The Royal Tank Regiment Memorial is a sculpture by

Vivien Mallock Vivien Mallock FRBS (born 8 May 1945) is an English sculptor who works mainly in bronze. Her career started at the Museum of Army Flying in Hampshire where she sculpted several celebrated World War II fighter pilots, including John Cunningham, ...

in Whitehall Court, London. It commemorates the

Royal Tank Regiment The Royal Tank Regiment (RTR) is the oldest tank unit in the world, being formed by the British Army in 1916 during the First World War. Today, it is the armoured regiment of the British Army's 12th Armoured Infantry Brigade. Formerly known as th ...

. The sculptural group depicts the five-man crew of a World War II–era Comet tank at 1½ times life size. General Sir

Antony Walker General Sir Antony Kenneth Frederick Walker, (born 16 May 1934) is a former British Army officer who served as Commandant of the Royal College of Defence Studies from 1990 to 1992. Military career Educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Walke ...

, who was in charge of fundraising for the memorial, described it as "a memorial to the men of the regiment, rather than the machines". It is an enlarged version of a maquette by

George Henry Paulin George Henry Paulin (14 August 1888–1962), often called Harry Paulin, or 'GHP' (his sculpting insignia) was a Scottish sculptor and artist of great note in the early 20th century. Life Born in 1888 in the manse at Muckhart, Clackmannansh ...

in the

Tank Museum The Tank Museum (previously The Bovington Tank Museum) is a collection of armoured fighting vehicles at Bovington Camp in Dorset, South West England. It is about north of the village of Wool and west of the major port of Poole. The collection ...

, Bovington, Dorset, which dates to 1953. Mallock's husband had been an officer in the RTR in the 1960s. A resin cast of Mallock's group also stands outside the Tank Museum. The memorial was unveiled by Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

, Colonel-in-Chief of the RTR, on 13 June 2000. She was escorted to the ceremony by an armoured Rolls-Royce from 1924, a precursor to the tank. The date was the centenary of a battle in the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...

in which the tank pioneer Sir

Ernest Dunlop Swinton Major-General Sir Ernest Dunlop Swinton, (21 October 1868 – 15 January 1951) was a British Army officer who played a part in the development and adoption of the tank during the First World War. He was also a war correspondent and author of sev ...

took part. Other memorials to the RTR are in

Newcastle-upon-Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is als ...

and the National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas, Staffordshire.

Gallery

References

External links

* {{coord, 51.5061, N, 0.1245, W, source:wikidata, display=title

Memorial A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or works of a ...

Military memorials in London 2000 sculptures 2000 in London 2000 establishments in England Outdoor sculptures in London Whitehall