Roll of Honour - Kent - Dover Marine Rail

SOUTH EASTERN & CHATHAM RAILWAY
DOVER MARINE
Railway Station

WAR MEMORIAL & ROLL OF HONOUR

DOVER MARINE
WAR MEMORIAL AND ROLL OF HONOUR

In 1910 it was decided that the sea next to one side of the Admiralty Pier should be reclaimed for the purpose of constructing railway tracks. This would allow passengers and cargo on the channel ferries (owned and run by SE&CR) to be moved directly from ferries onto trains. Once the land had been re-claimed the Dover Harbour Board in association with the SE&CR decided in principal to construct a railway station proper. The work of building the Dover Marine Railway Station was started in 1913, but it was not finished when the war broke out in August 1914. During the early months of the war the Prince of Wales Pier and The Admiralty Pier were used obstensively for army purposes. Dover Marine Railway Station took over once the rails were laid and the station’s internal buildings barely constructed. On 2nd January 1915 the Dover Marine Station took over as the principal ambulance train railway station. For the early years of the war the Dover Marine railway station did not have any kind of enclosing canopy. The impressive canopy and additional internal structures were added later on. The railway station continued to be used until the 1990’s at which time it was decided to close the station. The former railway station is now preserved as a listed building and is used to house private industry and as a cruise ship terminal by the modern cruise ship companies. Access to the SE&CR War Memorial and Roll of Honour can be a little difficult. It is unfortunate that the public do not readily have access to the memorial anymore. Those interested in viewing the memorial should not be put off from visiting the site. Access can normally be gained by driving or walking to the security barrier and explaining the purpose of the visit.

The Dover Marine War Memorial can be found inside the former railway station at the far end of the impressive canopy. The war memorial iteself was sculptured by Mr W King. It was unveiled by R.H Cosmo-Bonsor the Chairman of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway Managing Committee on the 28th October 1922. It was erected as a tribute to the 5,222 staff and employees of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway who served in His Majesty’s Colours during the Great War. Of those who served their king and country, 556 men were never to return home.

The memorial and associated roll of honour is without doubt the largest and most intricate to be found anywhere in Kent (with perhaps the exception of the Chatham Naval Memorial, an official commemoration not a civic one). One would imagine that to construct a similar bronze relief now would cost in excess of 1 million pounds.

The war memorial itself stands upon a grey Royal Granite plinth raised on two steps above the former platform. The bronze relief depicts a winged figure of “Victory” holding the “torch of truth”. The wings of “Victory” appear injured and battered (in the conflict). At the feet of “Victory” are two men – a sailor and a soldier. Immediately behind the figure of victory stands a bugler who has just sounded the “Last Post” over the fallen.

Immediately behind the war memorial (and in front of the bugler) is the associated Roll of Honour bearing the names of the fallen. Their names, 556 in all have very skilfully been inscribed onto a large Portland stone wall. It is their names that appear transcribed in this work.

The pages here are split by department, click on the relevant department to see the list of men. Those names appearing on the Ashford C.M.E’s Department Rolls of Honour have a link to that page.