during the First World War the grounds were filled with temporary wards for injured soldiers.
The west wall of the Ante-Chapel, behind the statue of Newton, is dedicated to a huge memorial of Portland stone, engraved by David Kindersley in 1951 with the names of 384 Trinity men who died in the Second World War, with the following dedication:
PRO MURO ERANT NOBIS TAM IN NOCTE QUAM IN DIE
MCMXXXIX – MCMXLV
They were a wall unto us both by night and day.
1939-1945
(1 Samuel 25: 16)
