The Cenotaph was unveiled on 24 May 1923 (Empire Day) by the then Governor Sir Reginald Edward Stubbs. At that time, the location was still on the waterfront. Initially built to commemorate the dead of the First World War, inscribed with the words "The Glorious Dead", the dates 1939–1945 were added later to honour victims of the Second World War, and the Chinese characters 英魂不朽 浩氣長存 ("May their martyred souls be immortal, and their noble spirits endure") were added in the 1970s to commemorate those who lost their lives during the Japanese invasion.