Rocky 2

Charles No Comments
Charles
Here’s the Royal Naval cemetery on Portland. Is there a burial ground in the UK which commands better views?

There are 65 First World War burials and 103 Second World War burials. Of these, 10 are unidentified, one is a Norwegian merchant navy seaman, and one a member of the Imperial Japanese Navy. There are twelve German airmen buried here side by side with British casualties. Almost everyone here is distressingly young.

Perhaps the most famous resident is Leading Seaman Jack Mantle of HMS Foylebank. In an eight-minute attack by German Stukas on 4 July 1940 the ship was hit by 22 bombs and sank. Out of a crew of 300, 176 died and only 40 were uninjured. Mantle, though mortally wounded, carried on firing until he died. He was awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously.





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