The Kitchener Memorial is a 48 ft tower

war memorial A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war. Symbolism Historical usage It has ...

Birsay Birsay () (Old Norse: ''Birgisherað'') is a parish in the north west corner of The Mainland of Orkney, Scotland. Almost all the land in the parish is devoted to agriculture: chiefly grassland used to rear beef cattle. There are various ancien ...

Orkney Islands Orkney (), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago off the north coast of mainland Scotland. The plural name the Orkneys is also sometimes used, but locals now consider it outdated. Part of the Northern Isles along with Shetland ...

, erected after the sinking of British cruiser HMS ''Hampshire''.

History

In June 1916, cruiser HMS ''Hampshire'' was on her way to Russia on a diplomatic mission, by orders of Lord Horatio Herbert Kitchener, field marshal of the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

. While passing

, ''Hampshire'' struck a mine laid by Germany U-Boat ''U-75'' at 19:40 on 5 June, sinking her, with a loss of 737 on board, including Lord Kitchener. There were only 12 survivors. After the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the people of Orkney raised funds to construct a monument to honour Kitchener, and the other crew members onboard ''Hampshire'' who were lost that evening. The monument was named Kitchener Memorial, and was officially unveiled on 2 July 1926. On 5 June 2016, 100 years after the sinking of ''Hampshire'', a commemorative wall was unveiled at the base of the tower with the names of all servicemen lost in the disaster inscribed along it. In 2020, the Kitchener Memorial was listed as one of the targets during the 'Topple the Racists' protests, however it was never touched.

References

{{reflist Buildings and structures completed in 1926 World War I memorials in Scotland Buildings and structures in Orkney Museums in Orkney Towers completed in 1926