Royal Artillery Memorial

Coordinates: 51°30′09″N 0°09′07″W / 51.5025°N 0.151944°W / 51.5025; -0.151944
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Royal Artillery Memorial
United Kingdom
For casualties of the Royal Regiment of Artillery
in the First World War
Unveiled18 October 1925 (1925-10-18)
Location51°30′09″N 0°09′07″W / 51.5025°N 0.151944°W / 51.5025; -0.151944
Hyde Park Corner, London, SW1
Designed byCharles Sargeant Jagger, Lionel Pearson
In proud remembrance of the forty-nine thousand & seventy-six of all ranks of the Royal Regiment of Artillery who gave their lives for king and country in the Great War 1914–1919
Listed Building – Grade I
Official nameRoyal Artillery Memorial
Designated14 January 1970
Reference no.1231613

The Royal Artillery Memorial is a

First World War
. The static nature of the conflict, particularly on the Western Front, meant that artillery played a major role in the war, though physical reminders of the fighting were often avoided in the years after the war. The Royal Artillery War Commemoration Fund (RAWCF) was formed in 1918 to preside over the regiment's commemorations, aware of some dissatisfaction with memorials to previous wars. The RAWCF approached several eminent architects but its insistence on a visual representation of artillery meant that none was able to produce a satisfactory design. Thus they approached Jagger, himself an ex-soldier who had been wounded in the war. Jagger produced a design which was accepted in 1922, though he modified it several times before construction.

The memorial consists of a Portland stone cruciform base supporting a one-third over-lifesize sculpture of a howitzer (a type of artillery field gun), which Jagger based on a gun in the Imperial War Museum. At the end of each arm of the cross is a sculpture of a soldier—an officer at the front (south side), a shell carrier on the east side, a driver on the west side, and at the rear (north) a dead soldier. The sides of the base are decorated with relief sculptures depicting wartime scenes. The realism of the memorial, with the depiction of the howitzer and the dead soldier, differed significantly from other First World War memorials, notably the influential Cenotaph, which used pure architectural forms and classical symbolism. The design was controversial when unveiled; some critics viewed the dead soldier as too graphic or felt that the howitzer did not lend itself to rendition in stone. Nonetheless, the memorial was popular with others, including ex-servicemen, and later came to be recognised as Jagger's masterpiece and one of Britain's finest war memorials.

The memorial was unveiled by

Second World War. It underwent restoration in 2011 after years of weathering and water ingress. The memorial is a Grade I listed building and is managed by English Heritage
; it now shares its site with multiple other military monuments and war memorials.

Background

The

First World War memorials, it tended to depict allegorical figures such as Peace or Victory. Sculptures of soldiers were uncommon. Where they were used, the soldiers appeared healthy and smartly presented in military uniform, not dishevelled or injured.[6]

The Royal Artillery War Commemoration Fund (RAWCF) was formed in 1918, made up of a mixture of commissioned officers and other ranks.[7] The RAWCF's intention was to remember the artillerymen who had died during the war, and after some discussions of various options, including purchasing a house for wounded soldiers, or building a number of small shrines across the country, the RAWCF decided to construct a single memorial to the fallen Royal Artillery servicemen. Memorials to lost servicemen from the previous major conflict, the South African War fought between 1899 and 1902, had been widely criticised as being unimaginative and members of the RAWCF were unimpressed by the Royal Artillery's memorial to that war, located on the Mall. As a result of these problems, the prominent artist Sir Edward Poynter put forward recommendations that far more care, time and funding be given to the construction of future war memorials, which were taken on board by the RAWCF.[8]

The RAWCF first explored the option of joining some form of national commemoration which was under consideration in the aftermath of the First World War, initially wishing to spend only a small proportion of the fund on a physical monument. Plans were floated for a national memorial in the vicinity of

Buckingham Palace gardens.[9] The RAWCF sought a design that would be "unmistakably recognisable" as an artillery monument, and were insistent that the eventual designer take detailed advice from a junior officer who had served in the war.[8][10][7]

Commissioning

A surviving howitzer of the type represented on the Royal Artillery Memorial, this one in the collection of the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, seen in 2016

