This unusual wayside cross at Fox Corner near Bagshot deserves a bit of an explanation. Not far from here, thousands of men underwent training at the camps at Bullswater and Pirbright, and the memorial was unveiled in January 1922 to commemorate the many men who passed this spot on their way to the front, and who never returned. Bridley Manor was not a parish, nor a village, but the home of Mr & Mrs Cecil Braithwaite, whose benevolence funded the cross, and the site on which the memorial stands was a gift from a Captain T. W. Craig.
The Woking News & Mail reported at the time; “Addressing the gathering, Major-General R. H. K. Butler, K. C. B., K. C. M. G. said, ‘I unveil this memorial in memory of the many men who passed this spot when training in this vicinity. During the years of the war there were tens of thousands of men who trained in the vicinity, not only from all parts of the United Kingdom, but also from the Dominions and Colonies. The cross stands here as a memorial to the representatives of the British nation from all parts of the world. Individually the names of those who fell will be found recorded on those simple crosses on the battlefield and regimental memorials in all parts of the world. The cross I am unveiling, without any individual name, stands as a memorial to all those gallant men who answered the call of duty and went out to fight for their King and country in the great cause of justice and freedom. They gave their lives for the integrity of the Empire, and to bring peace and prosperity to this country. On the cross are the words ‘Lest we forget’, and it is for all of us to see that they did not die in vain.’ ”
