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Portsmouth Cathedral is affectionately named ‘The Cathedral of the Sea’ due to its multifarious connections and memorials to the seafaring community and Royal Navy. The cathedral houses two memorial windows which commemorate those who served in Operation Overlord and the D-Day landings.
Located in the Holy Martyrs Chapel, on the south side of the Cathedral, are two stained glass windows which commemorate the D-Day landings. The first window, one of a pair unveiled as a memorial to Admiral Bertrum Ramsey, was installed in 1956 and made by glassmakers Edwards and Powell. The window situated on the right of the two depicts St George, with the shield of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force below and a scene of troops landing in Normandy. The combined inscriptions on the pair of windows states “In memory of Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsey killed in action 1945, who commanded the seaborne forces at Dunkirk 1940 … and Normandy 1944, here are remembered also those under his command who were killed during these operations”.
The second of the memorial windows, designed by Carl Edwards in 1984, commemorates the 40th anniversary of D-day and all those who served in Operation Overlord. The window can be found in the south transept of the medieval part of the building in the Holy Martyrs Chapel above the Bertram Ramsey windows. The window includes the shields of the Allied forces, the RAF, Royal Navy and Army and the D-Day and Normandy Fellowship. The window was presented by the fellowship to the cathedral and was unveiled by the Queen Mother. The inscription on the window quotes the Francis Drake prayer:
“O LORD GOD WHEN
THOU GIVEST TO THY SERVANTS TO
ENDEAVOUR ANY GREAT MATTER
GRANT US ALSO TO KNOW THAT
IT'S NOT THE BEGINNING BUT THE
CONTINUING OF THE SAME UNTIL
IT BE THOROUGHLY FINISHED WHICH
YIELDETH THE TRUE GLORY.”
And the plaque below the window:
“THIS COMMEMORATIVE WINDOW
THE GIFT OF THE D-DAY & NORMANDY FELLOWSHIP
WAS UNVEILED BY
HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH THE QUEEN MOTHER
AND DEDICATED BY
HIS GRACE THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY
ON SUNDAY JUNE 3rd 1984.”