Russian Memorial

What became known as the Crimean War was declared in March 1854. In June, concerned at the possible threat posed to Britain by the Russian Baltic Fleet, the Royal Navy attacked the fortress of Bomarsund, in Åland off the coast of Finland during the Åland War. That attack was repulsed, but a further attack by British and French forces in August proved successful. The fortress was destroyed and prisoners taken to Britain and France. Some 340 members of the Fusilier Grenadiers were taken to Lewes, in Sussex. The officers were Russian, but the men were mostly Finns the Grand Duchy of Finland was part of the Russian Empire at the time and many of the defenders of Bomarsund had been Finnish…