Dover Marine War Memorial

The Dover Marine War Memorial

Dover Marine War Memorial stands in the old Dover Marine Station in the Western Docks, Dover, England. The port has effectively been closed for several years; it is currently used as a berthing station for cruise liners, and is only open when a liner is in dock, drawing criticism that the memorial itself is not more accessible. However the memorial can be visited on request.

Description

The memorialis at the east end of the station, between platforms 3 & 4. It consists of a wall inscribed with the names of those who fell in World War I. At the top of the wall at both ends are sculptures of a crouched and grieving person. In front of the wall stands a bronze figurine on a granite plinth. The central figure is the winged Victory holding a torch in her raised right arm; at her feet are a sailor and a soldier. Behind her stands a bugler depicted as having just sounded the “Last Post” in honour of the fallen.

Remembered are the 556 men of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway who laid down their lives in the Great War and 626 men of the Southern Railway who died fighting in World War II.

The war memorial was unveiled on October 28, 1922, and the sculptor was Mr. W. C. H. King. In his career, Mr. King worked closely with Gilbert Bayes and was the sculptor of the statue of Robert Owen in Newtown, Powys, finished after Bayes died. King also sculpted the Great War memorial in St Peter’s Church, Wolverhampton, and some statuary in the niches of the tower of All Souls College in Oxford.

Details of the memorial in pictures

In the gallery below are several photographs of the Dover Marine memorial.

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  View of the inscribed wall at the rear of the memorial

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  View of the crouching figure at the top left of the memorial wall.

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  View of the central bronze sculpture.

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  Inscription at the base of the central sculpture.

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  A detail from the central bronze sculpture.

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  The central bronze.

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  The crouching figure at top right of the memorial wall.

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  Another detail from the central bronze.

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  Another plaque explains the reason for the memorial.

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  Another view of the central bronze.

External links

• The UK National Inventory of War Memorials
• Public Monument and Sculpture Association article on the Wolverhampton War Memorial
• Roll of Honour article on this war memorial

Coordinates: 51°6′48″N 1°18′57″E / 51.11333°N 1.31583°E / 51.11333; 1.31583