The British Nieuport Memorial is a

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

memorial A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or works of a ...

, located in the

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

port city of Nieuwpoort (french: link=no, Nieuport), which is at the mouth of the River Yser. The memorial lists 547 names of British officers and men with no known grave who were killed in the Siege of Antwerp in 1914 or in the defence of this part of the Western Front from June to November 1917. Those that fought in 1914 were members of the

Royal Naval Division The 63rd (Royal Naval) Division was a United Kingdom infantry division of the First World War. It was originally formed as the Royal Naval Division at the outbreak of the war, from Royal Navy and Royal Marine reservists and volunteers, who wer ...

.Nieuport Memorial
Commonwealth War Graves Commission, accessed 10 February 2010 The fighting in 1917, when

XV Corps 15th Corps, Fifteenth Corps, or XV Corps may refer to: *XV Corps (British India) * XV Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Army prior to and during World War I * 15th Army Corps (Russian Empire), a unit in World War I *XV Royal Bav ...

defended the line from Sint-Joris to the sea, included the German use of chemical weapons such as

mustard gas Mustard gas or sulfur mustard is a chemical compound belonging to a family of cytotoxic and blister agents known as mustard agents. The name ''mustard gas'' is technically incorrect: the substance, when dispersed, is often not actually a gas, b ...

and Blue Cross. Designed by the Scottish architect

William Bryce Binnie William Bryce Binnie FRIBA (1 July 1886 – 1963) was a Scottish architect. He trained in Scotland but practiced initially in New York and then London. During the First World War he served with the Black Watch and was decorated for bravery. Aft ...

, the memorial is an 8-metre-high pylon of Euville stone, a

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

from

Euville Euville () is a commune in the Meuse department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. See also * Euville light railways *Communes of the Meuse department *Parc naturel régional de Lorraine Lorraine Regional Natural Park (French: ''Parc nat ...

. The names of those commemorated are cast on bronze panels surrounding the base of the pylon. Three lions, carved by the British sculptor

Charles Sargeant Jagger Charles Sargeant Jagger (17 December 1885 – 16 November 1934) was a British sculptor who, following active service in the First World War, sculpted many works on the theme of war. He is best known for his war memorials, especially the Royal A ...

, stand guard at the corners of the memorial's triangular paved platform. Around the top of the bronze name panels is cast the words from

Laurence Binyon Robert Laurence Binyon, CH (10 August 1869 – 10 March 1943) was an English poet, dramatist and art scholar. Born in Lancaster, England, his parents were Frederick Binyon, a clergyman, and Mary Dockray. He studied at St Paul's School, London ...

's famous poem, "For the Fallen": The memorial was unveiled on 1 July 1928 by Sir

George Macdonogh Lieutenant-General Sir George Mark Watson Macdonogh (4 March 1865 – 10 July 1942) was a British Army general officer. After early service in the Royal Engineers he became a staff officer prior to the outbreak of the First World War. His main r ...

, a commissioner for the Imperial War Graves Commission (now

Commonwealth War Graves Commission The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mil ...

). Macdonogh had been a staff officer and general for the Directorate of Military Intelligence for most of the war, being appointed

Adjutant-General to the Forces The Adjutant-General to the Forces, commonly just referred to as the Adjutant-General (AG), was for just over 250 years one of the most senior officers in the British Army. The AG was latterly responsible for developing the Army's personnel polic ...

in September 1918. The

King Albert I Memorial The King Albert I Memorial, also named the King Albert I Monument ( nl, Koning Albert I-monument; french: Monument au Roi Albert Ier) is a memorial at the Belgian coastal city of Nieuwpoort. It is located right outside the old town, on the righ ...

, dedicated to both the King and his Belgian troops during the

, is located directly next to the Nieuport Memorial.

Footnotes and references

External links

{{Commons category, British Nieuport Memorial
Commonwealth War Graves Commission details of the Nieuport Memorial
(includes photograph)
Nieuport Memorial
(Belgian heritage register)
Catalogue entry for Nieuport Memorial register
(National Library of Australia) Commonwealth War Graves Commission memorials World War I memorials in Belgium Buildings and structures completed in 1928 Nieuwpoort, Belgium