Royal Naval Cemetery

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The Royal Naval Cemetery and Portland Harbour seen from the Verne Citadel entrance.

Royal Naval Cemetery (once known as Naval and Military Cemetery) is a cemetery on the Isle of Portland, Dorset, England. It is located above Portland Harbour and below the main entrance to the Verne Citadel (HM Prison The Verne). As the name suggests, the graveyard holds deceased servicemen and officer of the area's Royal Navy which was stationed at Portland until 1995.

History

Part of the Royal Naval Cemetery.

As a quiet place of reflection for the families of those sailors remembered, the cemetery holds 140 identified casualites in total. Burials of the World War I (1914-1918) total 65, where 5 remain unidentified. The majority of World War II (1939-1945) graves are together in the Church of England section, near the Cross of Sacrifice, which itself was erected after the first war to commemorate the men near the southern wall of the western part overlooking the harbour. Of the buried, 10 are unidentified, whilst there are burials for 1 Norwegian Merchant Navy seaman and 12 German airmen. In addition, there is a First World War Special Memorial to a casualty buried in the churchyard of Portland's St. George's Church.[1] The cemetery remains well looked after to date and features a small amount of newer burials of recently deceased servicemen.

The victims of the 1957 HMS Sidon torpedo explosion are found in the cemetery. The event occurred in Portland's harbour with the loss of 13 lives.[2][3] One week later the wreck was raised and towed into a causeway on Chesil Beach. The bodies of the 13 casualties were removed and buried with full honours in the cemetery.

Seaman Jack Foreman Mantle who was killed on 4 July 1940 during a German air raid on Portland, was buried at the cemetery. Although mortally wounded, Mantle manned his gun until he died which earned himself a posthumous Victoria Cross for his actions.[4]

Dorset coastguard Robert Henry Treadwell, who was one of two coastguards who died trying to rescue the crew of a navy landing craft wrecked on Chesil Beach on 13 October 1944, was also buried at the cemetery. Both guards were swept away trying to secure a line to the stricken craft. The rare Silver Sea Gallantry Medal was posthumously awarded to Treadwell, which was donated to Portsmouth Museum by Treadwell's step-son in 2011. The Silver Sea Gallantry Medal was only awarded seven times between 1937 and 1947.[5]

In recent times, almost £20,000 was raised for The Royal Marines Charitable Trust Fund which was in the memory of Royal Marine James Wright who was killed in Afghanistan in 2011. The main part of this event involved a group of family, friends and Royal Marines from 42 Commando doing a memorial walk from Bickleigh Barracks to the Royal Naval Cemetery over a period of 8 days, with the walk totalling 180 Miles. The donations totaling £19,213 was almost double the original hope of gaining £10,000.[6]

References

  1. ↑ Reading Room Manchester. "Cemetery Details". CWGC. Retrieved 2012-11-22. 
  2. ↑ "Dorset - HMS Sidon (Submarine) Accident 1955". Roll of Honour. Retrieved 2012-11-22. 
  3. ↑ "Portland Port, Portland, Dorset". Geoffkirby.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-11-22. 
  4. ↑ The Dedicated Partnership - promoting tourism - http://www.dedicate.co.uk (1940-07-04). "Portland Royal Navy Cemetery in Portland". UK Attraction. Retrieved 2012-11-22. 
  5. ↑ "BBC News - Dorset coastguard gallantry medal given to navy museum". Bbc.co.uk. 2011-01-26. Retrieved 2012-11-22. 
  6. ↑ The Royal Marines Charitable Trust Fund. "Shelley Robertson is fundraising for The Royal Marines Charitable Trust Fund". Justgiving.com. Retrieved 2012-11-22. 

External links

Coordinates: 50°33′55″N 2°26′12″W / 50.5654°N 2.4366°W / 50.5654; -2.4366

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