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Until there's proof that the plaque has been lost, I'll say that it's missing. After all, the plaque from Willesden Town Hall, thought to have been lost, is in a bar in Omaha, Nebraska, so just maybe the LNWR plaque is in storage, or in the hands of a private individual.

I've attached the photos that seem to show the plaque best, all were found by an internet search - if any of these photos are copyright, my apologies for not crediting the photographer, and please contact us. One of the photos is in colour, and may be from the early 1960s. The complete rebuilding of Euston Station took place between 1962-1968, and this seems to be the period during which the plaque went astray, or was disposed of.

The IWM site gives the inscription, bar the names.
www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/61149

Field-Marshal Lord Roberts visited Euston Station yesterday evening for the purpose of unveiling a tablet, which has been placed in a most prominent position on the imposing staircase in the great hall, to the memory of employés of the London and North-Western Railway Company who fell in South Africa. The hall, which was decorated with shields and bunting of red, white, and blue, was filled with Reservists and Volunteers who are in the employment of the company, while a guard of honour of the 2nd Cheshire Railway Engineer Volunteers formed up in front of the staircase. A guard of honour of the Bucks Volunteers was lined up in the station courtyard, and outside the principal entrance to the terminus a large crowd had assembled. Upon the arrival of the Commander-in-Chief he was received by Lord Stalbridge, chairman, Mr. Bickersteth and the Hon. C. N. Lawrence, vice-chairmen, and the following directors of the railway company: - Mr. F. Baynes, Sir T. Brooke, Mr. P. H. Chambres, Mr. W. E. Dorrington, Mr. A. Fletcher, the Hon. Rupert Guinness, the Hon. A. H. Holland-Hibbert, the Hon. W. Lowther, and Lord Rathmore. The following officers were also present: - Major-General Sir A. E. Turner, Major-General L. J. Oliphant, C.B., Colonel Sir Edward Ward, Brigadier-General Eyre Crabbe, C.B., and Colonel F. C. Ricardo. Proceeding to the landing above the place where the memorial tablet was fixed, Lord Roberts received the general salute, and the band of the 2nd Cheshire Volunteers played.

Addressing the Commander-in-Chief, LORD STALBRIDGE said Lord Roberts might be aware that 1,760 of the employés of the London and North-Western Railway went to the war, and of that number 99, whose names were on the tablet, had been killed or had died of disease in South Africa. They all did their duty, and the railway company had endeavoured to do theirs by maintaining, while the men were at the front, those who were near and dear to them, and from the expressions of gratitude received it was evident that the company had not failed in their duty any more than the men had in theirs. A great portion of the number who had died had fallen through disease and not in battle, but they had looked on death as comrades in arms, and he hoped Lord Roberts would tell the survivors that they had all done their duty as Englishmen. He would ask him to unveil the bronze tablet, which would be an ever-enduring memorial to the men.

LORD ROBERTS said it gave him the very greatest pleasure to come there and to unveil the memorial in that hall to the memory of the men of that railway company who lost their lives while fighting for their King and country in South Africa. From what Lord Stalbridge had just said, and from the returns which Sir Frederick Harrison was good enough to give him, he learned that of the 1,760 men of that company who went to the war no less than 1,093 were Reservists. He could assure Lord Stalbridge that the military authorities were deeply sensible of the patriotic and generous manner in which the men - the Reservists and the other men - were treated by the company of which he was the chairman. They were deeply sensible of the manner in which the Reservists hastened to rejoin their colours on the first sound of war, and while they thoroughly appreciated the soldierly and patriotic feeling which induced them to come forward so quickly they felt, too, that they were greatly encouraged to do so by the knowledge that when they returned from South Africa, if they were physically fitted, they would be reinstated in the employment of the company, and while absent those who were near and dear to them would be cared for. He understood that all the men with a few exceptions had been reinstated in the service of the company, and some of them in higher and better paid positions than they had occupied before they went out. This they would feel to be most satisfactory, but in addition to the generous treatment the men received he learned that £19,000 was contributed during their absence to the maintenance of their families. The satisfactory feeling which existed between the employers and employés of that great company must, he thought, in a great measure answer for the flourishing condition in which that company was and the very satisfactory manner in which the administration was carried on. But the company had not only helped the War Office by the assistance it had given to its Regular soldiers; it had in various ways seconded its efforts by helping to maintain the efficiency of the Volunteers, more particularly by giving them facilities for attending camps of instruction. The more he knew of Volunteers the more he was satisfied it was impossible to maintain their efficiency without the support and encouragement of the employers of labour, and he thanked Lord Stalbridge for the assistance his company had given and the excellent example they had set. That memorial was a fitting tribute to the 99 men who laid down their lives in South Africa. He most heartily acknowledged the good service they had done, and appreciated the compliment paid him in asking him to take part in that ceremony.

