Military lend a hand at Kitchener Memorial

The British Army and US National Guard are lending several pairs of hands to a volunteer-run project restoring Orkney’s Kitchener Memorial and building a commemorative wall to honour the men lost on HMS Hampshire during the First World War.

A group from the Royal Engineers – the same Army corps that Earl Kitchener himself belonged to – is to build the footing of the wall and work with contractors Casey Construction Ltd to help move the restoration project along.

Orkney’s local Army Reserve Unit, 10 (ORKNEY) Field Troop Royal Engineers have been joined in the project by members of the US National Guard, who are in Scotland as part of a military exchange programme.

Earl Kitchener, Britain’s Secretary of State for War, was among those lost when HMS Hampshire, sailing from Scapa Flow to Russia, sank just off Orkney’s Atlantic coast in 1916.

Restoration work started on the 90-year-old Kitchener Memorial, the 48-feet high stone tower, at the end of June. It involves restoring the stonework to its original condition, inspecting and repairing the roof, reinstating the ventilation and restoring the inspection doorway.

The curve of the new wall – to “better remember” all those lost on HMS Hampshire – was marked out at the site last week. When the wall is complete the names of the 737 men lost with the warship will be engraved on inlaid granite.

A fundraising guided walk will be led by Andrew on Sunday, visiting Orkney wartime sites from the 19th century onwards and Ness Battery. The 90-minute walk will start at 4pm, at the camp site at Point of Ness, Stromness. The cost is £5 per person, no booking required, but for more information call 07759 857298 or email info@nessbattery.co.uk

Further details in The Orcadian next week.