Memorial wall fundraisers take appeal online

Plans to create a commemorative wall around the Kitchener Memorial, in Birsay, are moving forward.

The Orkney Heritage Society aims to restore the memorial to its original condition, retaining its iconic profile, and to build a low wall of local stone around it, on which will be engraved the names of those lost when HMS Hampshire sank in 1916.

Anyone who wishes to donate to the £200,000 needed is welcome to do so online at www.justgiving.com/orkneyheritagesociety.

Though it was long believed that 643 men died when HMS Hampshire sank, in a storm, after hitting a mine, on June 5, 1916, recent research suggests a figure of 737. There were only 12 survivors.

The Kitchener Memorial, a 48-feet high stone tower, was unveiled in 1926, in memory of Earl Kitchener, the British Secretary of State for War, who was on board Hampshire when she was lost. A plaque on the memorial only makes brief reference to the other men lost that day.

You can follow the progress of the project at kitchenerhampshire.wordpress.com.