New Zealand War Memorial, London
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The New Zealand War Memorial in London is a
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 ...
to the war dead of New Zealand in the
First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
and Second World Wars, unveiled in 2006. Officially named "Southern Stand", the memorial was designed by architect John Hardwick-Smith and sculptor
Paul Dibble Paul Hugh Dibble (born 20 March 1943) is a New Zealand sculptor. Biography Born in Thames on 20 March 1943 and raised on a farm in Waitakaruru on the Hauraki Plains, Dibble was educated at Thames High School. He trained at the Elam School of F ...
, both from New Zealand. It is located on the
Piccadilly Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road that connects central London to Hammersmith, Earl's Court, ...
side of Hyde Park Corner, northeast of the Wellington Arch, and is diagonally opposite the
Australian War Memorial The Australian War Memorial is Australia's national memorial to the members of its armed forces and supporting organisations who have died or participated in wars involving the Commonwealth of Australia and some conflicts involving pe ...
.New Zealand Memorial in London – NZ Ministry of Culture and Heritage
/ref> The traffic island also houses an Equestrian statue of the Duke of Wellington, the
Machine Gun Corps Memorial The Machine Gun Corps Memorial, also known as ''The Boy David'', is a memorial to the casualties of the Machine Gun Corps in the First World War. It is located on the north side of the traffic island at Hyde Park Corner in London, near the Welli ...
and the Royal Artillery Memorial.


Background

The memorial was established to commemorate "the enduring bond between New Zealand and the United Kingdom", and the lives lost by the two countries during the two World Wars. Dibble said: Thousands of soldiers from New Zealand served with the British Army in South Africa during the Boer War, at
Gallipoli The Gallipoli peninsula (; tr, Gelibolu Yarımadası; grc, Χερσόνησος της Καλλίπολης, ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles ...
and on the Western Front during the First World War, and the Second
New Zealand Expeditionary Force The New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) was the title of the military forces sent from New Zealand to fight alongside other British Empire and Dominion troops during World War I (1914–1918) and World War II (1939–1945). Ultimately, the NZE ...
served in England, the Middle East and Italy in the Second World War. Hundreds of New Zealanders also served in the
Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...
, Royal Air Force, and Royal Navy, including the battlecruiser HMS ''New Zealand'' and the light cruiser HMS ''Achilles''. Prominent wartime commanders with connections to New Zealand included
Bernard Freyberg Lieutenant-General Bernard Cyril Freyberg, 1st Baron Freyberg, (21 March 1889 – 4 July 1963) was a British-born New Zealand soldier and Victoria Cross recipient, who served as the 7th Governor-General of New Zealand from 1946 to 1952. Freyb ...
and
Keith Park Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Rodney Park, (15 June 1892 – 6 February 1975) was a New Zealand-born officer of the Royal Air Force (RAF). During the Second World War, his leadership of the RAF's No. 11 Group was pivotal to the Luftwaffe's defe ...
.


Design

The memorial comprises 16 bronze "standards" set out on a grassy slope at the east end of the Hyde Park Corner traffic island. Each standard is a cross-shaped metal girder weighing about , cast by the Heavy Metal Company in
Lower Hutt Lower Hutt ( mi, Te Awa Kairangi ki Tai) is a city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand. Administered by the Hutt City Council, it is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington metropolitan area. It is New Zealand's sixth most p ...
, and set in a concrete foundation, with surrounds of British slate. The dark
patina Patina ( or ) is a thin layer that variously forms on the surface of copper, brass, bronze and similar metals and metal alloys (tarnish produced by oxidation or other chemical processes) or certain stones and wooden furniture (sheen produced b ...
ted surfaces of the standards are adorned with different texts, patterns and small sculptures, all symbolic of New Zealand, including fern shapes, a manaia figure, plants and animals from New Zealand, emblems of the New Zealand armed forces, and references to authors and artists from New Zealand. The girders project from the ground at an angle towards the south. The angle is intended to resemble the posture of warriors performing a haka, or a cricket bat playing a defensive stroke, or the barrel of a shouldered gun. The standards have different heights, with the ends cut off at a diagonal so they resemble cross-like grave markers from a distance. Nine of the standards form in a regular grid pattern, with a tenth as a leader. The six other standards stand away from the main group in a pattern similar to the Southern Cross, and bear LED lights that can be illuminated. The formal arrangement is intended to resemble a group of soldiers in procession, or Māori pouwhenua markers, or Celtic standing stones. Richard Shone, editor of '' The Burlington Magazine'', criticised the memorial and its design in an attack on the "infestation of public space", describing it as "bristlingly unlovely".Time to rein in ‘Frankenstein statues’ that are stalking streets, say art curators
Retrieved 13 February 2008.
Needed: A Controller of Inanimate People
The Burlington Magazine, December 2007, No. 1257 – Vol 149


