Discussions regarding the erection of a war memorial in Finchley commenced in early 1919 and it was decided that it would take the form of an institute with costs to be raised by public subscription. By 1922 the money raised was not enough to cover these plans and so it was proposed that the funds which had been raised would be allocated to the Finchley United Services Club, which had recently been purchased by the Finchley branch of the Royal British Legion. In May 1925 the secretary of the club, Captain Harry Thrush, proposed that a memorial should be built in front of the clubhouse and by August that year the design of the memorial had been decided upon. On 8 November 1925 the memorial was unveiled by Lord Lascelles and dedicated by the Reverend E Pelham Thompson. Following the Second World War the dates of that conflict were added to the memorial.