Portsmouth Naval Memorial
Portsmouth, England
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The Portsmouth Naval Memorial in Portsmouth, England. This is one of three similar memorials that commemorate the sacrifice of the men of the Royal Navy who have no known grave but the sea. The other two memorials are located at Chatham and Plymouth and they list the names of men who shipped from those ports. The memorials were built after the Great War and expanded after the Second World War to include those lost in that conflict. Panels that surround the memorial list the names of the ships and men who were lost.



The central obelisk of the Portsmouth Naval Memorial.



View of the grounds of the Portsmouth Naval Memorial.



One of the entrances to the Portsmouth Naval Memorial.



The plaque reads: This memorial commemorates officers ranks and ratings of this Port who died at sea during the wars 1914-1918 and 1939-1945. Actions in which they fought are recorded in the registers and on the memorial itself.

Similar memorials at Plymouth and Chatham commemorate men and women of those manning ports while merchant seamen who died from enemy action and have no grave but the sea are commemorated in Liverpool and at Tower Hill in London. The names of those who died during the Second World War whilst serving in the Royal Naval Patrol Service or the Fleet Air Arm and whose graves are unknown are respectively on memorials at Lowestoft and at Lee on-the-Solent.

Other memorials, at Halifax and Victoria in Canada, at Auckland in New Zealand, at Bombay in India, at Chittagong in Bangladesh and at Hong Kong commemorate sailors who came from those parts of the Commonwealth while the Newfounland Memorial at Beaumont Hamel in France bears the names of 229 Newfoundland sailors lost at sea during the First World War.

Of the 24,588 men and women whose names are on this monument 9,666 died during the First World War and 14,922 including 75 from Newfoundland who served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War. All were buried at sea or were otherwise denied by the fortunes of war, a known and honoured grave.

THIS MEMORIAL WAS BUILT AND IS MAINTAINED BY
THE COMMONWEALTH WAR GRAVES COMMISSION

1914-1918 MEMORIAL
ARCHITECT - SIR ROBERT LORIMER     SCULPTOR - HENRY POOLE

1939-1945 EXTENSION
ARCHITECT - SIR EDWARD MAUFE     SCULPTOR - SIR CHARLES WHEELER
(Photos courtesy of Robert Edmonds)
© 2011 Robert Edmonds all rights reserved





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Page published Aug. 14, 2011