The London Troops War Memorial, located in front of the Royal Exchange in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

, commemorates the men of London who fought in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Description

The memorial consists of a Portland stone column approximately high, with buttress plinths, on a granite base, and attached bronze sculptures. On each of the buttress plinths, to the north and south of the central column, is a life-size bronze statue of a soldier standing at ease with a rifle, one representing the Royal Fusiliers and the other the Royal Field Artillery. The column is surmounted by a bronze lion rampant bearing a medallion of Saint George and the Dragon, with the legand "St George for England". The west side of the central column bears a carving of the

coat of arms of the City of London A coat typically is an outer garment for the upper body as worn by either gender for warmth or fashion. Coats typically have long sleeves and are open down the front and closing by means of buttons, zippers, hook-and-loop fasteners, toggles, ...

, above dedicatory inscriptions. The east side bears the arms of the County of London above a list of the London regiments that were engaged in the First and Second World Wars: the Royal Fusiliers (City of London) Regiment, the

Honourable Artillery Company The Honourable Artillery Company (HAC) is a reserve regiment in the British Army. Incorporated by royal charter in 1537 by King Henry VIII, it is the oldest regiment in the British Army and is considered the second-oldest military unit in the w ...

, four units of the

City of London Yeomanry The City of London Yeomanry (Rough Riders) was a yeomanry regiment of the British Territorial Army, formed in 1901 from veterans of the Second Boer War. In World War I it served dismounted in the Gallipoli Campaign but reverted to the mount ...

and

County of London Yeomanry A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

, eight London brigades of the Royal Field Artillery and two batteries of the

Royal Garrison Artillery The Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) was formed in 1899 as a distinct arm of the British Army's Royal Regiment of Artillery serving alongside the other two arms of the Regiment, the Royal Field Artillery (RFA) and the Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) ...

, units of the Royal Engineers, 28 battalions of the London Regiment (1st to 25th, 28th, 33rd and 34th), and London units of the Royal Army Service Corps, Royal Army Medical Corps,

Royal Army Veterinary Corps The Royal Army Veterinary Corps (RAVC), known as the Army Veterinary Corps (AVC) until it gained the royal prefix on 27 November 1918, is an administrative and operational branch of the British Army responsible for the provision, training and ca ...

Territorial Force Nursing Service The Territorial Force Nursing Service (TFNS) was established in 1908, part of the reform of the British auxiliary forces introduced by Richard Haldane which created the Territorial Force. Nurses with at least three years of training were able to ...

, and

Voluntary Aid Detachment The Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) was a voluntary unit of civilians providing nursing care for military personnel in the United Kingdom and various other countries in the British Empire. The most important periods of operation for these units we ...

s. Most served with the

56th (1st London) Division The 56th (London) Infantry Division was a Territorial Army infantry division of the British Army, which served under several different titles and designations. The division served in the trenches of the Western Front during the First World War. ...

, 47th (2nd London) Division, or 58th (London) Division, mainly on the Western Front, or with the 60th (London) Division on the Western Front and then in Salonika and Egypt. Behind the bronze soldiers, the north and south sides of the stone column each bear carvings of three flags, with each flagpole topped by a crown and a wreath.

Construction

The sculptor of the bronze figures was

Alfred Drury Edward Alfred Briscoe Drury (11 November 1856 – 24 December 1944) was a British architectural sculptor and artist active in the New Sculpture movement. During a long career Drury created a great number of decorative figures such as busts an ...

, with the bronzes cast at the Albion Art Foundry. The stone-carver and letterer was

William Silver Frith William Silver Frith (1850–1924) was a British sculptor. Frith graduated from the Lambeth School of Art and the Royal Academy Schools, and became assistant to Jules Dalou. By 1880 Frith had succeeded Dalou as master at the newly formed South ...

, and the architect was Sir

Aston Webb Sir Aston Webb (22 May 1849 – 21 August 1930) was a British architect who designed the principal facade of Buckingham Palace and the main building of the Victoria and Albert Museum, among other major works around England, many of them in pa ...

