The Inns of Court Officers Training Corps Memorial is a

First World War memorial World War I is remembered and commemorated by various war memorials, including civic memorials, larger national monuments, war cemeteries, private memorials and a range of utilitarian designs such as halls and parks, dedicated to remembering th ...

near Berkhamsted, in the west of Hertfordshire. It is now on land that forms part of Berkhamsted Golf Course. The stone obelisk was erected c.1920, close to the temporary training camp of the corps on Berkhamsted Common which operated from 1914 to 1919. It became a Grade II listed building in November 2016.

Background

The Inns of Court Officers Training Corps (OTC) was a Territorial Army unit based in Chancery Lane in London, near the headquarters of the Law Society of England and Wales and adjacent to

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

. The corps was closely associated with the legal profession, and its cap badge combined the arms of the four Inns of Court. The Inns of Court OTC expanded rapidly in August and September 1914, as thousands volunteered for military service following the outbreak of the First World War, and the corps quickly outgrew its peacetime premises in London. A training camp opened in tents on Berkhamsted Common, in the west of

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

in September 1914 and remained in operation until June 1919, hosting around 2,000 officer cadets. As part of their training, the men dug around of trenches across Berkhamsted Common, evidence of which remains visible 100 years later. Around 11,000 were commissioned and became officers in other units. Three were awarded the Victoria Cross, all posthumously: Jack Harrison of the East Yorkshire Regiment in 1917,

Walter Napleton Stone Walter Napleton Stone VC (7 December 1891 – 30 November 1917) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth ...

of the

Royal Fusiliers The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. It was known as the 7th Regiment of Foot until the Childers Reforms of 1881. The regiment served in many wars ...

in 1918 and

Christopher Bushell Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Bushell VC DSO (31 October 1888 – 8 August 1918) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and C ...

of the Royal West Surrey Regiment in 1918.

Memorial

The memorial was erected c. 1920, comprising a stone obelisk standing on a square stone pedestal and base with two steps. The upper surface of the top step around the pedestal is inlaid with red bricks in eight triangular elements divided by white stone bands, forming a pattern which resembles Saint George's Cross overlaid with Saint Patrick's Saltire. The pedestal bears the inscription: This is followed by the Latin motto of the corps: A later inscription on the base of the pedestal commemorates Lieutenant Colonel Francis Errington (1854–1942), who commanded the Inns of Court OTC from 1913 to 1916 and who published a history of the corps in 1922:

References

External links

Inns of Court Officers Training Corps Memorial, Berkhamsted Common
National Heritage List for England, Historic England
In search of the Inns of Court trenches
Michael Cross, Law Gazette, 2 July 2014
The Inns of Court Officers Training Corps during the Great War
Francis Errington, 1922
The Inns of Court OTC Regiment
The Dacorum Heritage Trust
Never such innocence again: Berkhamsted's First World War training camp
Hertfordshire Life, 18 August 2014
Inns Of Court Officers Training Corps
Imperial War Museum War Memorials Register

{{coord, 51.77305, -0.54468, format=dms, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Grade II listed buildings in Hertfordshire Grade II listed monuments and memorials Monuments and memorials in Hertfordshire World War I memorials in England Inns of Court

Background

Memorial

See also

References

External links