History

The proposal for a memorial in London was initially made by the government of New Zealand in 2003. In October 2004, 12 design teams were selected from the 68 who submitted expressions of interest in the New Zealand War Memorial. These teams submitted designs for the prospective monument and an expert panel, appointed by the
Ministry for Culture and Heritage The Ministry for Culture and Heritage (MCH; ) is the department of the New Zealand Government responsible for supporting the arts, culture, built heritage, sport and recreation, and broadcasting sectors in New Zealand and advising government on ...
, selected the final design. The design was then refined and submitted to Westminster City Council in London for planning approval. The design was a collaboration between New Zealand firms Dibble Art Co and Athfield Architects, led by Dibble and Hardwick-Smith respectively, with Jon Rennie as the team's London representative. The budget for the design and construction of the memorial was NZ$3 million. The official dedication of the New Zealand War Memorial took place on 11 November 2006 ( Armistice Day) 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 Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...
, in her capacity as Queen of New Zealand. In attendance were the Prime Minister of New Zealand Helen Clark and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, as well as the
Duke of Edinburgh Duke of Edinburgh, named after the city of Edinburgh in Scotland, was a substantive title that has been created three times since 1726 for members of the British royal family. It does not include any territorial landholdings and does not produc ...
and other members of the
Royal Family A royal family is the immediate family of kings/queens, emirs/emiras, sultans/ sultanas, or raja/ rani and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term ...
, and Lieutenant General Jerry Mateparae, Chief of the New Zealand Defence Force, and Air Chief Marshal
Jock Stirrup Marshal of the Royal Air Force Graham Eric Stirrup, Baron Stirrup, (born 4 December 1949), informally known as Jock Stirrup, is a former senior Royal Air Force commander who was the Chief of the Defence Staff from 2006 until his retirement in ...
, Chief of the UK Defence Staff. The ceremony included
Hayley Westenra Hayley Dee Westenra (born 10 April 1987) is a New Zealand classical crossover singer and songwriter. Her first internationally released album, ''Pure'', reached number one on the UK classical charts in 2003 and has sold more than two million c ...
performing God Save the Queen and God Defend New Zealand, the national anthems of the UK and New Zealand, Ngāti Rānana singing a Māori song, "Po Atarau", and the performance of a haka, and also a flypast by an RNZAF Boeing 757 and RAF Typhoons. New Zealand War Memorial, Hyde Park Corner - geograph.org.uk - 1463115.jpg New Zealand War Memorial.jpg


See also

*
List of public art in Hyde Park, London This is a list of public art in Hyde Park, London. A Royal Park since 1536, Hyde Park covers an area of over 350 acres. Its present landscaping dates largely to the 18th century, when Queen Caroline introduced the Serpentine among other feat ...
*
World War I memorials World War I is remembered and commemorated by various war memorials, including civic memorials, larger national monuments, war cemeteries, private memorials and a range of utilitarian designs such as halls and parks, dedicated to remembering th ...
* the
New Zealand Memorial The New Zealand Memorial is an obelisk in Greenwich that commemorates 21 British officers and men of the Royal Navy who died in the New Zealand War of 1863–64. The memorial is located near the River Thames, east of the Cutty Sark, close to ...
in Greenwich commemorates the dead of the New Zealand War of 1863–64


References

{{coord, 51.5031, -0.1504, type:landmark_region:GB-WSM, display=title Military memorials in London New Zealand military memorials and cemeteries 2006 sculptures Bronze sculptures in the United Kingdom New Zealand–United Kingdom military relations World War I memorials in the United Kingdom World War II memorials in England