, who was President of the Royal Academy from 1919 to 1925. Webb's original proposal, including masts standing high bearing the

Royal Standard In heraldry and vexillology, a heraldic flag is a flag containing coats of arms, heraldic badges, or other devices used for personal identification. Heraldic flags include banners, standards, pennons and their variants, gonfalons, guidons, and ...

and the

flag of the City of London The flag of the City of London is based on the flag of England, having a centred red St George's Cross on a white background, with the red sword in the upper hoist canton (the top left quarter). The sword is believed to represent the sword t ...

, and statues representing Peace and Victory, was rejected by the

Court of Common Council The Court of Common Council is the primary decision-making body of the City of London Corporation. It meets nine times per year. Most of its work is carried out by committees. Elections are held at least every four years. It is largely composed o ...

, but his second design was accepted. The budgeted £7,000 for the memorial was raised by public subscription. To create space for the memorial in front of the Royal Exchange, a drinking fountain was moved to Cornhill, where it replaced a statue of Sir

Rowland Hill Sir Rowland Hill, KCB, FRS (3 December 1795 – 27 August 1879) was an English teacher, inventor and social reformer. He campaigned for a comprehensive reform of the postal system, based on the concept of Uniform Penny Post and his soluti ...

, which was moved to

St Martin's le Grand St. Martin's Le Grand is a former liberty within the City of London, and is the name of a street north of Newgate Street and Cheapside and south of Aldersgate Street. It forms the southernmost section of the A1 road. College of canons and col ...

Unveiling

The memorial was unveiled in front of a large crowd on a foggy day, 12 November 1920, the day after the ceremony to bury the Unknown Warrior at

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the Unite ...

. Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn was scheduled to unveil the memorial, but he was indisposed and was represented by

Prince Albert, Duke of York George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of Ind ...

. A guard of honour and military band came from the 3rd Battalion

Grenadier Guards "Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it." , colors = , colors_label = , march = Slow: " Scipio" , mascot = , equipment = , equipment ...

, with a march-past of detachments from London military units. For some year after the memorial was unveiled, the clerks at the Bank of England nearby took upon themselves the task of maintaining the floral tributes left at the memorial. Copper replicas of the memorial were presented to the London units represented on the memorial in 1923. It became a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

in June 1972, upgraded to Grade II* in June 2016 for the centenary of the Battle of the Somme.

Inscriptions

A brass plaque reads: "Raised by public subscription at the Mansion House in the peace year 1919 during the mayoralty of Col. The Rt. Hon., Sir Horace Brooks Marshall, K.C.V.O., LL.D." The brass plaque was added after 1945, replacing original wording that was removed from the column when a further dedication was added after the Second World War.

Details

File:London MMB »2C2 Royal Exchange.jpg, The memorial in December 2014 File:London Troops War Memorial 11.jpg, Poppy wreaths laid in November 2016 File:London Troops memorial, Royal Exchange.jpg, London Troops memorial, Royal Exchange behind (western side, front view looking east) File:London Troops memorial, Artillery figure.jpg, London Troops memorial, Artillery figure (north) File:London Troops memorial, Infantry figure.jpg, London Troops memorial, Infantry figure (south) File:London Troops War Memorial 08.jpg, Lion sculpture on top of the memorial File:London Troops War Memorial 10.jpg, Coat of arms of the County of London on the memorial File:London Troops War Memorial 02.jpg, Plaque referring to the mayoralty of Horace Brooks Marshall File:London Troops War Memorial 03.jpg, Main inscription on the western side of the memorial File:London Troops War Memorial 09.jpg, List of regiments on the eastern side of the memorial

References

External links

Monument: London Troops War Memorial
at London Remembers {{Portal bar, London, Visual arts, War 1920 establishments in the United Kingdom 1920 sculptures Bronze sculptures in the United Kingdom Grade II* listed buildings in the City of London Grade II* listed monuments and memorials Military memorials in London Outdoor sculptures in London Statues in London World War I memorials in England World War II memorials in England