The Tower Hill Memorial

The Tower Hill Memorial. First World War. , The CWGC commemorates the dead of British and Commonwealth forces of the two World Wars at cemeteries and memorials in over 150 countries., The Tower Hill Memorial bears the names of 12,000 First World War merchant seamen who have no known grave, their bodies lost or buried at sea. It was unveiled by Queen Mary on 12 December 1928., The sailors of the Merchant Marine served across the globe, transporting civilian and military supplies that were vital to the war effort. By the end of the conflict more than 3,300 merchant ships had been sunk, and over 17,000 merchant sailors had lost their lives. , , Lusitania , The largest loss of life commemorated upon this memorial is from the sinking of the R.M.S. Lusitania. On 7 May 1915 the Lusitania was torpedoed by a German submarine in the Irish Sea. Carrying almost 2,000 passengers and crew, she sank in under 20 minutes. Commemorated here are more than 350 service personnel who died in the sinking. , , Design , The Tower Hill Memorial was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens with sculpture by Sir William Reid-Dick. It takes the form of a vaulted corridor and is made from portland stone. A famous architect before the First World War, Lutyens designed many memorials, including the cenotaph in Whitehall and the CWGC Thiepval Memorial on the Somme, in France. , , The CWGC Established in 1917, the War Graves Commission commemorates more than 1.7 million dead of the two World Wars. Our founding principles are to commemorate each person equally, regardless of race, rank, or religion, and to do so forever.