Whitby Memorial Monument

John Thompson’s request to the inquest that the eleven men’s bodies should be sent home for burial was not considered by the Admiralty, nor was the influence of the Coroner and the Jury ever used . . .

The bodies were never recovered.

At the funeral on the following Wednesday, ten of the eighty four who died were buried in a communal grave at Whitby Cemetery. There was a parade through the town and thousands attended.

Three weeks later, when the funerals were still going on at a rate of three a week, only a few close relatives were at the graveside.

By then, the casualties of the first Battle of Ypres made the loss of 84 men at Whitby seem insignificant by comparison.

Later, the owners of the Rohilla raised a memorial over the grave. The names of all who lost their lives were carved upon it.

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Copyright © Ken Wilson 1981