Royal Fusiliers
This bronze Fusilier in full battle dress on a Portland stone plinth was sculpted by Albert Toft in 1920. Toft, who apprenticed at Wedgwood Pottery, was well known for his nude women but produced a number of fine war memorials. Sadly, this may be the only one of his in London.
High Holborn WC2
Tube: Chancery Lane
Machine Gun Corps
This 1919 statue of David was sculpted by Derwent Wood. ‘Saul hath slain his thousands but David his tens of thousands’ is the rather bloodthirsty inscription. After WWI, Wood made face masks for disfigured soldiers - a pioneer in the field of plastic surgery. There is a tiny copy of the statue on Cheyne Walk.
Hyde Park Corner SW1
Tube: Hyde Park Corner
Most of London’s war memorial are works of art in their own right but suffer from the effects of time and climate. Hopefully, generations to come will continue to appreciate and protect these tributes to those who died believing the cause was just.
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The Gurkha Soldier
‘Bravest of the brave, most generous of the generous, never had country more faithful friends than you.’ Gurkha soldiers, recruited from Nepal, have won 13 Victoria Crosses, Britain’s highest military award for bravery. Coincidentally, their British officers have won the same number.
Whitehall Place SW1
Tube: Embankment
Royal Tank Regiment
‘From mud through blood to the green fields beyond.’ This modern bronze sculpture by Vivien Mallock faces the building where the first ever tank was designed in 1916. The two trees behind the memorial were shipped from Canada to mark the close links between that country and the regiment.
Whitehall Place SW1
Tube: Embankment
Royal Artillery Memorial
Charles Sargeant Jagger’s magnificent work - a giant howitzer on a marble plinth of with four bronze artillerymen - dates to 1925. His depiction of a dead soldier covered by a poncho and this crucifixion pose, caused controversy. Jagger wanted the piece to record the uniform and equipment of the Great War.
Hyde Park Corner SW1
Tube: Hyde Park Corner
Great Western Railway
Wrapped in a home-made scarf, reading a letter from home, this is one of Jagger’s finest and most moving works. It commemorates GWR employees who fought in World War I. Jagger himself was wounded twice during the war and the authenticity of his soldiers resonates through the years.
Paddington Station W2
Tube: Paddington
