The skilled employees there began manufacturing artillery shells and other munitions, in addition to fulfilling a demand for new locomotives, wagons, and coaches to transport troops and equipment.

Wynn Owen also designed a war memorial for the North London Railway, which was controlled by, and later absorbed into, the LNWR.

The memorial consists of a single obelisk, 13 metres (43 feet) high in Portland stone, which stands on a tall pedestal and a circular base of grey granite.

Further tablets were added later to commemorate casualties from the Second World War, by which time the LNWR had been merged into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway.

The company's in-house magazine, the LNWR Gazette, also saw it as symbolising the unity of living and dead Christian believers.

[10] Wynn Owen described the obelisk as "entirely devoid of ornament so that the eye is drawn up to the crowning element of the design [the crosses] without distraction".

Haig gave a speech in which he praised the LNWR's contribution to the war effort and its "splendid conduct and loyal support throughout the great struggle".

Over 8,000 people attended, and the company laid on dedicated trains to bring employees and their relatives to London from across its network, including Crewe, Wolverton (home of another major works), Manchester and Leeds.

[3][7][8] Sykes laid the first wreath at the base of the obelisk, and other employees who had received military decorations formed a square between the memorial and the rest of the crowd.

Gabriel Koureas, an art historian, argued that the purpose of the grand unveiling ceremony was to erase "revolutionary feeling" among the work force and create a new sense of unity based on the official narrative of the war.

The strikers were condemned in the press as revolutionaries and anarchists, to which the union took great offence, pointing out that many of its members had only recently returned from the war.

Haig referred to the "burden these men bore so bravely",[18] and Lawrence told the crowd: We, the survivors, should dedicate ourselves anew to the service of our country, and that, especially in our character of employers and employees, we should strive to act in a spirit of mutual sympathy, of mutual forbearance, of absolute rectitude of purpose, and even of magnanimity if we wish to assist in the binding up of the wounds of our common country, and so prove ourselves worthy of the sacrifice these men have made for us.

To smooth industrial relations, Lawrence preferred to focus on the company's war record and the actions of railwaymen who had received decorations.

[20] Koureas suggested that Sykes, wearing his Victoria Cross, exemplified the "ideal working-class man: unselfish, patriotic, and obedient".

[21] The company also produced a paper Roll of Honour, a copy of which was presented to the nearest living relative of each of the dead.

[25] The listing document describes the memorial as "an eloquent witness to the tragic impact of world events upon, and the sacrifices made by, the workforce of the LNWR, one of Britain's principal railway companies".