London war memorials
Sept 10, 2018 15:10:49 GMT
Post by patricklondon on Sept 10, 2018 15:10:49 GMT
Following up on bixa's suggestion of a dedicated thread on this particular subject..... here goes! These pictures are all from recent cycle rides into central London - across the whole city, there will be many more.
Starting from home, nearby we have this memorial garden:
When I first moved here some 20 years ago, this was an unused area of pavement, surrounded by a low wall. I rather think it was originally built as somewhere for residents of the housing estate next to it to have somewhere to hang out their washing, but would have fallen out of use. Eventually a group of local residents got together (I think in time for the Millennium) to organise the permissions and funding to make the garden - not solely intended as a war memorial, but nonetheless it gets its share of Remembrance Day poppy wreaths:
Passing along the riverside path on the way to central London, there's this (also rather recent) reminder of the history underlying one of the many new residential developments along there. There is an additional story to this, in that, as far as I am aware, this was one of the few general public air raid shelters in the area. In the Museum of Docklands nearby is a poster listing all the shelter spaces in the area, and apart from this, those who didn't have their own back garden shelter, or the later type of indoor shelter like a reinforced table, would have had to go to slit trenches in the park or take their chances under the railway arches:
On through Limehouse, and there's this example similar to memorials in many a churchyard and village green. The lettering has eroded over time, but I think it is related to a nearby religious foundation, rather than a regular church parish or local government area.
A detour to take in Bethnal Green, and this very recent memorial to the disaster of 1943 - not exactly hushed up at the time, but certainly played down in those days of rationed newsprint, and not given much public acknowledgement until many decades after. In the blackout, as an air-raid started, people crowding into the already busy shelter in what was intended to become the tube station (and which crucially had not yet had handrails installed on the stairs) were panicked by the unfamiliar sound of new anti-aircraft rockets, someone tripped and a crush formed, killing 173 people.
Opposite the Tower of London, and outside the former headquarters of the Port of London Authority, is a substantial memorial to merchant seaman and fishermen. The part that looks like a temple relates to the First World War
but behind it is a whole garden for those lost in the WW2. Because those listed here "have no grave but the sea", the entire ensemble, though open to all and many pass through it like many another small open space in the City, is managed by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission:
A little further on, and rather tucked in beside All Hallows Church, is a memorial of the WW2 siege of Malta
Coming through to the Embankment, we come to a memorial to the submariners
and one erected not by this country but by Belgium:
Further along, on the riverside outside the Ministry of Defence, are the RAF memorial and the more recent Battle of Britain memorial
On the other side of the road, immediately outside the Ministry building, is a memorial to the Fleet Air Arm
and one to the WW2 Chindit campaigns in Burma
and coming more up to date, to the Korean war
and to Iraq and Afghanistan
Round the corner is one to the Gurkhas
before one comes to Whitehall and the Cenotaph, the national focus for Remembrance Day services:
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Just next to the Cenotaph, this memorial announces itself:
Passing through to Horse Guards Parade, where the Guards regiments mount the annual Trooping the Colour ceremony for the Sovereign's birthday, is their memorial
On the corner of the Mall is one to the artillery of the South African (Boer) War:
Past the other side of the Mall, and up the Duke of York Steps, is the Crimea memorial:
and these reminders, perhaps slightly off the theme of the thread since they commemorate not the fallen but the defiant:
In Green Park, is this rather modest memorial for the Canadians
Carrying on up Constitution Hill, we come to the Commonwealth Gates, for troops from South Asia and the Caribbean:
and nearby one for the bombers:
At Hyde Park Corner, there are memorials for Australia
New Zealand (I'm wondering if the placement of the columns is intended to suggest the stars of the Southern Cross on their flag):
and the Artillery of both world wars:
while this figure would not, of itself, suggest to me the Machine Gun Corps:
On into Hyde Park itself, and in among the trees and greenery is St George commemorating the Cavalry:
and the Holocaust Memorial Garden
Along Park Lane these columns mark a war of a different kind - each represents one of those killed in the tube bombings of July 7 2005:
