The Animals in War Memorial is a

war memorial A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war. Symbolism Historical usage It has ...

, in

Hyde Park Hyde Park may refer to: Places England * Hyde Park, London, a Royal Park in Central London * Hyde Park, Leeds, an inner-city area of north-west Leeds * Hyde Park, Sheffield, district of Sheffield * Hyde Park, in Hyde, Greater Manchester Austra ...

, London, commemorating the countless animals that have served and died under British military command throughout history. It was designed by English sculptor David Backhouse and unveiled in November 2004 by

Anne, Princess Royal Anne, Princess Royal (Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise; born 15 August 1950), is a member of the British royal family. She is the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the only sister of ...

History

The memorial was inspired by

Jilly Cooper Jilly Cooper, CBE (born 21 February 1937), is an English author. She began her career as a journalist and wrote numerous works of non-fiction before writing several romance novels, the first of which appeared in 1975. She is most famous for wr ...

's 1983 book ''Animals in War'', and was made possible by a specially created fund of £1.4 million from public donations of which Cooper was a co-trustee. The memorial consists of a 55 ft by 58 ft (16.8 m by 17.7 m) curved

Portland stone Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries are cut in beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a building sto ...

wall: the symbolic arena of war, emblazoned with images of various struggling animals, along with two heavily laden bronze mules progressing up the stairs of the monument, and a bronze horse and bronze dog beyond it looking into the distance. Located on

Park Lane Park Lane is a dual carriageway road in the City of Westminster in Central London. It is part of the London Inner Ring Road and runs from Hyde Park Corner in the south to Marble Arch in the north. It separates Hyde Park to the west from May ...

, at the junction with

Upper Brook Street Brook Street is an axial street in the exclusive central London district of Mayfair. Most of it is leasehold, paying ground rent to and seeking lease renewals from the reversioner, that since before 1800, has been the Grosvenor Estate. Named a ...

, on the eastern edge of the park, The Animals in War Memorial was officially opened on 24 November 2004 by Anne, Princess Royal. In May 2013 it was one of two London war memorials vandalised on the same night. The word "

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

" was spray-painted on it causing £2,766 in damage, and the nearby

RAF Bomber Command Memorial The Royal Air Force Bomber Command Memorial is a memorial in The Green Park, London, commemorating the crews of RAF Bomber Command who embarked on missions during the Second World War. The memorial, on the south side of Piccadilly, facing Hyde ...

suffered £6,500 in damage. A 31-year-old man later admitted to vandalising the memorials and was charged for a total of 94 vandalism and destruction of property offences carried out over several weeks against homes, cars, memorials and a church, causing over £50,000 in damage.

Inscriptions

The

inscription Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...

s are in various

fonts In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a typeface. Each font is a matched set of type, with a piece (a "sort") for each glyph. A typeface consists of a range of such fonts that shared an overall design. In mode ...

and sizes and are all

uppercase Letter case is the distinction between the Letter (alphabet), letters that are in larger uppercase or capitals (or more formally ''majuscule'') and smaller lowercase (or more formally ''minuscule'') in the written representation of certain lang ...

. Other than the featured messages, there are several inscriptions on the rear or outside, and on the inner edges of the wings (in the gap), attributing the creators and funders. ;On the face of the right wing when viewed from the front or inside: :;Main heading; the largest and heaviest cut inscription ::Animals in War :;Directly beneath the main heading ::This monument is dedicated to all the animalsthat served and died alongside British and allied forcesin wars and campaigns throughout time :;Beneath and to the right of the main heading ::They had no choice ;On the face of the left wing when viewed from the rear or outside (on the reverse of the main heading): :Manyand variousanimals were employedto support British and Allied Forcesin wars and campaigns over the centuriesand as a result millions died · From the pigeon to theelephant they all played a vital role in every region of the worldin the cause of human freedom · Their contribution must never be forgotten

Gallery

Image:Animals in War west.jpg, Western section of the memorial Image:Animals in War east.jpg, Eastern section of the memorial Image:Animals in War north.jpg, Northern section of the memorial

References

External links

The Official Animals In War Memorial Fund Website

An audio link from Clinton Rogers of the BBC

* ttp://www.harrygray.co.uk/animals.htm Another article focused on the sculpting of the monument
An article giving substantial detail on particular animals honoured by the memorial
{{Use dmy dates, date=December 2019 Animal monuments Monuments and memorials in London Military memorials in London 2004 sculptures Stone sculptures in the United Kingdom Bronze sculptures in the United Kingdom 2004 establishments in England Mammals in art Animal sculptures in the United Kingdom Vandalized works of art in the United Kingdom Sculptures of dogs Horses in art

History

Inscriptions

Gallery

See also

References

External links