- Type of Memorial
- Composite
- WMR Reference Number
- 3149
- Description
- Oval tablet, inscribed in incised black and red lettering, with an ornately-carved gilt frame that incorporates the Prince of Wales' feathers at its base. Within the Soldiers' Chapel are a glazed wooden frame containing a fragment of a White Ensign (made by the crew of H.M.S. Black Prince), and a glazed frame containing a photo of the ship and a handwritten card that explains flag's relevance.
[N.B. For nearly a century, the White Ensign hung above the oval tablet, on the north wall of the Church. When the silk flag began to deteriorate, it was encased in a glazed frame to preserve it, and subsequently moved to the Soldiers' Chapel in the north transept where it now hangs, adjacent to the frame containing the photo of HMS Black Prince and handwritten card].
- Inscription
- [Tablet]: THIS FLAG/ was made by the/ Ship's Company of/ H.M.S. BLACK PRINCE/ and given to the Children/ of the Sunday School./ THIS TABLET/ is place by the Children/ in memory of those/ kind brave men who/ went down in the Great/ Sea Fight off the coast of/ Jutland May 31st 1916 / among whom was/ FRANK SMITTEN/ A.B.
[Framed photo/ card]: H.M.S. Black Prince/ This warship was adopted by the Sunday School and/ gifts and Christmas Cards were sent to the crew, one of whom/ was A.B. Frank Smitten a Knowle man. In return the ships/ company made a White Ensign and sent it to the children./ By a sad coincidence it arrived at the Vicarage on 31st May/ 1916, the same day on which the ship was sunk at the/ Battle of Jutland, a Fragment of the flag remains in the/ Church.// A memorial service was held in May, 1917 in the/ presence of Lady Jellico. The collection taken was for/ the 'Black Prince' cot at the Children's Hospital, Hackney.
