Gosport forms friendship link with Chilean city Coronel

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 20 Oct, 14:38 · Archive

Gosport Borough Council has backed a friendship link with the Chilean city of Coronel to remember over 1,400 British sailors killed there in 1914.

Gosport Borough Council has unanimously backed plans to form a friendship link with Coronel in Chile to commemorate a century-old naval tragedy. More than 1,400 British sailors were killed in the Battle of Coronel on 1 November 1914, when HMS Good Hope and HMS Monmouth were sunk. Coronel holds a remembrance service on 1 November each year honouring those who died.

The proposal was put forward by councillors Graham Burgess and Lesley Meenaghan at a full council meeting on 14 October. It followed a journey to Coronel by Richard Dickson, whose grandfather James Johnston Dickson was among those killed. Dickson became a full-time carer for his partner after her health deteriorated in 2019, and made his 'Journey of Remembrance' to Coronel following her death in June 2025. He met Coronel's mayor, Boris Chamorro, who suggested the two communities could come together to remember the battle.

Reflecting on the council's decision, Dickson said: 'To witness every Gosport councillor united, and thoroughly embrace the Link of Friendship we have now achieved between our two communities, is something that I'm very proud to have contributed to.'

How it is being reported

• Gosport forges friendship with Chilean city after wartime tragedyGosport and Chilean city united by wartime remembrance after motion passed by councillorsSouthern Daily Echo · 20 Oct, 13:50
• Gosport forges friendship with Chilean city Coronel after wartime Royal Navy tragedyMore than 1,400 sailors perished in the First World War battleThe News, Portsmouth · 19 Oct, 12:24

In this story: Gosport · Coronel · HMS Good Hope · HMS Monmouth · Richard Dickson · Boris Chamorro · James Johnston Dickson

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