Descendants of British and German First World War sailors have taken part in Centenary commemorations marking the Battles of Coronel and the Falkland Islands in 1914.
The national flags of Germany and UK were hoisted in tandem on the waterfront at Stanley, part of a day of simultaneous remembrance in the Falklands capital and London on December 8th 2014.
The families of the naval commanders, Admiral Sir Frederick Doveton Sturdee, Rear Admiral Sir Christopher Cradock and their opponent, Vice Admiral Maxmilian Graf von Spee, were all represented in the South Atlantic.
Admiral Sturdee’s descendant, Lady Susan Sykes (below), was among those laying wreaths at the opening of a new memorial wall, built in Stanley to commemorate those who fought in two of the most important sea battles of the First World War.
(Photo: courtesy of Falkland Islands Government)
Britain’s Royal Navy suffered its worst defeat in more than 100 years in the clash with the German East Asia Squadron at Coronel, off the Chilean coast, on November 1st 1914.
Fortunes were reversed with the defeat of Admiral von Spee’s fleet at the Falklands, on December 8th, ending the German threat to the South Atlantic.
Several thousand British and German sailors were lost in the two battles, among them Admiral Cradock at Coronel and von Spee himself at the Falklands, together with two of his sons.
As part of the Centenary commemorations, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission unveiled the latest of its interactive information panels at Stanley Cemetery on December 8th.
Using a smartphone, it can be scanned to discover the stories of those who died defending the Falkland Islands in 1914. Eleven of the seamen are remembered at the cemetery.
Sources: Falkland Islands Government; Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Images courtesy of the Falkland Islands Government
Posted by CN Deputy Editor