Guards Memorial

War memorial in London, England

Guards Memorial

The memorial in 2011

Location| London
Coordinates| 51°30′16″N 0°07′46″W﻿ / ﻿51.5044°N 0.1295°W﻿ / 51.5044; -0.1295
Designer| H. Chalton Bradshaw
Type| War memorial
Material| Portland stone
Height| 38 feet
Opening date| 16 October 1926
Dedicated to| War dead from the Guards Division
The memorial stands to the west side of Horse Guards Parade

The Guards Memorial, also known as the Guards Division War Memorial,[1] is an outdoor war memorial located on the west side of Horse Guards Road, opposite Horse Guards Parade in London, United Kingdom. It commemorates the war dead from the Guards Division and related units during the First World War, and of the Household Division in the Second World War and other conflicts since 1918.

## Design

[edit]

The cenotaph memorial was designed by H. Chalton Bradshaw. It includes a broad squat white Portland stone obelisk 38 feet (12 m) high standing on a white stone base with three steps. On a raised platform to the east side of the memorial, facing Horse Guards Parade, are five large bronze sculptures by Gilbert Ledward, one representing each of the Foot Guards Regiments, standing easy with their rifles above stone carvings showing the badge of each regiment, each slightly larger than life size, about 7 feet 3 inches (2.21 m) in high. The statues are modelled on serving guardsmen: Sergeant R. Bradshaw MM of the Grenadier Guards, Lance Corporal J. S. Richardson of the Coldstream Guards, Guardsman J. McDonald of the Scots Guards, Guardsman Simon McCarthy of the Irish Guards (with legs modelled by another guardsman, Lance Sergeant W. J. Kidd) and Guardsman A. Comley of the Welsh Guards.[2] The other three sides each bear a bronze panel, one to either side depicting military equipment and the one to the rear depicting artillery in action. The statues and panels were cast by the William Morris Art Bronze Foundry using bronze taken from German guns melted down after the First World War.

The west face of the Guards Memorial

Above the five statues, the cenotaph also bears an inscription written by Rudyard Kipling, whose only son John was killed in action while serving the Irish Guards at the Battle of Loos in September 1915: "To the Glory of God // And in the memory of the // Officers Warrant Officers // Non Commissioned Officers & // Guardsmen of His Majesty's // Regiments of Foot Guards // who gave their lives for their // King and Country during the // Great War 1914–1918 and of the // Officers Warrant Officers // Non-Commissioned Officers and // Men of the Household Cavalry // Royal Regiment of Artillery // Corps of Royal Engineers // Royal Army Service Corps Royal // Medical Corps and other // Units who while serving the // Guards Division in France & // Belgium 1915–1918 fell with them in // the fight for the World's Freedom."

Above the main inscription is an incised cross between bands of horizontal incised lines, and lower down is a second inscription: "This monument // was erected by their friends and comrades". Further inscriptions on the sides of the cenotaph record the units involved, and the west side, below another cross, records their battle honours.

## Construction

[edit]

The monument was built by the Birmingham Guild at a cost of around £22,000, with the lettering cut by Ernest Gillick. It was unveiled by Field Marshal Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn at a ceremony on 16 October 1926, accompanied by the 100-year-old veteran of the Crimean War General Sir George Higginson, with a dedication by Rev. H. J. Fleming, who became senior chaplain of the Guards Division when it was formed in 1915, and a benediction by the Chaplain-General to the Forces, Rev. Alfred Jarvis, and a march-past by 15,000 serving and former guardsmen. The memorial suffered bomb damage in the Second World War, and some was left unrepaired as "honourable scars".[3]

## Later history

[edit]

After World War II, an inscription was added below the statues to commemorate those who died between 1939 and 1945:[4] "This memorial also commemorates all those members // of the Household Division who died in the Second World War // and in the Service of their Country since 1918."

The memorial received Grade II listing in 1970,[5] and was promoted to Grade I in October 2014.[6]

* The memorial in 2009, looking northeast towards Horse Guards Parade and the Admiralty

* Wreaths laid before the five bronze statues in 2009

## See also

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Guards Memorial, London.

