The Tower Hill Memorial

The Tower Hill Memorial. Second World War extension. , The Tower Hill Memorial extension bears the names of almost 24,000 men and women who died in the Second World War and have no known grave, their bodies lost or buried at sea. , , During the war, the merchant Navy risked attack from submarine, air and surface raiders to transport vital supplies across the globe. By the end of the conflict more than 4,800 merchant ships had been sunk, and over 32,000 merchant sailors has lost their lives. , , The Second World War extension to the Tower Hill Memorial was unveiled by Queen Elizabeth II on 5 November 1955. The names of the war dead are listed alphabetically under the ships in which they served. , , Boy Sailors , Some of those who went to sea were very young. Kenneth Lewis was 14 years old and his brother Raymond was 15. The boys are believed to have forged a letter from their father to sign up. Both died when their ship, S.S. Fiscus was sunk in October 1940 by German submarine, U-99. Commemorated on Panel 49, they are two of the youngest merchant seamen killed in the Second World War. , , Design , The Extension takes the form of a remembrance garden. It was designed by Sir Edward Maufe, the principle architect for War Graves memorials and cemeteries in the UK after the Second World War. At the entrance are two sculptures of merchant seamen by Sir Charles Wheeler, who also designed the depictions of the Seven Seas upon the memorial walls. , , Other places to visit , Those who died at sea during the World Wars often have no known grave. The CWGC commemorates 65,000 missing service personnel of the Royal Navy on three memorials at Portsmouth, Plymouth and Chatham. Each memorial also serves as a marker point for shipping, guiding other sailors home to safe harbours.