[1] Plans to build a permanent memorial at the University of Reading unfolded in 1919, when William Macbride Childs, the principal of the college, printed a pamphlet suggesting several ideas.

[2] The final design was ultimately made by Herbert Maryon, a teacher of sculpture at the university;[2] he would later gain broad recognition in a second career at the British Museum, where he conserved many of the finds from the Sutton Hoo ship-burial, termed "the most important single discovery in British archaeology.

[2] The finished memorial, which cost £2,750, is a 60-foot-tall (18 m) brick tower with a clock, a bell, and a bronze roll of honour listing the names of more than 140 people who died in the war.

[6] On 12 February 1987, the memorial was designated a grade II listed building, a status given for its special architectural or historic interest.

[7] On 9 November 2018, the University of Reading announced plans to add nine additional names of servicemen who died in the First World War to the memorial.