St Mary The Virgin Church Altar Dedication and Painting

St Mary The Virgin Church Altar Dedication and Painting. Photo by Redbridge Museum.
St Mary The Virgin Church Altar Dedication and Painting. Photo by Redbridge Museum.
Address 
St Mary the Virgin Church
426 High Road
Ilford
RDB
IG1 1TX

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.