Tuesday 2 October 2007

Jack Crawford's Grave


This is the monument on the grave of Jack Crawford, a local man who became a hero at the Battle of Camperdown in 1797.

During the battle, the colours were shot away from the top of the ship's mast by the the Dutch fleet. To other ships this would have signalled a surrender to the enemy. In the heat of battle, Crawford climbed up and nailed the colours back onto the mast using the butt of a gun as a hammer to show that HMS Venerable had no intention of surrendering.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I've just finished reading the comic book Alice in Sunderland, which has been both informative & amusing. It mentions Jack Crawford, the reluctant hero and pig rider.