There is a large naval section in Gillingham (Woodlands) Cemetery which was reserved by the Admiralty and served the Royal Naval Hospital in Windmill Road. The section contains most of the war graves as well as burials of the pre-war and inter-war years.
There are several memorials in the area, including those to HMS Bulwark (1914), HMS Princess Irene (1915), and HMS Glatton (1918).
Also within the area are the graves of several Marine Cadets who were killed in the Gillingham Bus Disaster of 1951.
The newly installed Information Board allows those with a smartphone to access further information about the Cemetery.
The Gillingham Bus Disaster
The Gillingham Bus Disaster occurred outside Chatham Dockyard on the foggy evening of 4 December 1951. A double-decker bus ploughed into a company of 52 members of the Royal Marines Volunteer Cadet Corps, aged between 9 and 13. At the time it was the highest loss of life in any road accident in Britain, with 24 cadets killed and 18 injured.
The Cache.
The cache is a small camo bison tube, and is NOT in the Cemetery Grounds. The Information Board is only accessible during the Cemetery opening hours.
At the bottom the Information Board you will see two sets of Numbers:
(HO) - ABCD EFGHJK
(UKO) - QRST UVWXYZ
The cache can be found at :
North EA HS.RZE
East WWW U(X+Y).FKG