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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