A large area between Lichfield street and the technical college was designated a Memorial Gardens and Memorial to commemorate those from the town who were killed in the First and Second World Wars.
Councillor and mayor of the county borough of Burton upon Trent, George Hill, first suggested that the borough install a war memorial on 9 November 1918, two days before the Armistice which ended the First World War. The borough established a War Memorial Committee and a public subscription to raise funds. The subscription, which included sizable contributions from the local Bass and Worthington breweries, raised more than £22,000, of which £5,000 was allocated for the design and construction of the memorial and the remainder distributed to returning local war veterans.
The borough’s town clerk had previously been town clerk of Hull, where the sculptor Henry Charles Fehr had been commissioned to produce a statue of Queen Victoria, erected in 1903. There was no design competition or invitation to tender, so it is possible that the clerk persuaded the borough to appoint Fehr directly. Fehr exhibited a number of designs at the Royal Academy War Memorials Exhibition in October 1919, which was attended by members of the Burton upon Trent War Memorial Committee who selected one of the designs. Featuring bronze figures of Victory, Saint George and the goddess Peace. A suggestion from the public to replace the flanking figures with depictions of a North Staffordshire Regiment soldier and a sailor were rejected by the committee. A contract with Fehr was signed on 25 March 1920 to a value of £4,630.
On top of the main Portland stone pedestal stands the bronze cast winged figure of Victory standing on a globe holding a downwards-pointing sword in her right hand and a laurel wreath in her left.
Saint George stands in armour with his foot on a vanquished dragon, a sword in his right hand and shield in his left.
The goddess Peace holds a bird in her outstretched right hand.
The top four corners contain carved representations of cherubs with winged helmets. The other two sides of the pedestal has bronze plaques dedicating those who died.
The memorial was unveiled on 2 August 1922 by William Legge, 6th Earl of Dartmouth, the Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire. Many local firms gave their employees time off to attend the unveiling. The names of the local dead were not inscribed on the memorial but on panels within the town hall. After the Second World War a small bronze plaque was added to the memorial, extending its dedication to cover that conflict.
Ownership of the memorial passed from the borough to East Staffordshire Borough Council when the latter body was established in 1974.
On 22 June 1979 the memorial was granted statutory protection as a grade II* listed building. In 2000 the statue of Victory was removed temporarily for conservation, funded by a grant from the War Memorials Trust.