Britain at War – August 2019

THE ROYAL Marines Charity is

seeking donations to help restore

one of the Royal Navy’s most

important commemorative sites after

it was partially demolished by a car.

The 63rd Royal Naval Division

Memorial in Gavrelle, France, is

situated alongside the Arras-Douai

highway – 1917 this location formed

part of the German front line.

Here, the division’s involvement in

Battle of Arras cost it 3,794 killed,

wounded and missing over the

Donations Sought to Repair

Royal Navy and Royal Marine

Memorial After Crash

The Royal Naval Division Memorial in Gavrelle, prior to the crash.

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Heugh Battery Saved by Heavy Metal

course of six days. The period also

included the single bloodiest day in

the Royal Marine history, when the

corps sustained 846 dead.

The memorial was dedicated in

May 1991 and continues to be well

visited. It comprises a three-tonne

anchor recovered and donated

by the Royal Navy, set inside the

recreated ruins of a red-brick

cottage similar to those found

locally a century ago, and was

recently badly damaged when it

was struck by a French motorist

• it has not been reported what
  happened to the driver.
  The commemorative structure
  was originally funded by donations
  from Royal Navy and Royal Marine
  associations from across the UK.
  While the Royal Navy is pursuing
  legal efforts to recover some of
  the anticipated costs in the
  restoration, the service has stated
  that additional contributions may
  be required.

The damage to the memorial. (BOTH IMAGES CROWN COPYRIGHT/ROYAL NAVY)

Heugh Battery Museum’s Diane Stephens (centre) with singer Joakim Brodén (left) and

Pär Sundström (bassist) of Sabaton. (SABATON)

HARTLEPOOL’S HEUGH Battery

Museum has been saved from

closure after a Swedish heavy

metal band helped pushed

the fund-raising efforts over the

museum’s £5,000 target.

Sabaton – which bases its songs

and lyrical themes on events in

warfare – was looking for locations

for a photoshoot ahead of the

release of its new album, The

Great War, when it heard about the

museum’s struggle to remain open.

The award-winning band, being

passionate about military history,

released a charity T-shirt showing

one of Heugh Battery’s guns and

within days its fans had donated

£4,220.

“The money will ensure that the

museum will be able to pay its basic

outgoings for the next 18 months,”

manager Diane Stephens told

Britain at War. “It will give us the

opportunity to go to other funders

now for some longer-term projects to

secure the museum’s future.”

Heugh Battery is the only Great

War battlefield in the UK and is the

site of the first British soldier slain

on British soil during the conflict,

commonly believed to be Private

Theophilus Jones of the 18th

Durham Light Infantry.

During the terror bombardment

of Hartlepool and West Hartlepool

(‘the Hartlepools’) on December

16, 1914, Heugh Battery returned

fire on the German Navy with its

two 6in BL Mk.VII guns (a third

gun was positioned near the

lighthouse). Nine of the battery’s

defenders were killed and 12

wounded, while 119 civilians in

the two towns were killed with

more than 400 wounded.

Heugh Battery Museum

is located on the Headland,

Hartlepool, and opens Friday to

Monday, 10am until 5pm. ∎

Subsequently, the Royal Marines

Charity has set up a JustGiving

page for donations. The campaign

runs until July 21, 2020 but at

time of writing was already more

than a third of the way to its goal

of £6,000.

For details, see: http://www.justgiving.

com/campaign/GavrelleMemorial

We thank the surge of Britain

at War readers who rushed to

donate following our sharing

of the cause on social media. ∎