Memorial

The Cenotaph (initially called the Singapore War Memorial and the Straits Settlement Memorial) is a war memorial located in Esplanade Park, Singapore. It is the first war memorial constructed in Singapore and the only one in the country to commemorate those from the Straits Settlements who died in World War I (WWI) and World War II (WWII). Historically, Remembrance Day and ANZAC Day ceremonies have been held at The Cenotaph. Plans for a memorial to honour those from the Straits Settlements who died in WWI were first considered in 1918. Four designs were submitted to a committee, with the winning design being inspired by London's Cenotaph. Its foundation was laid by Governor of the Straits Settlements Lawrence Nunns Guillemard on 15 November 1920, and was untouched for over a year before construction was expedited with the assistance of Swan & Maclaren, with its last stone laid on 16 March 1922. The Cenotaph opened on 31 March 1922, where it commemorated those from the Straits Settlements who died in WWI. There were plans to commemorate those who died in WWII introduced in May 1947 by extending and adding urns to The Cenotaph as well as building a public park around it. The extension and urn plans were initially shelved in September 1948 due to a lack of public interest, though were approved in July 1950. Works for those plans began in August and was completed by 29 April 1951. The Cenotaph was collectively gazetted as a National monument alongside the Lim Bo Seng Memorial and Tan Kim Seng Fountain as the "Esplanade Park Memorials" on 28 December 2010.