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Memorial to the sailor-soldiers of World War 1 to be rededicated with full honours
24 October 2025
Great War enthusiasts and descendants of men who fought in one of the Royal Navy’s finest – yet least-well-known – formations are being sought for a memorial rededication next month.
The national monument to the Royal Naval Division – sailors who fought as soldiers throughout World War 1 at Antwerp, Gallipoli, the Somme and Ypres – will be rededicated in London’s Horse Guards Parade on Thursday, November 13.
The event, which will be attended by senior officers and serving personnel, marks the 100th anniversary year of the distinctive memorial being installed in the heart of the capital.
Thousands of men served in the unique division, which was originally formed using sailors without ships at the beginning of the Great War in 1914.
Over the next four years, the division was repeatedly re-formed for fresh tasks. Some 47,000 men became casualties – accounting for more than 40 per cent of the Senior Service’s losses during the 1914-18 conflict, with some 11,500 sailors and Royal Marines dying in its ranks.
The division remained solidly ‘naval’ throughout: battalions were named after famous admirals – Drake, Anson, Hood, Nelson – rather than given numbers, men were seamen and petty officers, not privates and sergeants. Units flew the White Ensign, and sailors spoke of 'going ashore' when leaving camp.
The memorial – designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, the country’s leading architect of the day – takes the unusual form of a fountain which, in the words of Winston Churchill – present at the original dedication in 1925, and the man behind the division’s creation – would give forth "not only the waters of honour, but also the waters of healing and the waters of hope".
The memorial was dismantled during World War 2 to prevent it being damaged both by bombing and construction of the Admiralty Citadel.
It was rededicated at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich in 1951, where it remained until its return it to its original location in 2003.
The centenary rededication takes place at noon (muster at 11.40am) on November 13.
That is 22 years to the day since it was returned to Horse Guards, and the anniversary of the Battle of the Ancre in 1916, one of the last acts of the Somme campaign. The Royal Naval Division took more ground and more prisoners than any other during the previous 141 days of fighting – one reason why Churchill regarded it was one of the best fighting units on the Western Front.
If you have family connections with, or a general interest in, the division and would like to attend the event – the dress code is 1B for military personnel, smart attire for civilians – contact [email protected]