Trafalgar Day

By Severine Angers

October 21st 2025

The Battle of Trafalgar is one of Britain’s most famous victories. The roaring success of the British fleet against the Spanish and the French crystallised Horatio Nelson as a national hero through his death in the battle, and his body was repatriated to Britain and buried at St. Paul’s Cathedral. However, numerous men who fought on this memorable day are now buried in cemeteries across the world, and their graves are slowly falling into decay as time passes by.

Nelson's Last Signal at Trafalgar

On this Trafalgar Day, we want to take the time to thank our wonderful volunteers who play an essential role in enabling us to care for the graves and remember the men who fought in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, regardless of rank and nationality. Our volunteers go to cemeteries to find the graves of these men and fill in site reports, which allow us to assess what needs to be done and then make it happen.

Sir William Beatty

We have recently received some fascinating site reports of graves of Royal Navy officers who fought at Trafalgar. Among others, we have heard about the grave of William Beatty, the surgeon on HMS Victory, which is located at Kensal Green Cemetery, in Kensington, and about the grave of William Martin, who served as a young lieutenant on HMS Minotaur during the battle. He is buried at Rathcooney Cemetery in County Cork.