Royal Naval Cemetery

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. The site overlooks Portland Harbour, and is found below the main entrance to the Verne Citadel (HM Prison The Verne). As the name suggests, the graveyard holds deceased servicemen and officers of Portland's Royal Navy which was stationed at the island until 1995. The cemetery holds 140 identified casualties in total to date, and is owned by the Ministry of Defence.

History

Part of the Royal Naval Cemetery.

As a quiet place of reflection for the families of those sailors and soldiers remembered, the cemetery was first laid out during the 19th century - in 1876. With the establishment of a naval base at Portland Harbour, and the Verne Citadel fortification, a number of fatalities began to occur. By 1907 the number of army burials had declined, as the number of naval burials increased. Between 1898 and 1907 there were 28 army burials and 87 naval, while between 1907 and 1912 there were only 6 army burials but the number of naval personnel stood at 68. Not all of these were at the Royal Naval Cemetery though.[1]

The cemetery was transferred to the Admiralty in 1907 and was extended in 1914 "for the interment of persons of His Majesty's service, whether naval, military or civil, and the members of their families who shall die in or near Portland."[2] 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.[3] The cemetery remains well looked after to date and features a small amount of newer burials of recently deceased servicemen.

Directly north of the cemetery, just across the main pathway, was an anti-aircraft gun emplacement in use during World War II, although it has now been destroyed.[4]

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.[5]

During March 2014 the site was a victim of vandalism and sparked local outcry - a number of headstones were damaged and the cemetery's small storage building was heavily damaged. This building, which had been used as a hideout, was soon removed from the site.

Burials and memorials

Seaman Jack Foreman Mantle is buried at the cemetery, a Leading Seaman who was killed on 4 July 1940 during a German air raid on HMS Foylebank which was berthed in Portland's harbour at the time. Although mortally wounded, Mantle manned the starboard 20mm pom-pom gun until he died which earned himself a posthumous Victoria Cross for his actions. Mantle's left leg was shattered by the blast from a bomb early in the action, and further wounds occurred as he continued to operate the gun. He continued firing by hand when Foylebank's electric power failed, until he collapsed and died. This was only the second occasion that the Victoria Cross has been awarded for action in the United Kingdom.[6]

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.[7]

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 after a faulty torpedo sank the submarine.[8][9] 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.

On the night of 17 October 1948 a motor pinnace containing fifty-one liberty men from HMS Illustrious was sunk in Portland harbour with a loss of 29 lives. The pinnace left Weymouth pier shortly after 10pm, within rough weather which had not varied appreciably since noon. The incident had occurred as the boat was overloaded and should not have contained more than 40 men, and the apparent failure to reduce speed or to turn back to Weymouth pier when the boat encountered rougher water on coming out of the lee of the breakwater and entering Portland harbour. The boat was steered directly into a head sea and foundered when at a distance of only 50 yards from Illustrious. In the end 23 men were recovered, and of these one died without regaining consciousness.[10] 16 of the men lost in the event are buried in the cemetery.[11]

In May 1995, a memorial stone was moved to the cemetery from Portland's naval base, in the time leading up to its closure. The stone is in remembrance of HMS Osprey personnel who lost their lives in post-war times. It was originally commissioned following the loss of the Ship's Flight helicopter of HMS Brilliant off Vipingo, Kenya, on 14 May 1989. It contains names of six members of the Royal Navy and one member of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.[12]

References

  1. ↑ Carter, Geoffrey (1986). The Royal Navy at Portland since 1845. Maritime Books. p. 28. ISBN 978-0907771296.
  2. ↑ Carter, Geoffrey (1986). The Royal Navy at Portland since 1845. Maritime Books. p. 28. ISBN 978-0907771296.
  3. ↑ Reading Room Manchester. "Cemetery Details". CWGC. Retrieved 2012-11-22.
  4. ↑ http://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=1413297&sort=2&type=&rational=a&class1=None&period=None&county=93347&district=93625&parish=93626&place=&recordsperpage=10&source=text&rtype=&rnumber=&p=17&move=n&nor=294&recfc=0
  5. ↑ The Royal Marines Charitable Trust Fund. "Shelley Robertson is fundraising for The Royal Marines Charitable Trust Fund". Justgiving.com. Retrieved 2012-11-22.
  6. ↑ 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.
  7. ↑ "BBC News - Dorset coastguard gallantry medal given to navy museum". Bbc.co.uk. 2011-01-26. Retrieved 2012-11-22.
  8. ↑ "Dorset - HMS Sidon (Submarine) Accident 1955". Roll of Honour. Retrieved 2012-11-22.
  9. ↑ "Portland Port, Portland, Dorset". Geoffkirby.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-11-22.
  10. ↑ http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1949/feb/09/loss-of-naval-pinnace-inquiry
  11. ↑ Carter, Geoffrey (1986). The Royal Navy at Portland since 1845. Maritime Books. p. 109. ISBN 978-0907771296.
  12. ↑ Pomeroy, Colin A. (1995). Military Dorset Today: Second World War Scenes and Settings That Can Still Be Seen 50 Years on. Silver Link Publishing Ltd. p. 130. ISBN 978-1857940770.

External links

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