Stoker 1st Class William Albert Belcham HM Submarine G8

[Will O'Brien]

As per CWGC

Name: BELCHAM, WILLIAM ALBERT

Initials: W A

Nationality: United Kingdom

Rank: Stoker 1st Class

Regiment: Royal Navy

Unit Text: H.M. S/M. "G8."

Age: 24

Date of Death: 03/01/1918

Service No: K/24749

Additional information: Son of Kate Cherry, of 1, Osborne Cottages, Vale Rd., Claygate, Surrey. Born at Teddington, Middx.

Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead

Grave/Memorial Reference: 29.

[Will O'Brien]

& the memorial info

Cemetery: CHATHAM NAVAL MEMORIAL

Country: United Kingdom

Locality: Kent

Location Information: The Memorial overlooks the town of Chatham and is approached by a steep path from the Town Hall Gardens. A copy of the Memorial Register is kept in the Naval Chapel of Brompton Garrison Church and may be consulted there. The keys to the church are held at the Gate House, which is always manned. Copies of the Memorial Register may also be consulted at: Chatham Library - Tel: 01634 843589 Medway Archives & Local Studies Centre - Tel: 01634 332714

Historical Information: After the First World War, an appropriate way had to be found of commemorating those members of the Royal Navy who had no known grave, the majority of deaths having occurred at sea where no permanent memorial could be provided. An Admiralty committee recommended that the three manning ports in Great Britain - Chatham, Plymouth and Portsmouth - should each have an identical memorial of unmistakable naval form, an obelisk, which would serve as a leading mark for shipping. The memorials were designed by Sir Robert Lorimer, who had already carried out a considerable amount of work for the Commission, with sculpture by Henry Poole. After the Second World War it was decided that the naval memorials should be extended to provide space for commemorating the naval dead without graves of that war, but since the three sites were dissimilar, a different architectural treatment was required for each. The architect for the Second World War extension at Chatham was Sir Edward Maufe (who also designed the Air Forces memorial at Runnymede) and the additional sculpture was by Charles Wheeler and William McMillan. Chatham Naval Memorial commemorates more than 8,500 sailors of the First World War and over 10,000 from the Second World War.

No. of Identified Casualties: 18613