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Memory Geography

D1Public sourceUpdated 25 May 2026

Chatham Naval Memorial — Great Lines

CWGC obelisk on the Great Lines, Chatham — over 10,000 Royal Navy sailors of the Second World War with no grave but the sea; one of the three manning-port naval memorials.

What do the D1–D5 confidence tiers mean?
  • D1A single attributed public source (museum, council, Historic England, CWGC, mapping data).
  • D2Two or more independent public sources corroborate the same facts.
  • D3A named coordinator or local reviewer has confirmed the public-source account.
  • D4A named observer has personally visited and documented the site — photographs, inscriptions, condition.
  • D5An archive or institution has provided written documentation supporting the entry.

A higher tier means more corroborating evidence, not automatic historical certainty. The Discovery layer does not replace archival verification.

Chatham Naval Memorial — Great Lines
Photo: DavidAnstissCC BY-SA 4.0Wikimedia Commons

The Chatham Naval Memorial, an obelisk on the Great Lines above the Medway, is one of three identical memorials raised at the Royal Navy manning ports of Chatham, Plymouth and Portsmouth. The Second World War extension, unveiled in 1952, records the names of over 10,000 men and women of the Commonwealth who died serving in the Royal Navy and have no grave but the sea.

This page is maintained within the coordinator network. Confirming and upholding the accuracy of its content is the coordinator’s responsibility.

What this page does not claim

  • This is the Royal Navy manning-port memorial at Chatham for both World Wars (all naval theatres), not a Soviet or convoy-specific memorial.
  • Names of individuals commemorated belong on archival surfaces, not this discovery record.
  • Endorsement by any named institution; the source is cited for documentary research only.

Sources

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