The tablets in their original position at Wembley.
Wembley’s Olympic Roll of Honour Unveiled 75 Years Ago
by Philip Barker
A fanfare sounded from the trumpeters of the Household Brigade, as 75 years ago this week plaques commemorating the great deeds of the 1948 London Olympics were unveiled at Wembley Stadium in London.
The Ceremony took place in the shadow of the twin towers and the two stone tablets were placed either side of the Royal Entrance.
“The ceremony was a simple one and yet at the same time was impressive and dignified,” said a report in the Wembley News, a local newspaper.
The idea of placing a list of the Champions outside the stadium had been established in 1928 when a roll of honour was displayed in Amsterdam.
The Olympic rules in 1948 included a clause which specified that “The names of the winners shall be inscribed upon the walls of the stadium where the Games have been opened and closed.”
The London Organising Committee met in April 1949 and approved a design submitted by
Hugo Powell, a sculptor who lived at Reigate in Surrey.
A fee of around £900 was agreed for the work which was to be completed in six months.
Powell was asked to complete a sample section for the approval of Wembley Stadium supremo Sir Arthur Elvin.
“The sample may take longer than will perhaps seem likely to the layman. I anticipate the whole job will be completed in six months. I cannot make any legal guarantees as contingencies in the course of such work may delay production,” Powell warned.
In fact Powell later revealed that “I had to use considerable persuasion to get my potter to complete the job in a reasonable time as the firing and glazing was a lengthier and more arduous performance than our initial test showed.”
Even so, work was nearing completion in October 1949, Powell wrote to the Olympic organisers.
“The commemorative plaques for the Olympic Games are now rapidly approaching completion. If there are any further corrections to be made, I would be very glad to receive them as rapidly as possible as any corrections made after the next week can only be made at a very disproportionate loss of time in finishing the job.”
The work was in fact completed by early 1950 and Powell travelled to Wembley to meet officials and also representatives of the Leeds Fireclay company who were to install the plaques at the stadium.
Each stone plaque weighed approximately 12 tons.
A date had been fixed for the official unveiling; it took place on Friday April 14th, 1950.
“The plaque to be unveiled will ever remind people of an historic and most important event for the Olympic Games and for the world. For the Olympic Games because it proved the vitality, and so successfully secured the continuity of the Games and for the world because it proved the lasting value of getting people of different countries to meet and to know and understand each other,” said IOC Member Lord Aberdare.
The tablets were to have been unveiled by Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin but illness prevented him from attending, so it fell to the London Olympic Organising Committee Chairman Lord Burghley to perform the task.
“This was Wembley’s finest hour. Many great occasions of sport and other occasions have been witnessed here on this ground, but none, I believe, had the same deep and significant importance as the two and a half weeks during the Olympic Games,” said Burghley.
“It is very right and proper that the final act should take place here at Wembley. The pages of the book of the Olympic Games have been turned, and we are now at the last page, the book is now going to be closed.”
Harold Abrahams was another Olympic champion who had worked for the Organising Committee.
“What memories leapt to mind as Lord Burghley pulled the cord and released the draperies to reveal the roll of honour,” he wrote in World Sport Magazine.
Amongst those who watched proceedings that day was the undoubted star of those Games, Fanny Blankers-Koen of the Netherlands.
“She sat almost next to me as I read her thrice repeated name, perhaps the greatest woman athlete ever. I have never met a more honest one,” Abrahams continued.
In fact, Blankers-Koen won four gold medals but one was with the relay squad.
“I think it is a magnificent thing that so long as Wembley Stadium stands, the names will remain but what is more important is the memory of that fortnight of friendly rivalry between all those who did not win but nevertheless succeeded in spreading the spirit of the games far and wide.”
Wembley Mayor Sidney Newland, his wife Alice and Town Clerk Kenneth Tansley were also among the guests along with Wembley’s two members of Parliament, Eric Bullus and Ronald Russell.
The formal unveiling Ceremony came to an end with “Non Nobis Domine” by Roger Quilter, the music used as the Olympic hymn in 1948.
All were invited to a celebratory lunch by Elvin who addressed the diners. “I would like to take this opportunity on behalf of myself and my colleagues of thanking every one of you for honouring us with your company. The holding of the 1948 Olympiad here wrote a most illustrious page in our Wembley history, and we are very proud and pleased to have had this great occasion permanently recorded in the manner which it has been today.”
Grace was spoken by the Reverend Henry Elsey of St Michaels Church, Tokyngton, in the Wembley district. Sir Frederick Rowlands, Lord Mayor of London led the toast to the Olympic Games and Lord Burghley.
“These Olympic Games naturally bring one’s ideas to all that is highest and best in our national character,” he said. “Alliance to the Games creates an atmosphere which no other event of a similar nature can possibly produce. The interest aroused throughout the world is immense and the mature understanding between the competitors and the appreciation shown in the success of others is a good augury for the future.”
The plaques remained in place until demolition of the old stadium began in 2001.
These were then removed from their position by Hirst Conservation, specialists in the restoration and preservation of monuments.
Experts took moulds and applied protective coverings before the plaques were removed.
They were protected with Plastazote within a wooden casing.
At the workshops the plaques were cleaned and any damage to the lettering and tiles was repaired. An acrylic resin varnish was added to provide further protection.
After repairs they were placed in glass cases at ground level on the new stadium complex to ensure accessibility.
They are now accompanied by large photographs depicting many of the stars of the Games.
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