{Beneath a representation of the Victoria Cross medal:}
Lieutenant Rowland Bourke, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, 9th - 10th May 1918.
Site: Chelsea war monument (6 memorials)
SW1, Sloane Square
Believed to be the first WW1 memorial erected on a public highway. At first sight just a simple stone cross on a plinth, but the whole base is octagonal and has many parts: 3 steps, 3 sections to the plinth and then the lower part of the cross has 3 subsidiary plinth-like sections. This simple monument, like many WW1 memorials, has been designed with care and style.
This memorial is a Cross of Sacrifice, originally designed to stand in Imperial War Grave Commission cemeteries abroad, or in cemeteries at home with more than forty British military burials (e.g. Queen's Road Cemetery Croydon). Blomfield designed it in a variety of sizes. We thank Duncan Youel for providing much of this information.
The VC plaques are arranged on the ground in a checkerboard pattern: reading left-right, down: Davies, Gribble, Cartwright, Bourke, Crutchley.
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