Monument à la Dover Patrol

From the beginning of the First World War, the Strait of Dover was a strategic issue. The German Navy and its submarines aimed to access the Channel and the Atlantic to attack Allied ships. France and Great Britain created the Dover Patrol. Around 25 ships of all sizes operated from Dover and Folkestone (GB), from Calais and Boulogne s/mer. Mining, mine clearance, escort, patrol, laying anti-submarine nets, the Dover Patrol led a little-known but essential fight: the German Navy was slowed down in the strait and did not hinder the maritime link between two Allies.

After the Armistice came the time for commemorations and the construction of monuments. On January 26, 1920, Marshal Foch laid the commemorative stone, and the official inauguration took place on July 20, 1922 in the presence of the Minister of the Navy Flaminius Raiberti. An obelisk tops a pedestal for a 133-meter ensemble visible from afar. It is THE landmark to reach to enjoy a 360° panorama from the top of the cliffs of Cap Blanc Nez. 

When the German army took possession of the Opal Coast in May 1940, this monument was immediately destroyed. The current Dover Patrol dates from the early 1960s. The last restoration was in 2007.

To note that : There are 2 other, smaller, Dover Patrol monuments in the world! Logically, there is one on the other side of the Strait, at Saint Margaret at Cliff between Dover and Folkestone. More surprisingly, a 1931 Dover Patrol Memorial is in John Paul Jones Park…at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge in New York!