Favorite Fotos: In Memoriam, part 1

I got interested in reading about war memorials as part of the preparation for teaching my World War II class. And once I got to London, and saw that they have these things on practically every street corner, my interest only increased. Today I'm going to focus on two locations—first, war memorial central, otherwise known as Wellington Arch and surroundings, located just across Knightsbridge Street from Hyde Park Corner.

The Arch itself is pretty impressive, but you can see a better picture of it on the website linked above than I could have taken. Besides, I was more interested in the other memorials that share the square with it. The large, old-style memorial in these first photos is dedicated to British artillerymen in World Wars I and II. The very large (too large to photograph) plaque on the ground in front of the statue shown above is the "World War II addition" that many Great War monuments feature. It really breaks your heart to ponder: how many Brits (and others) died in WWI; then how these monuments were erected, people expecting never to have to go through that again; and, then, how they did.

On the right, above, is the statue which graces (and it is a graceful pose, is it not?) one of the other sides of the memorial, and the supine figure below is on the end opposite the WWII addition.


To get an idea of the size of the memorial, and how the whole thing looks, here is a less than stellar photo, but the only one I took of the entire memorial:


Earlier I referred to this memorial as "old-style," and the contrast between pre- and post-World War II memorials is clearly in evidence in this square. This distinction would be a very succinct way to explain to anyone how different the world became after it was obvious the "war to end all wars" hadn't lived up to its billing.

Sharing the space with the very traditional (both in tone and mode of expression) Artillery Memorial and the Arch itself are two very different, but even more effective examples of remembrance art. The Australian Memorial, below, is technically fascinating, artistically beautiful, and emotionally powerful. The link leads you to a brochure that details its design, construction, and significance. It is one of my favorite pieces of public art in all of London.


Through the arch from the Artillery Memorial is the New Zealand Memorial, a completely different, but also hauntingly post-modern set of structures. Again, the link will tell you all about it, and includes many more, and better, images than the ones I took.


I rather like, though, that you can see the tops of red double-decker buses above the memorial in my photo. I'm reminded that not only is this square war memorial central, but it's bus route central as well, and we caught many a bus at its various stops.

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Now on to the Victoria Embankment, where you'll find another of my favorite memorials, the one remembering the Battle of Britain. Appropriately very near the RAF Memorial that you see at the right, it is engraved with Churchill's felicitous phrase: "Never in the field of human conflict have so many owed so much to so few." Referring, of course to the tireless pilots and support crews that held on just long enough for Hitler to decide that invading the British Isles might not be such a good idea after all.

The RAF Memorial is of the old style, built between the wars. The Battle of Britain Memorial, on the other hand, was unveiled in 2005. It's a fascinating collection of relief sculptures representing different aspects of this most unusual "battle," including a view of St. Paul's surviving amid the destruction around it (see the photo at the left).

Other reliefs salute the spotters, who, together with the operators of the newfangled radar equipment, were able to send the "few" to where their small numbers could have the most impact....


.... the ground crews that kept the precious "few" planes in action as long as possible...

....and, of course, the pilots have a place of honor on the structure:


The Londoners who made up both the home front and the front lines of this battle weren't left out, either, as you can see in this lovingly detailed relief on the right showing not only horror and destruction, but also the hard work, perseverance, and "we can take it" attitude that proved so valuable throughout the ordeal.

Another type of memorial that you find around the city provides a grim reminder, among 21st London's hustle and bustle, of just how much her citizens have had to take. It doesn't involve a new structure, but leaving in place damage to an older one.

An example of this type is found just a bit downstream from the Battle of Britain Memorial, on the base of one of the sphinxes at Cleopatra's Needle. This symbol of the world-wide reach and power of the British Empire at its height was not immune from the effects of the two wars that, ultimately, saw the sun finally set on it. Something to ponder as I sit here in what is, for now, the world's most powerful nation:


Since I took pictures of too many memorials for one little essay, I'll continue with this subject in my next post, when I'll show you pictures of some of the other many war memorials that I saw around London and the UK.