* 1926 in art
* Grade I listed buildings in the City of Westminster
* Grade I listed war memorials in England
* World War I memorials

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Ward-Jackson (2011), Public Sculpture of Historic Westminster (p. 74)
2. ^ Guards Memorial, roll-of-honour.com
3. ^ War Memorials Archive, Imperial War Museum
4. ^ "Monuments in St James's Park". The Royal Park. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
5. ^ National Heritage List for England, Historic England
6. ^ First World War Memorials Honoured, Historic England, 10 November 2014

* v
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Public art and memorials in London

Portrait sculpture

| British/English
royalty|

* Boudica
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|

Arts|

* John Betjeman
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Explorers|

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Merchants|

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Military|

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Nurses|

* Edith Cavell
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Politics|

| British|

| Prime ministers|

* Clement Attlee
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|

Other politicians|

* Robert Clayton
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* Marquess of Westminster

International|

* Simón Bolívar
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Religion|

* Thomas Becket
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Science and
engineering|

* Joseph Bazalgette
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* Edward Jenner
* Joseph Lister
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Social reformers
and humanitarians|

* Thomas Barnardo
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* Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst
* Sylvia Pankhurst
* Robert Raikes
* Raoul Wallenberg

Sport|

* Harry Kane
* Bobby Moore
* Upton Park—with Geoff Hurst, Martin Peters and Ray Wilson
* Wembley

Fictional
characters|

* Film characters in Leicester Square
* Sherlock Holmes
* Paddington Bear
* Peter Pan

See also|

* Talking Statues
* Statues in London on Wikimedia Commons

Other monuments and memorials

* 7 July bombings
* Queen Alexandra
* Anti–air war
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* Lady Burdett-Coutts
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* COVID-19 pandemic
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* Great Fire of London
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* The Monument
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* Star and Garter Home
* Stratford Martyrs
* Suffragettes
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* Virginia colonists
* Wellington Arch
* Wellington Monument
* Whittington Stone
* Windrush generation
* Custard Apple (Annonaceae), Breadfruit (Moraceae) and Soursop (Annonaceae)
* National Windrush Monument
* Mary Wollstonecraft

War memorials|

| Pre-C20|

* Animals in War
* Guards Brigade (Crimean War)
* Gurkhas (1816–)
* Marble Arch
* New Zealand Campaign (1863–1864)
* Siege of Cádiz
* Westminster School

|

Boer Wars|

* 61st Battery Royal Field Artillery (Woolwich)
* Barnet Boys School
* Royal Artillery (The Mall)
* Royal Marines

WWI · WWII|

* The Cenotaph

* Africa and the Caribbean
* Australia
* Battle of Britain
* Belgium
* Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red
* Burma Railway
* Canada
* La Délivrance
* Flanders Fields Memorial Garden
* Malta
* Memorial Gates
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* Ships named on the memorial
* New Zealand
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* South Africa
* Submarines
* Women of World War II

Regimental|

* 24th Division
* Cavalry
* Chindits
* Civil Service Rifles
* Eagle Squadrons
* Fleet Air Arm
* Guards Brigade
* Imperial Camel Corps
* Machine Gun Corps
* Rifle Brigade
* Royal Air Force
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* Royal Artillery
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* Royal Naval Division
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Local|

* London Troops

* Arkley
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* parish
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* St Michael, Cornhill (parish)
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* Wood Green

Corporate|

* Baltic Exchange
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* Dulwich College
* Old
* New
* Great Eastern Railway
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* Lincoln's Inn
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* Pearl Assurance†
* South Suburban Gas Company

Holocaust|

* Victoria Tower Gardens (planned)