Nearer Marble Arch, is this reminder of how much the four-legged also suffered, particularly in WW1:
And down in Victoria Embankment Gardens a rather less grandiose memorial to the Imperial Camel Corps:
Starting from home, nearby we have this memorial garden:
When I first moved here some 20 years ago, this was an unused area of pavement, surrounded by a low wall. I rather think it was originally built as somewhere for residents of the housing estate next to it to have somewhere to hang out their washing, but would have fallen out of use. Eventually a group of local residents got together (I think in time for the Millennium) to organise the permissions and funding to make the garden - not solely intended as a war memorial, but nonetheless it gets its share of Remembrance Day poppy wreaths:
Passing along the riverside path on the way to central London, there's this (also rather recent) reminder of the history underlying one of the many new residential developments along there. There is an additional story to this, in that, as far as I am aware, this was one of the few general public air raid shelters in the area. In the Museum of Docklands nearby is a poster listing all the shelter spaces in the area, and apart from this, those who didn't have their own back garden shelter, or the later type of indoor shelter like a reinforced table, would have had to go to slit trenches in the park or take their chances under the railway arches:
On through Limehouse, and there's this example similar to memorials in many a churchyard and village green. The lettering has eroded over time, but I think it is related to a nearby religious foundation, rather than a regular church parish or local government area.
A detour to take in Bethnal Green, and this very recent memorial to the disaster of 1943 - not exactly hushed up at the time, but certainly played down in those days of rationed newsprint, and not given much public acknowledgement until many decades after. In the blackout, as an air-raid started, people crowding into the already busy shelter in what was intended to become the tube station (and which crucially had not yet had handrails installed on the stairs) were panicked by the unfamiliar sound of new anti-aircraft rockets, someone tripped and a crush formed, killing 173 people.
Opposite the Tower of London, and outside the former headquarters of the Port of London Authority, is a substantial memorial to merchant seaman and fishermen. The part that looks like a temple relates to the First World War
but behind it is a whole garden for those lost in the WW2. Because those listed here "have no grave but the sea", the entire ensemble, though open to all and many pass through it like many another small open space in the City, is managed by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission:
A little further on, and rather tucked in beside All Hallows Church, is a memorial of the WW2 siege of Malta
Coming through to the Embankment, we come to a memorial to the submariners
and one erected not by this country but by Belgium:
Further along, on the riverside outside the Ministry of Defence, are the RAF memorial and the more recent Battle of Britain memorial
On the other side of the road, immediately outside the Ministry building, is a memorial to the Fleet Air Arm
and one to the WW2 Chindit campaigns in Burma
and coming more up to date, to the Korean war
and to Iraq and Afghanistan
Round the corner is one to the Gurkhas
before one comes to Whitehall and the Cenotaph, the national focus for Remembrance Day services:
Just next to the Cenotaph, this memorial announces itself:
Passing through to Horse Guards Parade, where the Guards regiments mount the annual Trooping the Colour ceremony for the Sovereign's birthday, is their memorial
On the corner of the Mall is one to the artillery of the South African (Boer) War:
Past the other side of the Mall, and up the Duke of York Steps, is the Crimea memorial:
and these reminders, perhaps slightly off the theme of the thread since they commemorate not the fallen but the defiant:
In Green Park, is this rather modest memorial for the Canadians
Carrying on up Constitution Hill, we come to the Commonwealth Gates, for troops from South Asia and the Caribbean:
and nearby one for the bombers:
At Hyde Park Corner, there are memorials for Australia
New Zealand (I'm wondering if the placement of the columns is intended to suggest the stars of the Southern Cross on their flag):
and the Artillery of both world wars:
while this figure would not, of itself, suggest to me the Machine Gun Corps:
On into Hyde Park itself, and in among the trees and greenery is St George commemorating the Cavalry:
and the Holocaust Memorial Garden
Along Park Lane these columns mark a war of a different kind - each represents one of those killed in the tube bombings of July 7 2005:
Nearer Marble Arch, is this reminder of how much the four-legged also suffered, particularly in WW1:
And down in Victoria Embankment Gardens a rather less grandiose memorial to the Imperial Camel Corps:
