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Vandalised War Memorial Restored to Former Glory
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission is delighted to announce that work to repair damage to the naval war memorial on Plymouth Hoe will take place next week. The Commission was determined to replace the stolen bronze name plaques in time for Armed Forces Day events, following the huge public outcry which followed the thefts.
The first of the plaques, listing the names of Royal Marines who died during the Second World War, was stolen just hours after a Veterans' Day event on 29 June 2008. The CWGC, veterans and families of serving personnel condemned the theft of the plaques. Another three plaques were stolen the following night. Two of the plaques were later sold for scrap, raising just a few hundred pounds, but were recovered. Two others were damaged beyond repair. The cost to replace them is over £17,000.
The Commission is indebted to the people of Plymouth who united to condemn the thefts and helped apprehend some of those involved in the vandalism. Val Sargeson, UK Area Director of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission said: “In a town with such strong ties to the sea and the armed forces, mindless acts such as these will always be roundly condemned. Preserving the memory of those brave men and women who fought and died for their country during two World Wars is a never-ending vigil.”
The work to reattach the panels will begin on Monday 22 June and will be complete in time for Armed Forces Day events of that week.
Media are invited to film, photograph and interview Commission staff on Tuesday 23 June.
Notes to editors
1. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission is responsible for marking and maintaining the graves of those members of the Commonwealth forces who died during the two world wars, for building and maintaining memorials to the dead whose graves are unknown and for providing records and registers of these 1.7 million burials and commemorations found in most countries throughout the world. For more information visit www.cwgc.org
2. Two new panels have been manufactured and two others were successfully recovered. The two new panels measure 990mm x 960mm and 355mm x 960mm. The overall cost of the project, including manufacture, stone masonry work, etc is over £17,000.
3. The naval war memorial on Plymouth Hoe commemorates officer, ranks and ratings of who died at sea during the First and Second World Wars. Actions in which they fought are recorded in the registers and on the memorial itself. Sailors from other navies of the Commonwealth who were lost at sea in those two world wars are also remembered here.
The names of over 23,000 men and women are recorded on the memorial; of these some 7,000 died during the First World War and 16,000 during the Second World War. All were buried or lost at sea or were otherwise denied, by the fortunes of war, a known and honoured grave.
