Thugs steal historic plaque commemorating the birthplace of Admiral Lord Nelson 

Police are hunting thieves who stole a historic plaque commemorating the birthplace of Admiral Lord Nelson from a garden wall in Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk.

The plaque is 20 yards from the village’s former rectory where Britain’s greatest seafarer was born in 1758. The rectory was demolished in 1802.

The metal memorial was donated in 1959 to the village by HMS Tyne, the flagship of the Home Fleet, and was stolen between December 5 and 20.

The plaque is 20 yards from the village’s former rectory where Britain’s greatest seafarer was born in 1758. The rectory was demolished in 1802

Norfolk Police are appealing for information from anyone who saw anything suspicious.

Lord Nelson, who died at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, first learned to sail while being raised in the village.

His only defeat during the Napoleonic Wars was a failed attack on Boulonge in August, 1801.

He attempted to destroy a fleet of French vessels and despite launching fire bombs, the British sustained more casualties and retreated.

Police are hunting thieves who stole a historic plaque commemorating the birthplace of Admiral Lord Nelson from a garden wall in Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk

Four years later, the French and Spanish fleets combined to take control of the English Channel as part of Napoleon’s plans to invade England.

The enemy fleet sailed from the port of Cadiz and encountered Nelson’s fleet, assembled to meet the threat, in the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Trafalgar.

Nelson was outnumbered with just 27 ships to the enemy’s 33. He broke their flank by leading his fleet directly at it.

His plan to split the enemy fleet in three sunk 22 ships. The British lost none.

Nelson’s own HMS Victory led the front column but he was shot by a French musketeer and died shortly before the battle ended.

It is said that on his death bed Nelson murmured: ‘thank God I have done my duty’, before uttering his last words: ‘God and my country’.

‘Forget Trafalgar… the Battle of the Nile was Nelson’s finest hour’

Many historians agree that the Battle of the Nile was more significant than Trafalgar, the battle in which Nelson died. It was during this conflict that Généreux was nearly taken by the Lord Admiral’s men but the ship managed to escaped – only to be captured two years later.

In August 1798, the French were at anchor in Aboukir Bay in shallow water, using the shore to protect the south-western side of the fleet, while the north-eastern faced open sea.

Although the ships were chained together, Nelson believed the chain between the last ship in the line and the shore was sunk deep enough to let a vessel pass.

In a daring night-time manoeuvre, his fleet slipped through the gap and attacked the French on their unprotected side.

The battle established Britain as the dominant sea power during the French revolutionary wars and was immortalised in the poem Casablanca, known for its opening line ‘The boy stood on the burning deck’.

Nelson’s flagship during the battle was the Vanguard. Other British ships commemorated by surviving copses include the Minotaur, Defence, Swiftsure, Theseus, Orion, Bellerophon and Alexander.

Stephen Fisher of the National Trust said: ‘The Battle of the Nile in 1798 was one of Nelson’s most significant clashes with Napoleon.

‘Forget Trafalgar, this was Nelson’s finest hour and at the time was his most famous victory.’

Divers pull out a 200-year-old canon (pictured) from the ship wreck of the Orient, the French fleet’s flagship during the Battle of the Nile, in 1999