The RAWCF first examined a design by Captain Adrian Jones, who produced the Boer War Cavalry Memorial a few years before, but his design was rejected.[11][12] Next, the committee contacted the architects Sir Edwin Lutyens, Herbert Baker, and Sir Aston Webb (designer of the regiment's Boer War memorial). Lutyens sent in three designs, each costed at less than £15,000 (approximately equivalent to £704,000 in 2019), but several committee members felt them to be too similar to the Cenotaph and to give insufficient prominence to artillery. Further problems arose when the Office of Works stated that it would not approve Lutyens' designs on the grounds that all would be too tall for their surroundings. After the RAWCF insisted that a howitzer be prominently incorporated into the designs, Lutyens withdrew. Baker disagreed with the concept of single service monuments, but submitted a proposal costed at over £25,000 (approximately equivalent to £1,173,000 in 2019), which was declined and he withdrew from the project. Webb declined to submit a proposal and also withdrew.[11][12]

The committee then approached the sculptor

Anglo-Belgian Memorial in Brussels, though the Royal Artillery memorial is arguably his leading work.[17][18][19]
Most of these works were in the design stage or under construction concurrently. Jagger was approached by the RAWCF both because of his reputation as a designer and because of his service as an infantry officer, although the American artist John Sargent, a patron of Jagger's, may have encouraged the committee to consider the young artist.[20] General Sir John Du Cane, a member of the RAWCF committee, encouraged his fellow members to consider Jagger on the grounds that the memorial would be the work which established Jagger's reputation and thus the sculptor would produce his best work. The RAWCF requested that he submit a model for a realist sculpture, which should include a group of soldiers in bronze on a pedestal. The RAWCF felt that a realist design would have broader appeal and would be inclusive of the tastes of ordinary artillerymen—rather than catering solely for the tastes of the officers—while at the same time creating a historical record of the era for future generations.[21][22][23][24]

Part of the memorial's carved reliefs, showing gunners operating a trench howitzer

Jagger engaged the architect Lionel Pearson to design the stone structure of the memorial, and through June and July 1921 the RAWCF and the authorities considered the proposal.[3] Jagger's model was similar to the eventual memorial, but had only two gunners at either end of an oblong memorial; the howitzer on the top was smaller than the eventual version, and pointed sideways, rather than lengthways along the pedestal.[25] In reporting to the committee, Jagger said that he felt strongly that the design should unashamedly focus on the events of the war, noting that it "should in every sense be a war memorial".[7] Jagger explained that the artillery had "terrific power" and was the "last word in force", and that the howitzer he had chosen was the only suitable weapon to symbolise those capabilities.[26] During the design process, the committee presented Jagger with many suggestions. He gladly accepted their advice on technical matters related to artillery procedures and the appearance of the howitzer, but was protective of his artistic independence and would not brook suggestions which he felt would impinge on the quality of the work.[27] There were concerns on the committee that the design would shock members of the public, especially women, but the RAWCF eventually voted 50 to 15 in favour of accepting the design and the proposed cost of £25,000.[7] Jagger was formally awarded the contract for the memorial in March 1922.[26]

Jagger at that time was preoccupied with the Anglo-Belgian Memorial in Brussels and did not begin work on the Royal Artillery memorial until October, at which point he made several changes to the proposed design, which he submitted to the RAWCF early the following year.

Royal Fine Arts Commission—Jagger agreed that the howitzer would point south to produce a pleasing silhouette from the park. The change also resolved an objection raised by the King about the "gloomy" figure on the front of the memorial staring down Constitution Hill towards Buckingham Palace.[21] A year-long debate occurred within the RAWCF as to what inscription should be placed on the memorial, adding to the delay.[28][29] Jagger made another change in early 1924, adding an effigy of a dead soldier to the fourth side of the memorial, in keeping with the soldiers on the other three sides. The proposal proved controversial. Although recumbent effigies were not uncommon on tombs and (to a lesser extent) war memorials, a sculpture of a dead soldier at eye level was an unusual and dramatic feature among First World War memorials—architects often preferred abstract, classical designs (such as the Cenotaph) or portrayed death through allegory. Jagger was adamant about the inclusion, even offering to pay for the casting of the additional figure himself.[21][30] After considerable debate, the RAWCF agreed to the modification.[28][31] Jagger's work continued to take longer than planned, partially due to shortages of staff, the need to approve each amendment to the plan, and practical problems on the site itself.[32] The names of his models for three of the statues are known—William Fosten for the driver, another ex-gunner called Metcalfe for the ammunition carrier, and Lieutenant Eugene Paul Bennett, VC, who fought in the same regiment as Jagger, for the commander.[30][33][34]

