War Memorial, Portland 2.26

The Portland Cenotaph is a war memorial located on the Isle of Portland, Dorset, England. It is situated at New Ground, looking down to Underhill of the island and overlooking Chesil Beach, as it sits in front of Portland Heights Hotel. The monument is dedicated to the local soldiers who died during both the First and Second World Wars. It has been a Grade II Listed Monument since May 1993.HistoryPortland sent upwards of 1000 men to fight during the Great War. In the years following World War I, the local people of Portland expressed their desire to retain the memory of those who made the supreme sacrifice. However the communities of Underhill and Tophill continually argued that there should be two separate war memorials to honour the dead. In the end, a compromise was reached by placing the memorial where it could be seen by both communities at New Ground.It was unveiled on 11 November 1926 by ex-Private Crispin – a local ex-soldier who had lost three brothers in the war. The featured title reads "In memory of our gloriovs dead 1914–1918". After World War II, those who died in the war were recorded underneath those from World War I, with the title "And of those who made the supreme sacrifice in the second World War 1939–1945". The memorial records 237 Portland soldiers who had died in World War I, and lists 108 local soldiers who died in World War II.