Lord Roberts then descended the steps to the first landing, and there unveiled the tablet, which is cast in relief and measures 7ft. 6in. by 2ft. It bears the names of the men who fell, their grade, and the stations at which they were employed. Lord Roberts afterwards descended to the floor of the hall and inspected the Reservists and Volunteers, questioning several of the men. Re-ascending to the summit of the staircase, he was thanked by LORD STALBRIDGE , who said that before them were men who were willing and ready again to answer the call of duty as they had done in the past. They were men skilled in every branch of railway work, which they did in London and North-Western style. He would answer for them that they would again respond whenever the call of King and country came. (Loud cheers.)

The COMMANDER -IN -CHIEF , in reply, said it had given him the very greatest pleasure to come and take part in that ceremony. He was acquainted with the excellent work those men had done in South Africa, and knew what use those who knew railway work were to the Army when they first took possession of Bloemfontein and Pretoria. He had been very anxious to know how they were going to manage the railways when they came into their possession, because he was aware that they would have to work and look after them, but he was surprised and delighted to find what a number responded when he asked for those who understood railway work. If it had not been for the assistance given at that time their difficulties would have been greatly increased. There was an officer there that day - Major Twiss - whom he met in the Orange Free State, and who was engaged in railway work under Sir Percy Girouard, and he told him he hoped he would thank the men of the London and North-Western Railway for the work they had performed. He did so most cordially, and he knew that on every occasion when a call was made they would respond as heartily and patriotically as they had done before.

LORD STALBRIDGE called for three cheers for Lord Roberts, which were given and repeated, amid cries of "Bravo, Bobs." The proceedings then terminated.

The Times, Friday 24th April 1903


Of 1,760 men of the LNWR who served in South Africa, 99 died, 1,393 returned to their employment with the company, 191 remained in South Africa, and 35 re-engaged for further service in the Army.

A fantastic post, Berenice. Thank you.

Let's hope it has survived somewhere.

I was curious about the statue (of George Stephenson), did a search, and it turns out that the National Railway Museum in York has it. I'll contact the museum; even if they don't have the plaque, maybe there's a close-up photo of it, with readable names.
blog.railwaymuseum.org.uk/picture-of-the...euston-station-1890/

The statue was reportedly removed from the Great Hall in 1961, so that was likely to be when the plaque went too.
collection.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects/...ephenson-1852-statue

I am currently a volunteer researcher / transcriber on the Historic England 'England's Places' project and am currently looking at the old Euston Station. I found this discussion and would really like to have been able to say more about this war memorial which had been given such a prominent location in the station's Great Hall. I did wonder whether there might have been a Crewe connection, as many of the men who volunteered in the unit concerned are said to have been from that town. I'm afraid I can't add very much to what is set out above, but I did come across an interesting illustration from the Illustrated London News for the 23rd March 1963, of a double page spread of a sketch made for the magazine showing the removal of the Britannia group sculpture from above the Shareholders' Room door at the top of the grand staircase. Half way up the stairs there is a jagged edged hole where the war memorial had been. The sketch is dated March 1963, passengers are still seen using the hall while these works begin, which would suggest to me that the removal of the memorial was quite recent at the time. There are a number of photographs in the Historic England collection taken at the time when it was awaiting demolition in 1962, I attach a snip from the best of these, showing the memorial in the background of a photograph of the George Stephenson statue. It would be good to know what happened to the memorial, the statue (which had already gone by March 1963, and the Britannia group both ended up in the National Railway Museum as mentioned above, it seems at least possible that the memorial went there as well, but I do wonder about Cheshire museums or possibly the Royal Engineers / Army museum? The memorial is to a railway engineers battalion after all. Please bear in mind that the attached photograph extract is copyright to Historic England, the whole photograph can be seen here: historicengland.org.uk/images-books/phot...c59%7c62%7c63&g=3841

Hi, Toby, and thanks for contributing. If the plaque did go to a museum, I would think that it's still there, in storage. It looks to be in lovely condition in the photo, so I can't imagine it going into a skip, and if it had been sold, it should have shown up by now. Sold for scrap? Surely it would be worth more as it was than its value as scrap, and would a record of the sale have been kept?

The problem right now is getting museums to respond to inquiries.