CHATHAM NAVAL MEMORIAL


Chatham Naval Memorial

LOCATION


Great Lines
Gillingham
ME7 5DQ

Chatham Naval Memorial is a large obelisk situated in the town of Chatham, Kent, which is in the Medway Towns. The memorial is a feature of the Great Lines Heritage Park. The huge expanse of the Great Lines was in its own right a layer of defence to protect Chatham Dockyard from attack. After the First World War, an appropriate way had to be found of commemorating those members of the Royal Navy who had no known grave, the majority of deaths having occurred at sea where no permanent memorial could be provided. An Admiralty committee recommended that the three manning ports in Great Britain - Chatham, Plymouth and Portsmouth - should each have an identical memorial of unmistakable naval form, an obelisk, which would serve as a leading mark for shipping. The memorials were designed by Sir Robert Lorimer, who had already carried out a considerable amount of work for the Commission, with sculpture by Henry Poole. The Chatham Naval Memorial was unveiled by the Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VIII) on 26 April 1924. After the Second World War it was decided that the naval memorials should be extended to provide space for commemorating the naval dead without graves of that war, but since the three sites were dissimilar, a different architectural treatment was required for each. The architect for the Second World War extension at Chatham was Sir Edward Maufe (who also designed the Air Forces memorial at Runnymede) and the additional sculpture was by Charles Wheeler and William McMillan. The Extension was unveiled by the Duke of Edinburgh on 15 October 1952. Chatham Naval Memorial commemorates 8,517 sailors of the First World War and 10,098 of the Second World War.

LOCATION


PEOPLE COMMEMORATED ON THIS MEMORIAL


22 September 1914 (1)
JOHNSON R W Capt HMS CRESSY
3 November 1914 (1)
HOULCROFT E ERA 3 HMS D5
28 November 1914 (1)
MORRIS G J AB HMS E15
1 December 1914 (1)
KENNETT T E AB HMS D2
31 December 1914 (1)
SMITH J A Tel HMS C23
1 January 1915 (1)
WATERS W Eng Lt HMS FORMIDABLE
7 January 1915 (1)
FITZGERALD J P LS HMS C31
21 January 1915 (7)
BLACKBURN L LS HMS E10
DRISCOLL H AB HMS E10
HANSON R ERA 1 HMS E10
KEENE A Sto 1 HMS E10
LAMPARD E W Sto 1 HMS E10
LAWRENCE P H Sto 1 HMS E10
UPTON E E L LS HMS E10
5 August 1915 (2)
DUNCAN W C ERA 2 HMS C33
WHARTON C J AB HMS C33
16 August 1915 (1)
KIRMAN G ERA 2 HMS B6
29 August 1915 (4)
DARBY E J AB HMS C29
HOBBS C E AB HMS C29
LANE G E AB HMS C29
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