Sheerness War Memorial

Sheerness War Memorial

War memorial unveiled on 29 April 1922, erected by voluntary subscription and dedicated by Admiral Sir Hugh Even-Thomas. The sculptors were Messrs R L Boulton and Sons.

The memorial is constructed from re-constituted stone and comprises a tall square-sectioned plinth standing on a stepped base. Surmounting the plinth is a figure of Liberty, depicted in classical robes with her right hand holding a torch aloft and her left hand holding a scroll. The memorial faces south-west.

The inscriptions are cast into the monument across its four faces. The front (south-west) of the cornice bears the words "IN GLORIOUS MEMORY OF THE MEN OF SHEERNESS". The base reads "TRUE LOVE BY LIFE, TRUE LOVE BY DEATH IS TRIED / LIVE THOU FOR ENGLAND, WE FOR ENGLAND DIED". The south-west face of the plinth is inscribed with a dedication to sailors, soldiers, airmen and citizens who fell in the Great War (1914-1919), and specifically commemorates the 1,070 officers and men of HMS Bulwark and HMS Princess Irene lost in Sheerness Harbour by internal explosion on 26 November 1914 and 27 May 1915 respectively. This face lists 86 naval names, 164 army names, and 3 air force names. The Roll of Honour continues on the south-east and north-east faces, totalling 253 names.

The north-west face commemorates 77 citizens lost in HMS Princess Irene, 6 naval names, 5 army names, and 6 citizens killed in enemy aircraft raids.

A separate tablet on the front of the monument reads "ALSO IN COMMEMORATION OF THOSE WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR 1939-1945 AND WHOSE NAMES ARE INSCRIBED IN THE BOOK OF REMEMBERANCE IN MINSTER ABBEY CHURCH".

The memorial honours servicemen of Sheerness who fell during the First World War, together with those who died on the Home Front. The Roll of Honour includes three Royal Air Force pilots: William, James and John McCudden, brothers who all died in action. James McCudden died in July 1918, age 23, as the most decorated officer in the Royal Air Force at that time, having been awarded the Military Medal, Distinguished Service Order and Bar, Military Cross, Croix de Guerre, and the Victoria Cross.

The memorial records the significant civilian and military casualties suffered in Sheerness through two naval tragedies. HMS Bulwark, a Channel fleet vessel, was destroyed by violent internal explosion in November 1914, resulting in the loss of over 700 lives; the cause was never discovered. Approximately six months later in May 1915, the minelayer HMS Princess Irene was destroyed by internal explosion shortly after being loaded with her first cargo of mines, with over 300 lives lost.

The figure of Liberty is unusually depicted in re-constituted stone (possibly due to wartime shortage of natural stone) as a secular, non-triumphalist tribute. She is powerfully represented draped in classical robes, holding her torch high above her head. This subject matter is exceptional among First World War memorials.