Design and symbolism

The bronze statue of the artillery captain

The Royal Artillery Memorial is located in what Malcolm Miles has termed the "leafy traffic island" of Hyde Park Corner in central London.[35] It is one of several war memorials which dominate the roundabout and its surrounds; it is directly opposite the Wellington Arch while at the north end is another memorial to the Duke of Wellington in the form of an equestrian statue. Other memorials in the vicinity include the Machine Gun Corps Memorial, the Australian and New Zealand war memorials, and the Commonwealth Memorial Gates.[36]

The Royal Artillery Memorial is 43 feet long, 21 feet wide and 30 feet high (13 metres by 6 metres by 9 metres); the pedestal and the one-third over-lifesize replica of a

heavy artillery and the crew of a howitzer; on the west side is an action involving horse artillery and a signaller and telephonist on the smaller relief.[41][42] The memorial's main inscription on the west and east faces reads "In proud remembrance of the forty-nine thousand and seventy-six of all ranks of the Royal Regiment of Artillery who gave their lives for King and country in the Great War 1914—1919".[43] Beneath the dead soldier is the inscription "Here was a royal fellowship of death", a quote from William Shakespeare's Henry V, which was suggested by Jagger himself.[30][41]

Audio description of the memorial

The memorial forms a sharp contrast with both the earlier monuments of the

South African War and most monuments contemporary to the First World War. Memorials of the South African War typically included figures of soldiers, sometimes dying in conflict, but always heroically in a "beautiful death". Classical symbolism was often used to distance the event of death from the observer, as typified in William Colton's work for the Worcester Boer War Memorial.[44] Most First World War memorials reacted to the criticism of this approach by adopting cleaner architectural forms, but still retaining the ideal of a "beautiful death", an approach which can be seen at Lutyens' Southampton Cenotaph, the precursor to his more famous Cenotaph on Whitehall. These memorials frequently used abstract designs intended to remove the viewer from the real world, and focus them on an idealised sense of self-sacrifice.[12][44][45] Soldiers in these memorials were still frequently depicted as Homeric warriors, and classical ideals and symbols remained popular, as can be seen at the Machine Gun Corps Memorial by Francis Derwent Wood, close to the Royal Artillery Memorial.[4][46] Where dead soldiers were shown, they were depicted in an image of serenity and peace, often physically distanced from the viewer on a high platform, the entire effect enhanced by the silence that traditionally surrounds ceremonies at the Cenotaph.[44][47]

The bronze statue of the driver

The Royal Artillery Monument attempted a very different effect. Jagger takes a

phallic image of the howitzer, to the solid, muscular figures of the gunners.[53][54]

Despite the realist nature of the bronze statues in the design, commentators have often also noted the dehumanising aspects of the memorial. Its sheer size and the bulk of the howitzer serve to distance the observer, which—according to art historian John Glaves-Smith—depersonalises the soldiers in a similar way to the

Richard Nevinson.[55] The carved stone reliefs have an aggressive, hostile quality to them, a consequence of their focus on surface detail at the expense of the humans in the design.[42] When questioned about his lifelike depictions, Jagger said that the "experience in the trenches persuaded me of the necessity for frankness and truth".[18] According to historian John Glaves-Smith, the memorial uses themes of "endurance and sacrifice, not dynamism and conflict", and thus speaks to its audience about the experience of war in a way that the Cenotaph, for example, does not.[4][44]

