Netley Military Cemetery, Royal Victoria Country Park England

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Category: War Cemeteries

Netley Military Cemetery

Netley Military Cemetery is within the grounds of the Royal Victoria Country Park, accessed by a man-made causeway. It is situated in a quiet corner well away from the old hospital site and the day to day activities going on in the park. The Cemetery occupies an area of some 17 acres and holds the dead of both World Wars from several countries including 49 Aussies and 12 Kiwis. www.netleyabbey.info

ROYAL VICTORIA HOSPITAL

The

Hospital Chapel

The Chapel is all that remains of the massive 435m long three storey Royal Victoria Military Hospital.

Built on a site purchased for £15,000, Queen Victoria laid the foundation stone on 19th May 1856.

The 2 tonne Welsh granite stone was laid above a copper casket containing the plans of the hospital, the first Victoria Cross, a silver Crimea medal with all four campaign bars, and coins of the realm. The stone bore the inscription:

‘This stone was laid on the 19th day of May in the year of our Lord, 1856, by Her Most Gracious Majesty Victoria, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland as the foundation stone of the Victoria Military Hospital intended for the reception of the sick and wounded soldiers of her Army.’

The building was completed at a cost of £350,000 in 1863. As with most hospitals since, it was over budget and late.

Royal Victoria Military Hospital

Although visually grand and attractive, it was neither convenient nor practical.

Queen Victoria was a frequent visitor to the hospital, arriving by boat at the pier erected out into Southampton Water. The 170m long pier was built in 1865 to receive ships bringing back war casualties. It was made redundant when a new railway line was built in 1900 to link the hospital with the main line at Netley.

It is estimated that some 50,000 patients were treated at the hospital during the First World War.

In 1944, the hospital was taken over by United States Forces and 68,000 patients were treated over an eighteen month period.

After the end of the war, the hospital continued to care for those returning from overseas service, but the high cost of running the building eventually led to its closure in 1958.

In June 1963, a serious fire, probably started by vandals in the now dilapidated building, badly damaged the structure, and its fate was settled. In 1966 the bulldozers moved in.

The psychiatric hospital remained open until 1978. In 1979 Hampshire County Council purchased the grounds and buildings.

Apart from the Royal Chapel, the Officers Mess building remains and has been turned into luxury apartments.

In May 1980 the Hospital grounds were opened to the public as the Royal Victoria Country Park.

Roll of Honour (Australians)

Regt No	Rank	Name	Unit/Corps	Date died	Age
2774A	Private	ANDERSON R.F.	39 Battalion AIF	30 Aug 1918	24
484	Private	ARMSTRONG R	2 Battalion AIF	27 Jul 1915	32
	Private	BRAY Clive R.	9 Battalion AIF	13 Mar 1917	28
360		BROWN E.T.	4 Battalion AIF	24 May 1915	26
4465	Private	CHIFFITH A.	46 Battalion AIF	15 Aug 1916
852	Private	CHRISTMAS J.F.	26 Battalion AIF	30 Aug 1916	25
		CHURCH Theo Mark	(Marconi Operator)	22 Mar 1915
2343	Private	CROFT J.H.	3 Battalion AIF	27 Jul 1916	25
3375	Private	CROSS J.S.	56 Battalion AIF	20 Mar 1918
4165	Private	DOYLE F.B.	6 Battalion AIF	16 Dec 1916	19
3550	Private	DUNCAN A.A.	Aust Machine-Gun Corps	3 May 1918
1527	Private	ELDRIDGE J.C.	3 Battalion AIF	3 Jun 1915	23
3747	Private	FORREST J.	10 Battalion AIF	22 Nov 1916	20
717	Corporal	FOWLEY J.H.	Aust. Veterinary Corps	26 Oct 1917	26
13287	Private	FRANCIS A.R. (MM)	Aust. Army Medical Corps	6 Sep 1916
810	Private	GAMBREY R.	21 Battalion AIF	31 Oct 1917
1096	Trooper	GUEST L.A.	7th Australian Light Horse	17 Nov 1915
1865A	Private	HARDING T.A.	46 Battalion AIF	16 Sep 1916	19
	Lieutenant	HARRINGTON R. (DCM)	59 Battalion & 4th Lt Horse	10 Jun 1918	29
4301A	Private	JAMES J.C.	2 Battalion AIF	2 Aug 1916
692		JAMES E.J.	16 Battalion AIF	28 May 1915
98	Sapper	JONES G.L.	Australian Engineers	27 Sep 1918	52
1550	Private	JONES Horace N.	18 Battalion AIF	13 Sep 1915	23
2840A	LCorporal	KANIERS W.J.	1 Aust. Pioneer Battalion	30 Aug 1918	27
3696	Private	KERR A.	57 Battalion AIF	5 Oct 1918	34
4563		LANDSDOWNE L.R.	30 Battalion AIF	21 Jun 1917
919	Sergeant	LAYLOR W.M.	5th Brigade AIF, HQ	11 Apr 1917	34
5241	Sergeant	LEE F.J.	Aust Army Service Corps	19 Jan 1918
1145	Private	MARSHALL V.C.	26 Battalion AIF	26 Sep 1915
3142	Gunner	MATHESON H.T.	Australian Field Artillery	17 Apr 1918	35
2?20A	Private	McNAUGHTON G.M.	17 Battalion AIF	9 Oct 1918	30
2723	Corporal	MONSON J.C.	51 Battalion AIF	15 Sep 1916	45
4274		NAYLOR J.L.	1st Australian Pioneers	28 Aug 1918
648	Private	PENDLEBURY C.J.	Aust. Machine Gun Corps	7 Nov 1918	23
2222	Private	PERKINS H.G. (MM)	45 Battalion AIF	13 Jun 1918	37
6038	Private	PURTON J.D.	12 Battalion AIF	11 Jan 1919
1984	WO II	RENOU L.A.(DCM)	52 Battalion AIF	6 Nov 1916	24
	Corporal	ROBERTS David	8th. Light Horse. A.I.F.	28 Sep 1915	25
4525	Private	ROYCE G.J.B	28 Battalion AIF	14 May 1918	22
2821	Private	SMITH Clive P	20 Battalion AIF	14 Aug 1918	29
2034	Private	TOULMIN A.D.	Aust Army Medical Corps	9 Jul 1915	20
4796	Sapper	TURNER A.D.	Australian Tunnellers	21 Jan 1917	31
21112	Gunner	URQUART R.L.G.	Australian Field Artillery	30 Oct 1918	33
996	Private	VOWELLS P.C.	9 Battalion AIF	2 Oct 1915	25
4315	Private	WHITE G.P.	Aust Army Medical Corps	10 Aug 1916
3438	Serjeant	WILLIAMS M.E.	5 Battalion AIF	14 Oct 1917	21
1626	Private	WILLIAMSON J.	5 Battalion AIF	14 Jun 1915	30
2167	Private	WUNDENBERG F.T.	38 Battalion AIF	5 Jan 1918	36

