green and white wooden signage

It was May 11, 1942, the HMT Bedfordshire, was patrolling the coastline for German U-boats when it was struck by a torpedo. The ship went down, and all 37 sailors on board perished. Most of the bodies were never recovered, but four washed ashore near the small town of Ocracoke, North Carolina at the very southern tip of the Outer Banks. The people of Ocracoke wanted to honor the four men, and a small plot of land was donated to create a British Cemetery alongside the village cemetery. Initially it was unofficially cared for by the townspeople.