Dorset
The Isle of Portland, four miles south of Weymouth, famous for its oolitic limestone called Portland Stone which is extensively quarried, is actually a peninsula connected with the mainland by a long narrow ridge of shingle called Chesil Bank. It is a Naval base, and the Royal Naval Cemetery is Admiralty property. The burial ground lies on the northern slope of Portland Bill, three-quarters of a mile due east of Portland railway station. To reach it follow the main road from Victoria Square (the bus terminal at the end of the causeway connecting Portland to the mainland) uphill past the first right-hand hairpin bend and the police station, which is beyond this bend on the left; then take the first turning on the left (Verne Common Road) through and just past the council estate to a track running left downhill. From this point the cemetery can be clearly seen. It is divided into three parts, Church of England, Roman Catholic and Non-Conformist, and contains war graves of both World Wars.
The 1914-1918 burials number 65, of which 5 are unidentified, and after the war a Cross of Sacrifice was erected to commemorate these men near the southern wall of the western part overlooking the harbour. Most of the 1939-1945 War graves are together in the Church of England section, near the Cross of Sacrifice. There are in all 103 burials, of which 10 are unidentified, and include 1 Norwegian Merchant Navy seaman and 12 German airmen.
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