Monument to the Women of World War II

Coordinates: 51°30′13″N 0°07′34″W / 51.5035°N 0.1262°W / 51.5035; -0.1262 (Monument to the Women of World War II)
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Monument to the Women of World War II
United Kingdom
Monument to the Women of World War II (looking west)
For the women of the Second World War
Unveiled9 July 2005; 18 years ago (2005-07-09)
Location51°30′13″N 0°07′34″W / 51.5035°N 0.1262°W / 51.5035; -0.1262 (Monument to the Women of World War II)

The Monument to the Women of World War II is a British national war memorial situated on Whitehall in London next to the Cenotaph at the end of Downing Street. The sculpture represents the wartime contributions of over seven million women, including 650,000 who joined military services. It is a 6.7-metre (22 ft) tall hollow bronze resembling a coat rack representing Winston Churchill's call 'Let the Women Come Forward',[1] the idea being that women left their normal lives to fight for survival in any role necessary. The monument was sculpted by

John W. Mills
, himself a wartime evacuee when his mother joined the fire service.

The bronze was unveiled by

VE Day. The Queen was a teenage mechanic and driver in the Auxiliary Territorial Service
, the women's army service. Fundraising was conducted by the Memorial to Women of WWII charitable trust, the patron of which was the Speaker of the House of Commons
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. Only two of the original charitable trustees are still living. Journalist Peri Langdale followed the campaign for eight years, making two programmes for ITV Tyne Tees
about the project.

Origins

The idea for a memorial was raised with retired Major David McNally Robertson in 1997, who was informed that, while many countries had a national monument to the work that women undertook during World War Two, the UK did not.

Baroness Finlay of Llandaff and Robert Crawford.[4]

Over £300,000 was raised by the public. The

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in 2002.[5] The remaining funds were raised by the Memorial to the Women of World War II Fund, a charitable fund based in York.[6]

Design

Monument to the Women of World War II (looking north)

The initial design involved a female

welding mask.[2]

Unveiling

The memorial was unveiled on 9 July 2005, two days after the 7/7 London bombings, by Queen Elizabeth II as part of the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. Also in attendance at the ceremony were Baroness Boothroyd, Baroness Thatcher, Dame Vera Lynn and the Defence Secretary John Reid, as well as a number of female war veterans.[7] These veterans included Nancy Wake, the Allies' most decorated servicewoman.[8] A flypast of five military helicopters took place, an Apache, Sea King, Lynx, Chinook and Merlin, which were flown by all-female crews. This was followed by a flypast of two Panavia Tornado ADVs, flown by female pilots.[7]

Baroness Boothroyd dedicated the memorial saying: "This monument is dedicated to all the women who served our country and to the cause of freedom, in uniform and on the home front. I hope that future generations who pass this way will ask themselves: 'what sort of women were they?' and look at our history for the answer."[7]

Vandalism

In May 2015, after the Conservative Party won a majority in a general election, the memorial was vandalised with red graffiti.[9] Downing Street called the damage "despicable", and at least 17 people were arrested following clashes in Whitehall.[10]

See also

References

  1. ^ Smith, David (10 July 2005). "Queen honours war's heroines". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d "Women of World War Two". United Kingdom National Inventory of War Memorials. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  3. ^ "World War II memorial campaigner from Selby dies". BBC News. 27 April 2011. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  4. ^ a b c "Memorial to Women of World War II". National Heritage Memorial Fund. 29 April 2004. Archived from the original on 23 January 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  5. ISSN 0261-3077
    . Retrieved 16 April 2024. £8,000 winnings
  6. ^ a b "Memorial to war women unveiled". BBC News. 9 July 2005. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  7. ^ a b c d "Women's courage in Second World War commemorated". The Daily Telegraph. 9 July 2005. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  8. ^ Smith, David (10 July 2005). "Queen honours war's heroines". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  9. ^ The BBC (10 May 2015). "Police arrest 15 in anti-austerity protest in London". The BBC. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  10. ^ "Anti-Tory protesters deface war monument on Whitehall". Telegraph.co.uk. 10 May 2015. Retrieved 21 March 2016.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Monument to the Women of World War II, Whitehall, London.

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