St George's Day Launch for Bermondsey VC Memorial
April 21, 2010 6:12 PM
At 11am this Friday, 23rd April 2010 and St George's Day, an appeal will be launched for a permanent public memorial to Albert Mckenzie, a Bermondsey boy and Able Seamen in the First World War who took part in the famous Zeebrugge raid of St George's Day 1918. While most of those with him were killed, Albert Mckenzie saw off several enemy troops in the harbour at Zeebrugge, leaving him severely wounded but ultimately able to survive.
Albert Mckenzie was the first London sailor ever to receive the Victoria Cross and the first sailor to be awarded the VC by the votes of his comrades.
Albert Mckenzie - who was born in Decima Street in Bermondsey and moved to Shorncliffe Road Bermondsey, was awarded his VC by George V in 1915 but tragically caught influenza which because of his weakened resistance after his injuries led to his death on 3rd November 1918, just days before the armistice. The government was represented at his funeral where a message was also read from the Kind and Queen. The funeral took place at St Mark's Camberwell, on the Old Kent Road, and Albert was buried in Camberwell Old Cemetery.
The Belgian Ambassador will be represented at the appeal launch which will be attended by civic and business leaders from Southwark and beyond, representatives of the Royal Navy and other service personnel, local school students and past and present members of the Stansfeld, Oxford and Bermondsey Club.
An exhibition of the life and times of Albert Mckenzie will be displayed with the cooperation of the imperial War Museum and Southwark Council, and the model for the statue and the design for its site will be unveiled for the first time.
Members of the press are invited from 10.30am, Interviews will be possible before and after the ceremony which will run from 11am until 11.45 approximately.
For details of arrangements on the day please contact Paul Keefe 07939092685 or Martin Fitzgerald 02072376970.
Albert Mckenzie VC Memorial Fund Committee
Chairman: Paul Keefe
Secretary: Martin Fitzgerald Treasurer: Ian Yates
Publicity Officer: Simon Hughes
The event is taking place at the Stansfeld Club, 3 Webb Street, Bermondsey, London SE1 4RP.
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