Reasons for Designation
Sheerness War Memorial is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* It is a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by this community in the First World War.
* The monument is one of few memorials to remember civilian losses suffered during the First World War, in particular those who lost their lives in air raids.
* The listing of civilian names alongside military names reflects the strength and importance of the relationship between the citizens of Sheerness, many of whom were employed in the Dockyard, and the Navy for which the Dockyard was a strategic base.
* The monument remembers those who died in service in the Air Force, reflecting the early development of aviation as military tool which later made a fundamental contribution to the Allied victory in the Second World War.
* The figure of Liberty is a particularly unusual subject in First World War memorials, as a secular and non-triumphalist tribute to The Fallen.
Details
SHEERNESS
933/0/10018 BRIDGE ROAD
11-NOV-09 Sheerness War Memorial
II
War memorial. Unveiled 29 April 1922, the sculptors were Messrs R L Boulton and Sons.
Cast from re-constituted stone, the memorial comprises a tall plinth, square in section, on a stepped base. On the plinth stands the figure of Liberty, her right hand holding a torch aloft and her left hand holding a scroll. The memorial faces to the south-west.
To the front (south-west) of the monument, cast into the cornice of the plinth, are the words:
IN GLORIOUS MEMORY OF THE MEN OF SHEERNESS
To the base of the plinth are the words:
TRUE LOVE BY LIFE, TRUE LOVE BY DEATH IS TRIED / LIVE THOU FOR ENGLAND, WE FOR ENGLAND DIED
On the south-west face of the plinth are the words:
SAILORS, SOLDIERS, AIRMEN / AND CITIZENS. / WHO FELL IN THE GREAT WAR / 1914-1919, / AND ALSO OF / 1070 OFFICERS AND MEN / OF H.M.S. BULWARK AND / H.M.S. PRINCESS IRENE / LOST IN SHEERNESS HARBOUR / BY INTERNAL EXPLOSION / NOV. 26. 1914 AND MAY 27. 1915. / NAVY / (86 names) / ARMY / (164 names) / AIRFORCE / (3 names)
The Roll of Honour continues on the south-east and north-east faces of the plinth, and bears a total of 253 names.
The north-west face of the plinth reads:
CITIZENS LOST IN H.M.S. PRINCESS IRENE / (77 names) / KILLED IN ENEMY AIRCRAFT RAIDS. / NAVY / (6 names) / ARMY / (5 names) / CITIZENS / (6 names)
A separate tablet to 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
HISTORY:
The war memorial was erected to honour the servicemen of Sheerness, who fell during the First World War, as well as those who died on the Home Front in Sheerness during the course of the war. It was paid for by voluntary subscription and unveiled on 29 April 1922 by Admiral Sir Hugh Even-Thomas.
The Roll of Honour of servicemen who fell in action includes three Royal Air Force pilots. The pilots were three members of the same family, brothers William, James and John McCudden, all of whom died in action. James McCudden died in July 1918, age 23, as the most decorated officer in the recently formed Royal Air Force, having won the Military Medal, Distinguished Service Order and Bar, Military Cross, Croix de Guerre and the Victoria Cross.
Sheerness suffered a great number of civilian and military casualties at home, through the tragedies of HMS Bulwark, and of HMS Princess Irene, both docked in Sheerness Harbour. In November 1914 HMS Bulwark, part of the Channel fleet, was destroyed by a violent internal explosion. The cause of the explosion was never discovered but the incident resulted in the loss of over 700 lives. Approximately six months later, in May 1915, a minelayer called HMS Princess Irene was destroyed by an internal explosion shortly after having been loaded with her first cargo of mines. Over 300 lives were lost. Sheerness War Memorial remembers military and civilian lives lost in both tragedies, as well as those lost through enemy aircraft raids.
The figure of Liberty is cast in re-constituted stone, possibly due to a shortage of natural stone. Liberty is a secular, non-triumphalist figure, unusual in a First World War memorial; here she is powerfully depicted, draped in classical robes, holding her torch high above her head.
SOURCES:
United Kingdom National Inventory of War Memorials, held by the Imperial War Museum.
REASON FOR DESIGNATION
Sheerness War Memorial is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* It is a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by this community in the First World War.
* The monument is one of few memorials to remember civilian losses suffered during the First World War, in particular those who lost their lives in air raids.
* The listing of civilian names alongside military names reflects the strength and importance of the relationship between the citizens of Sheerness, many of whom were employed in the Dockyard, and the Navy for which the Dockyard was a strategic base.
* The monument remembers those who died in service in the Air Force, reflecting the early development of aviation as a military tool which later made a fundamental contribution to the Allied victory in the Second World War.
* The figure of Liberty is a particularly unusual subject in First World War memorials, as a secular and non-triumphalist tribute to The Fallen.
This List entry has been amended to add sources for War Memorials Online and the War Memorials Register. These sources were not used in the compilation of this List entry but are added here as a guide for further reading, 30 November 2016.
