Memorial To Lieutenant Reginald Archibald Cammell, Air Battalion Royal Engineers

Memorial to Lieutenant Reginald Archibald Cammell, Air Battalion Royal Engineers

This Portland stone memorial was erected in 1911 or soon after. It takes the form of an obelisk set on a plinth, with an inscribed panel on the front face. The inscription reads: "In memory of Lieutenant Reginald Archibald Cammell, Air Battalion Royal Engineers who lost his life while flying an aeroplane in Hendon on the 17th September 1911. This Obelisk was erected by his brother Officers in recognition of his services to military aviation".

Lieutenant Reginald Archibald Cammell was commissioned on 25th July 1906 and joined the Army Air Battalion in 1908. He was involved in test flying early aircraft over Salisbury Plain, notably the Bleriot monoplane in 1910 and 1911. He was one of only three officers in the Air Battalion who qualified in all forms of aircraft, balloons, man-lifting kites and aeroplanes. He died in September 1911 when he crashed a new design of aircraft, the Valkyrie, which had recently been issued to the army. He is buried in Aldershot Military Cemetery.

The memorial stands in Queen's Avenue, Aldershot, which was designated as a permanent training ground for the Army in 1852. By 1856 North and South Camps (later to become Stanhope and Marlborough Lines) had been erected, with permanent barracks named the Wellington Lines built between September 1854 and 1859. Aldershot was the first of the large-scale camps and included some of the earliest examples of garrison church, library and gymnasium, though the overall plan of the camp has since been lost to post-war redevelopment.

The memorial is a dignified work of good quality workmanship and materials, and holds group value with the Roman Catholic Garrison Church of St Michael and St George and St Andrew's Church of Scotland, both of which stand opposite and are also listed at Grade II.