The Globe 27/2/1904 reported:
'MEMORIAL AT DEVONPORT. Admiral Sir E. H. Seymour, Commander-in- Chief at Devonport, to-day unveiled a memorial which has been erected in Devonport Park by the officers and men of the cruiser “Doris” in memory of their shipmates who fell in the South African war. Among those present was Admiral Sir Robert Harris, Commander-in-Chief of the West Coast of Africa Station during the war, but Capt. R. C. Prothero, who was formerly in command of the "Doris,” was unavoidably absent, being now commanding officer of the Implacable" in the Mediterranean. The memorial takes the form of a pedestal of Dartmoor granite, surmounted by the pom-pom which was captured from Gen. Piet Cronje at Paardeberg when he surrendered on February 27, 1900—four years ago to-day, which is also the 19th anniversary of the disaster at Majuba. On one side of the pedestal in large raised letters are the words, ‘Ready, aye. Ready”; beneath this being three recessed marble panels. The centre one records the object of the memorial, and the other two contain the names of the 14 officers and men of the Doris who lost their lives in the campaign namely—Major J. H. Plumbe, R.M.L.I.; Midshipmen C. A. Huddart. Struan Robertson, James Menzies, and Lionel Lloyd; Privates J. Boyle and Francis Doran, R.M.L.I.; Francis Coleman, A. B., Matthew Wise, A. B., Albert G. Edwards, A. B., John Hook, ordinary seaman, W. J. Phillips, second-class sick bay steward, and Lewis Wells, second-class domestic. Admiral Seymour said he was happy to have the honour of unveiling the first war memorial in Devonport Park. It occupied an excellent position for the public to see, and also as regarded ships in harbour. He hoped it was the first of many such glorious memorials to perpetuate the deeds of the Navy. The anniversary of Paardeberg had very happily been selected for the occasion, as that was an engagement in which the Naval Brigade had the proud honour to take part. The Boer war was the most important and serious that had been engaged in, certainly since the Crimea and Indian Mutiny, and he did not know but what it might not be regarded as ranking with them. It was a land war. and sailors fully credited the Army with having brought it to a successful termination; at the same time, they rejoiced in having had more than one opportunity of bearing arms. Vice-Admiral Sir Robert Harris having eulogised the services rendered by the Naval Brigade, the unveiling of the memorial was performed by Admiral Seymour amid applause, the Port Admiral’s band playing the National Anthem'.
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