3-003-832 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Monument to the Royal Marines erected in the cemetery, Hong-Kong, China, 1861. 'The design is by S. Rawlings Esq. of the Royal Engineer Department, and it is executed in massive granite, the inscription-slabs only being of white marble. Its dimensions are 10ft. square at the base and 26ft. 6in. in height. The front inscription is as follows: "In memory of the officers, non-commissioned officers, buglers, and privates of the Brigade of Royal Marines (Light Infantry); and the non-commissioned officers, buglers, and gunners of the battery of Royal Marine Artillery, who fell in the execution of their duty in China during the years 1857,1858,1859, and 1860. Erected by their comrades." The slab on the righthand side gives the names of three officers and 48 men killed in action; whilst that on the left shows the total loss from all causes to have been 257; and the numbers wounded were 27 officers, 16 sergeants, 20 corporals, four buglers, and 155 gunners and privates. The rear slab records the services of the brigade, from the taking of Canton in Dec., 1857, with the various expeditions in the neighbourhood, the Taku Forts in 1859, the defence of Shanghai, and the brilliant campaign in the north, which ended in the Treaty of Pekin on Oct. 24, 1860'. From "Illustrated London News", 1861.