Ceremony marks 100 years of Portsmouth Naval Memorial

Today, the Royal Navy and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission marked the 100^th anniversary of the Portsmouth Naval Memorial’s unveiling.

A 24-strong Royal Navy Guard of Honour set off from the D-Day Story Museum and marched along the seafront to the memorial. 

Sailors, both regular and reserve, led the procession. Veterans joined them in the march before arriving at Southsea Common where the memorial sits.

The Commonwealth War Graves Torch of Commemoration was part of the proceedings, with the torch-lighting ceremony representing the enormous legacy left by those commemorated by the Portsmouth Naval Memorial.

The Lord Mayor of Portsmouth, Councillor Jason Fazackarley and the Lord-Lieutenant of Hampshire, Nigel Atkinson, along with MPs and local and military dignitaries as well as Portsmouth City Council leader, Councillor Steve Pitt, were in attendance, joined by CWGC representatives Simon Bendry and Vice Admiral Peter Hudson CB CBE.

The visiting dignitaries laid wreaths at the Memorial in memory of those who lost their lives in the World Wars and to mark 100 years since the original unveiling. 

Simon Bendry, Commonwealth War Graves Commission Director of Education, Engagement and Volunteering, said: 
"It is really important that we are marking these milestones after 100 years and that we are re-engaging both with the local community but also the service community considering the legacy that each of these individuals commemorated here at Portsmouth had and looking at that wider context the wider history and ensuring that that is passed on to new generations."

Portsmouth Naval Memorial commemorates 24,652 British and Commonwealth Royal Naval Personnel of the World Wars with no known grave but the sea. 

The memorial was designed by CWGC architect Sir Robert Lorimer with additional sculpture by Henry Poole. It was unveiled to the public by King George V on 14 October 1924.

An extension was added to the Memorial following the Second World War, designed by Sir Edward Maufe with additional sculpture by Charles Wheeler, William McMillan, and Esmond Burton. The Extension was unveiled by Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, on 29 April 1953.