Roll of Honour (New Zealanders)
10/3469	Private	ANSTIS N.E.	Wellington Regiment	5 Aug 1916	22
10/3488	Private	BLACK J.	Wellington Regiment	11 Oct 1926	21
15338	LCorporal	COLLINS E.L.	Rifle Brigade	27 Oct 1917	30
12/1178	Private	CONE W.C.	Auckland Regiment	28 Mar 1919	40
6/213	Private	CRESSWELL R.W.	Canterbury Regiment	19 Oct 1915	22
10/3880	Private	FRAMPTON A.E.	Wellington Regiment	6 Oct 1916	27
4/411	Sapper	HORNE J.R.	New Zealand Engineers	19 July 1915	26
24/1106	Rifleman	LESLIE K.G.	Rifle Brigade	27 June 1916	21
23/1448	Rifleman	McCARTHY J.F.	Rifle Brigade	31 Jan 1917	23
12/821	Private	McRAE D.	Auckland Regiment	20 Oct 1915	35
6/924	Private	O'DONNELL W.H.	Canterbury Regiment	17 Sep 1915	29
Roll of Honour (New Zealanders) WW2
23441	Sapper	JANS O.J.	New Zealand Engineers	7 Sep 1940

Headstone details provided by Colin from Southhampton
Colin has kindly offered to provide photos of individual headstones as required by family of men on the Honour Roll. Email him.

The story of the "First" VC

On 5 March 1855 Queen Victoria wrote a letter to Lord Panmure that hospitals 'For our sick and wounded soldiers is absolutely necessary and now is the moment to have them built'.

The planning and building of the hospital took place very quickly and a location was chosen on the eastern shore of Southampton Water to allow the hospital to have its own jetty where wounded soldiers could be landed direct from transports. Queen Victoria arrived at the newly built Netley Hospital on 19 May 1856 to lay the foundation stone. In a copper box she placed the plans of the hospital, various coins, a Crimean War Medal with the four campaign clasps, and a Victoria Cross and this was placed under the foundation stone.

Netley Hospital served as a major military hospital through various wars and campaigns and eventually closed to patients in the late 1950s. By 1958 the main part of the building was empty and remained so until a fire partly destroyed it in June 1963. Despite opposition, the building was demolished in September 1966.

On 7 December 1966 many notable members of the Army Medical Services gathered on a very muddy demolition site and amidst much pomp and ceremony the foundation stone was raised and the copper casket recovered. Inside were the hospital plans, coins, the Crimean War Medal, and an unnamed Victoria Cross.

There was much speculation about whether this was in fact the first VC manufactured and the one that Queen Victoria requested Lord Panmure to provide.

The Council of Colonels Commandant RAMC undertook a dialogue with Hancocks & Co to prove its authenticity. Eventually both the Victoria Cross and the Crimean Medal were suitably engraved to establish their identity and this was done in January 1967.

Taking into consideration the dates of the correspondence concerning the Cross and the date of the laying of the foundation stone at Netley, careful consideration must be given that this is in fact perhaps the first Victoria Cross and its 'presentation' to the Army Medical Services Department pre-dates the first official presentation in Hyde Park on 26 June 1857.

Iain received a reply from the Army Medical Services Museum which states "the Netley VC was engraved to establish that it was the medal removed from below the foundation stone and to ensure there could be no reproduction". The museum is not at liberty to divulge the exact wording of the engraving.

These medals now form part of the VC display in the Army Medical Services Museum alongside a further twenty-two VCs awarded to the RAMC.

Details from, Iain Stewart