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The War Memorial in Victoria Square was designed by Bradford City Architect, Walter Williamson and is in the form of a cenotaph of locally quarried stone from Bolton Woods Quarry. The memorial was unveiled on 1st July 1922, the 6th anniversary of the first day of the Battle of the Somme when the Bradford ‘Pals’ Battalion of the West Yorkshire Regiment suffered massive and severe casualties.

Two bronze figures of a soldier and sailor stand on either side of the monument. They are depicted lunging forward with their rifles as though running into battle. Originally the rifles had bayonets attached but this caused controversy because it was felt to be too aggressive for a memorial sculpture. In 1969 the bayonets were deliberately bent and the council removed them soon after when the monument was cleaned. However the council kept them and they are always re-attached for the annual Armistice Day memorial service in November.

High on the front face of the monument there is a simple the cross which symbolises ‘sacrifice’ and a wreath containing the words ‘Pro Patri Mori’ (they died for their country) symbolises ‘grief ’.

A bronze plaque near the bottom of the cenotaph carries the following inscription (which was obviously updated later to include World War II and other conflicts):

TO THE IMMORTAL HONOUR OF
THE MEN AND WOMEN OF THE
CITY OF BRADFORD
WHO SERVED THEIR KING AND EMPIRE
1914-1918 1939-1945
AND IN OTHER CONFLICT
IN PROUD AND
GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE
(SE1632 : Dedication Plaque, Victoria Square War Memorial)

The stone base carries the phrase THEIR NAME LIVETH FOR EVERMORE , a phrase commonly used on war memorials from World War I.

Link (Archive Link ) Bradford Sculpture Trail (pdf document)
Link Combined World War I and II Memorial – Bradford, UK - World War I Memorials and Monuments on Waymarking.com