* Hyde Park
* Kindertransport
* Stolperstein

Post-WWII|

* Victims of Communism
* Korean War
* Iraq and Afghanistan

Blue plaques|

* Camden
* Kensington and Chelsea
* City of Westminster

Other works

| Sculptures|

* Atalanta
* The Barbican Muse
* Bellerophon Taming Pegasus
* The Bermondsey Lion
* Big 4‡
* Bull
* The Burghers of Calais
* Christ Child
* Cornerstone
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* Enwrought Light
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* Homage to Leonardo
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* Liberty Clock
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* The Meeting Place
* The Messenger
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* Nike
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* Peckham Arch
* Physical Energy
* Platforms Piece
* Pope's Urn
* Putney Sculpture Trail
* The Queen's Beasts
* The Rush of Green
* St Paul's Cross
* Sculpture in the City‡
* Skylon†
* Slipstream
* South Bank Lion
* Still Water
* Tortoises with Triangle and Time
* Traffic Light Tree
* Union (Horse with Two Discs)
* The Watchers
* The World Turned Upside Down
* The Young Lovers

Fourth plinth, Trafalgar Square‡|

* The End
* Hahn/Cock
* Nelson's Ship in a Bottle
* One & Other

Elisabeth Frink|

* Blind Beggar and his Dog
* Horse and Rider
* Paternoster

Barbara Hepworth|

* Meridian†
* Single Form (Memorial)
* Two Forms (Divided Circle)†
* Winged Figure

Henry Moore|

* The Arch 1979–1980
* Draped Seated Woman 1957–58
* Knife Edge Two Piece 1962–65
* Large Standing Figure (Knife Edge)
* Locking Piece
* Three Standing Figures 1947

Eduardo Paolozzi|

* The Artist as Hephaestus†
* Piscator

The Line‡|

* ArcelorMittal Orbit
* Here
* Quantum Cloud
* Liberty Grip
* A Slice of Reality

Fountains|

* Buxton Memorial
* Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain
* Diana Fountain, Bushy Park
* Diana Fountain, Green Park
* Edward VII Jewish Memorial Fountain
* Henry Fawcett Memorial
* Guilford Place
* The Horses of Helios
* Matilda Fountain
* Poets' Fountain†
* Readymoney Drinking Fountain
* Revolving Torsion
* Roehampton
* St Lawrence Jewry and St Mary Magdalene
* Shaftesbury Memorial ("Eros")
* Lady Henry Somerset Memorial
* Victoria Park

Murals|

* Brixton
* Children at Play
* Cable Street
* Dulwich
* Old Kent Road
* National Covid Memorial Wall
* Poplar Rates Rebellion
* Poured Lines
* Sutton twin towns
* Sutton Heritage Mosaic

Banksy|

* Animal series
* From this moment despair ends and tactics begin
* Girl with Balloon†
* One Nation Under CCTV†
* Pulp Fiction†
* Slave Labour†

Land art|

* Northala Fields

See also|

* Art on the Underground
* Tube map covers
* Commission for Diversity in the Public Realm
* London Mural Preservation Society
* Metropolitan Drinking Fountain and Cattle Trough Association

By location

* City of London
* Barking and Dagenham
* Barnet
* Bexley
* Brent
* Bromley
* Camden
* Croydon
* Ealing
* Enfield
* Greenwich
* Hackney
* Hammersmith and Fulham
* Haringey
* Harrow
* Havering
* Hillingdon
* Hounslow
* Islington
* Kensington and Chelsea
* Kingston
* Lambeth
* Lewisham
* Merton
* Newham
* Redbridge
* Richmond
* Southwark
* Sutton
* Tower Hamlets
* Waltham Forest
* Wandsworth

City of Westminster|

* Belgravia1
* Covent Garden2
* Green Park
* Hyde Park
* Kensington1
* Kensington Gardens1
* Knightsbridge1
* Mayfair
* Millbank
* Paddington
* Pimlico
* St James's
* St Marylebone
* Soho
* Strand
* Trafalgar Square
* Victoria
* Victoria Embankment3
* Westminster
* Whitehall

* 1 Partly in Kensington and Chelsea
* 2 Partly in Camden
* 3 Partly in the City of London

Key: † No longer extant, on public display or in London (see List of public art formerly in London) * ‡ Changing displays

Portals:

* London
* Visual arts

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