A painting set within the carved wooden altar of St. Mary the Virgin Parish Church, Ilford, depicts Christ, following the resurrection. A dedication to the 8th Division, Trench Mortars X & Y Batteries is inscribed on the wood of the altar beneath the painting.
Trench Mortars were portable weapons used in trench warfare to shoot projectiles into enemy lines. X and Y Batteries of the Royal Field Artillery joined the 8th Division of the British Expeditionary Force in France during May 1916. A Division in the British Army comprised of between 10,000 – 20,000 men and was the third biggest grouping, after a Corps (made up of two or more Divisions) and an Army (made up of two or more Corps).
It is not known what the connection is between X and Y Batteries and St. Mary the Virgin church.