Home

The Singapore Cenotaph Project

This project ran from 2013 to 2019.
It was the initiative of Rosemary Lim, author of an Irish Tour of Singapore.
Her interest in the cenotaph came about as a result of learning that Irishman Denis Santry was the memorial's architect.

Singapore Cenotaph

The purpose of the project was to include Singapore in the worldwide centennial commemorations of the Great War through research on the 124 names listed on the Straits Settlements War Memorial.

The Project was supported by the National Heritage Board of Singapore.

It was a participant in the First World War Centenary, led by the Imperial War Museum, and contributed significant information to the IWM's Lives of the First World War (see Lives below).

Forgotten Names Recalled: Stories from the Singapore Cenotaph was published in August 2014, an important outreach part of the Project. The book is available at no charge except for postage and packing (see Book below).
About

Project Mission

Cecil Clarke

It's about ordinary men who volunteered to fight against Kaiserist Germany and its allies

Research and Sources

  • Research undertaken included many days at the National Archives of the United Kingdom in Kew and the British Library.
  • The main online sources were:
    • Commonwealth War Graves Commission
    • genealogical databases, such as Ancestry and Find My Past;
    • UK and Irish probate records;
    • Singapore, British, Irish and Australian newspaper reports;
    • national rolls of honour of Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, France;
    • rolls of honour schools, universities, professions and companies.
  • In some cases it was possible to contact relatives, usually great-nephews or great-nieces, who were all delighted to provide information and photographs.
  • There were also opportunities to share information between our project and others who were researching the same people and vice versa.

    • Simply Facts

    Because of the prolific amount of books, documentaries, magazines and more whose sole purpose is the in-depth examination of the First World War, the Singapore Cenotaph Project and the resultant book did not seek to emulate these sources.

    For these reasons the Project purposely focused on small history and insignificant people in the context of their lives and times without judgement or commentary beyond what is relative to everyday events.

    • The project was not intended to analyse the repercussions of war or the potential outcomes had history proved different.
    • It does not examine big politics or government policies.
    • It does not include any commentary on the British Empire nor the prevailing attitudes of the early 20th century.

Book
Forgotten Names Recalled book cover

Book Information

Paperback, 152x227mm (6x9in)
320 pages
B&W Illustrations
ISBN: 9789810910082

Ebook ISBN: 978-981-09-1009-9

Contributors

Rosemary Lim main contributor & editor
Roseanne Woodmansee (ANZACs)
Pierre Lee (French)

Contents

Introduction
1. The End of Empires
2. The Cenotaph's Story
3. Why Did They Go?
4. Stories from the Cenotaph
5. Singapore War Effort
6. Germans & Austrians in Singapore
Appendix
Glossary
Resources
Index

Cost: postage & packing only

Use Contact to order
Lives

Lives of the First World War

In 2014 the Who Do You Think You Are? exhibition held in London focused on the First World War.

During the event the Imperial War Museum launched its digital commemorative project, Lives of the First World War, requesting volunteers sign up and add to the memorial.

The original plan, to create only the Singapore Cenotaph community, expanded to the creation of 57 communities and entries for 1,619 lives.

The IWM site is where you can 'discover, explore and remember millions or personal stories from the First World War.'

Singapore & Malaysia Communities

  1. Singapore Cenotaph
  2. Singapore Volunteers
  3. 1915 Singapore Mutiny
  4. Kranji War Cemetery Singapore/a>
  5. 1941-1945 WW1 Veterans Malaya & Singapore
  6. Singapore & Malayan Merchant Sailors
  7. Family of Men from Singapore & Malaya
  8. Eurasians Straits Settlements & Malay States/a>
  9. Straits Born
  10. Straits Settlements & Federated Malay States Government Service
  11. Straits Settlements & Malayan States Civil Service Post-WW1

Malaysia War Memorials

  1. Malaya, Penang & Malacca Volunteers Corps
  2. Perak, Malaysia, Including Ipoh War Memorial
  3. Selangor, Malaysia
  4. Johor, Malaysia
  5. Negri Sembilan, Malaysia
  6. North Borneo Memorial, Sabah, Malaysia
  7. East Coast Malaysia, Pahang, Kelantan and Terengganu
  8. Planters from Malayan States (now West Malaysia)
  9. Sarawak
  10. Taiping, Including All Saints' Church War Memorial, Taiping, Perak, Malaysia
  11. St Mary's Church of the Virgin, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  12. Malay State Guides

    13. Hong Kong & China

  13. Hong Kong Volunteers
  14. Europeans: Burma, Siam, Hong Kong, Japan, China
  15. Hong Kong CWGC Memorials & Cemeteries
  16. Chinese Merchant Sailors
  17. Chinese Merchant Sailors Died During WW1
  18. Chinese Served in the Royal Navy -- Hong Kong Memorial
  19. Chinese Labour Corps CWGC, Memorials, Book of Remembrance
  20. Chinese Labour Corps (including European officers)
  21. Chinese Labour Corps: 12 Men Killed in the Chocques Bombardment, 29 May 1918
  22. Chinese Labour Corps: Calais Air Raid Night of 3/4 September 1917
  23. Chinese Labour Corps: Killed in Bombardment/Bombing of Calais, 21 March 1918
  24. In from the Cold -- contributor

Other Communities

  1. Chinese Australian
  2. Chinese Canadian
  3. Chinese Names Other Services
  4. Chinese New Zealand
  5. Japanese of the Canadian Expeditionary Force
  6. Japanese Merchant Seamen
  7. Japanese Other Services
  8. HMAS Sydney Men Awarded D.S.M. for Action in the Battle of Cocos
  9. Ceylon Planters
  10. University College Dublin, Ireland
Contact

Email: admin@[this URL]

Twitter: @Sgcenotaph