The Lancashire Fusiliers War Memorial is a First World War memorial dedicated to

members of the Lancashire Fusiliers killed in that conflict. Outside the Fusilier
Museum in Bury, Greater Manchester, in North West England, it was unveiled in
1922�on the seventh anniversary of the landing at Cape Helles, part of the
Gallipoli Campaign in which the regiment suffered particularly heavy casualties.
Lutyens was commissioned in light of a family connection�his father and great uncle
were officers in the Lancashire Fusiliers, a fact noted on a plaque nearby. He
designed a tall, slender obelisk in Portland stone. The regiment's cap badge is
carved near the top on the front and rear, surrounded by a laurel wreath. Further
down are inscriptions containing the regiment's motto and a dedication. Two painted
stone flags hang from the sides.

The memorial was unveiled by Lieutenant General Sir Henry de Beauvoir De Lisle on
25 April 1922, using the novel method of pressing an electric button. The remaining
funds were spent on drums and bugles for the regiment and donated to the Lancashire
Fusiliers' compassionate fund. After the Lancashire Fusiliers were amalgamated into
the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers in 1968, the memorial was adopted by the new
regiment and rededicated to all fusiliers killed in action. It originally sat
outside the Lancashire Fusiliers' headquarters in Wellington Barracks but was
relocated when the barracks closed in the 1970s. It was moved again in 2009, this
time to sit in a public park renamed Gallipoli Gardens, outside the Fusilier
Museum, which moved at the same time. The memorial was designated a grade II listed
building in 1992. It was upgraded to grade II* in 2015 (on the centenary of the
Cape Helles landing), along with two other memorials related to the Gallipoli
Campaign; later that year it was recognised as part of a national collection of
Lutyens' war memorials.

Contents
1 Background
2 Commissioning
3 Design
4 History
5 See also
6 References
6.1 Citations
6.2 Bibliography
Background
In the aftermath of the First World War and its unprecedented casualties, thousands
of war memorials were built across Britain. Amongst the most prominent designers of
memorials was the architect Sir Edwin Lutyens, described by Historic England as
"the leading English architect of his generation".[1] Lutyens established his
reputation designing country houses for wealthy clients. After the war, which had a
profound effect on him, he devoted much of his time to memorialising its
casualties. He became a public figure through his design for the Cenotaph on
Whitehall in London, which became Britain's national memorial. This, along with his
work for the Imperial War Graves Commission, led to commissions for war memorials
across Britain and the empire. As well as memorials for towns and cities, Lutyens
was commissioned to design memorials for several private companies and regimental
associations, including the Lancashire Fusiliers. These tended to be the least
controversial of Lutyens' war memorials�a site was readily available (in this case
the regiment's home barracks) and fundraising was straightforward.[1][2]

Lutyens' father was Captain Charles Henry Augustus Lutyens (1829�1915), formerly an
officer in the Lancashire Fusiliers. Captain Lutyens, himself the son of an army
officer, spent most of his military career in Canada; he served during the time of
the Crimean War but spent it as a musketry instructor in Hythe, Alberta. The
architect's great uncle, Major Engelbert Lutyens, also served in the regiment,
which is noted on a plaque by the memorial. Engelbert was an orderly officer to
Napoleon Bonaparte while the Lancashire Fusiliers guarded the latter during his
exile in St Helena at the beginning of the 19th century. In light of his family
connections with the regiment, Lutyens waived his fee for the memorial.[3][4][5][6]

Black and white photograph of a group of soldiers on a boat

Lancashire Fusiliers en route to Gallipoli
The Lancashire Fusiliers (previously the 20th Regiment of Foot) was swollen by
thousands of volunteers during the First World War, predominantly recruited from
the towns to the north and west of Manchester (an area which was then in south-
eastern Lancashire but has since become part of Greater Manchester). Many of the
recruits signed up with neighbours, work colleagues, social clubs, and other groups
following the creation of the pals battalions. By the end of the war, it had grown
to 30 battalions, including Territorial Force and New Army units. The 1st Battalion
was stationed in Karachi at the outbreak of war in 1914 and was immediately shipped
back to England and from there to the Mediterranean. It played a prominent role in
the landing at Cape Helles (part of the Gallipoli Campaign, under the control of
the 29th Division) on 25 April 1915, during which its members famously earned "six
Victoria Crosses before breakfast". The Lancashire Fusiliers' beach was later named
"Lancashire Landing". The 1st was transferred to France in March 1916. The 2nd
Battalion was immediately posted to France and spent the remainder of its war on
the Western Front, where it was involved in intense fighting. Its first engagement
was the Battle of Le Cateau. The regular battalions were joined by multiple New
Army battalions, some of which joined the fighting in France and Turkey, while
others were held in reserve or posted to garrison ports around Britain. Both of the
regular battalions and multiple territorial and New Army units participated in some
of the largest battles of the war, including (among others) the Somme and
Passchendaele (the Third Battle of Ypres).[7][8][9][10]

Commissioning