RND WW1 Memorial to be Re-dedicated

Commemorations will take place at Horse Guards on Nov 13th 2025 where the Memorial to the Royal Naval Division who served in WW1 is rededicated.

Descendants/those with a general interest in the RND are invited to the event. [X; @RoyalMarines]

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The Royal Naval Division (RND) was a land-based formation under the command of the Admiralty. It was created by Winston Churchill, the First Lord of the Admiralty (the government minister responsible for the Royal Navy), in 1914 by grouping together sailors, Royal Marines, and naval and marine reservists who were surplus to the Admiralty's sea-faring needs.

The division was required to provide almost all of its own officers upon formation, several of whom were drawn from the literary and artistic contacts of Churchill's private secretary, Edward Marsh.

Although it fought on land, the division was known for its strong maritime traditions, including the use of naval ranks and terminology.

The division's first engagements of the war were in Belgium at the end of 1914, attempting to defend the port cities of Ostend and Antwerp. The following year, the RND, alongside the 29th Division, formed the British contingent of the initial invasion force for the Gallipoli Campaign—an ultimately doomed invasion of Turkey which the Allies hoped would knock the Ottoman Empire out of the war.

After suffering heavy casualties at Gallipoli, the division was evacuated in 1916, reorganised, and transferred to the command of the British Army, where it became the 63rd (Royal Naval) Division.

As part of the reorganisation, the division's commanding officer, Major-General Archibald Paris (a Royal Marine), was replaced with an army officer, Major-General Cameron Shute, and several army units were attached to compensate for the division's losses at Gallipoli, though it retained its maritime character.

It was sent to the Western Front as an infantry division in late 1916, where it remained until the armistice in 1918. The division was disbanded in June 1919 at a ceremony on Horse Guards Parade.

It lost 10,737 officers and men during the war; another 30,892 were wounded. [Wiki]

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ROYAL NAVY NEWS

MEMORIAL TO THE SAILOR-SOLDIERS OF WORLD WAR 1 TO BE REDEDICATED WITH FULL HONOURS

24 October 2025

Great War enthusiasts and descendants of men who fought in one of the Royal Navy’s finest – yet least-well-known – formations are being sought for a memorial rededication next month.

The national monument to the Royal Naval Division – sailors who fought as soldiers [and Royal Marines] throughout World War 1 at Antwerp, Gallipoli, the Somme and Ypres – will be rededicated in London’s Horse Guards Parade on Thursday, November 13.

The event, which will be attended by senior officers and serving personnel, marks the 100th anniversary year of the distinctive memorial being installed in the heart of the capital.

Thousands of men served in the unique division, which was originally formed using sailors without ships at the beginning of the Great War in 1914.

Over the next four years, the division was repeatedly re-formed for fresh tasks. Some 47,000 men became casualties – accounting for more than 40 per cent of the Senior Service’s losses during the 1914-18 conflict, with some 11,500 sailors and Royal Marines dying in its ranks.

[The memorial inscription states, the division “lost 10,737 officers and men (killed) during the war; another 30,892 were wounded]

During the Battle of the Ancre in 1916, one of the last acts of the Somme campaign, the Royal Naval Division took more ground and more prisoners than any other during the previous 141 days of fighting – one reason why Churchill regarded it was one of the best fighting units on the Western Front.

The memorial – designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, the country’s leading architect of the day – takes the unusual form of a fountain which, in the words of Winston Churchill – present at the original dedication in 1925, and the man behind the division’s creation – would give forth "not only the waters of honour, but also the waters of healing and the waters of hope".

If you have family connections with, or a general interest in, the division and would like to attend the event – the dress code is 1B for military personnel, smart attire for civilians – contact NAVYNRCEE-EVENTS@mod.gov.uk

Search Royal Marines WW1 History including those actions with the RND here:

WW1 Royal Marines