Critical reception

The bronze statue of the fallen artilleryman

The Royal Artillery Memorial has been the subject of much critical discussion since its inception.[56] Although the RAWCF was pleased with its memorial, some members disapproved of the design and of the dead soldier in particular. Some felt that it was too graphic, or that it would be distressing to relatives and others who should have been consoled by the memorial, while a group of former artillerymen felt that any recumbent figure should be of a man just shot down so as to present a more heroic image. Charles ffoulkes, the inaugural curator of the Imperial War Museum, was more impressed, and described the corpse as "a poignant and tremendous statement of fact which unconsciously makes the onlooker raise his hat".[57] The figure was shocking to a public who were unused to graphic images of the war due to censorship.[58]

After the unveiling, a vigorous debate occurred in the British newspapers about the memorial.

The Builder both likened the howitzer to a children's toy, complaining that the gun did not lend itself to recreation in art. The Builder was sharply critical of the close relationship between the sculptor and the client, which it viewed as the root cause, believing that Jagger had given the artillerymen far too much influence over artistic matters.[60]

The west side of the memorial, showing the over-lifesize howitzer, with the Wellington Arch in the background

Other opinions were more positive.

The Manchester Guardian noted that the frankness of the portrayal was a "terrible revelation long overdue", and hoped that veterans would be able to show the monument to their wives and children as a way of explaining the events of the war.[61] Ex-servicemen were quoted by the newspaper as reminiscing about the war as they examined the statue, and remarking on how the bronze figures had captured the reality of their time in the artillery.[62] The Illustrated London News reported how, two days after the official ceremony, a crowd had gathered in the rain just before dawn to conduct a small ceremony at the memorial; the newspaper felt that this said more about the quality of the memorial than the more negative writings of art critics.[61] These voices eventually held sway, and the memorial came to be popularly termed "the special Cenotaph of the Gunners", Lord Edward Gleichen praising it in 1928 as "a strikingly imaginative and most worthy representation".[3][56] By the 1930s, it was one of the best-known monuments in Europe.[7]

The memorial's reputation diminished in the

post-war period. The art critic Geoffrey Grigson echoed Lord Curzon's comments, complaining in 1980 that it was a "squat toad of foolish stone".[59] A renewed focus on Jagger's works, including the Royal Artillery memorial, in the 1980s led to a fresh reappraisal of the piece; the most recent critical work on the memorial has described it as a "work of the highest quality and distinction".[56] Alan Borg, an art historian and Director of the Imperial War Museum, described the work in 1991 as "undoubtedly" Jagger's masterpiece, noting the quality of the sculptural work which makes it "one of the outstanding examples of 20th-century British art" and "perhaps the only war memorial" to be recognised as intrinsically important in its own right.[63]

The memorial enjoyed a still higher profile in the 21st century. The architectural historian

Pevsner Architectural Guide for the area praises the detail in Jagger's sculptures, especially the corpse, and notes that the memorial is "now recognised as a masterpiece of British 20th century sculpture".[65]

Later history

The memorial in 2016, following the 2011 cleaning and restoration work; the building behind is The Lanesborough Hotel.

The unveiling was originally scheduled for 28 June 1925 but early in 1925 Jagger's most capable assistant resigned, leaving Jagger to complete the work alone. He advised the RAWCF that it could not be completed in time without sacrificing quality. The memorial was eventually unveiled four months late on 18 October 1925 by

Royal British Society of Sculptors' gold medal in 1926 and was admitted as an associate of the society later that year.[38][69]

A set of bronze tablets was added to the south of the memorial in 1949, lying on a flat plinth which replaced a set of steps. Designed by Darcy Braddell, the addition commemorates 29,924 Royal Artillerymen who were killed in the

Queen Elizabeth II).[38][68][65] Over the years, pollution and water penetration caused damage to the bronzes and stonework. English Heritage conducted a major restoration of the memorial during 2011, completed in time for Armistice Day.[70]

In 1970 the memorial was designated a Grade II* listed building, and in July 2014 it was one of five memorials in London to be upgraded to Grade I status to mark the centenary of the First World War.[38][71] Listed building status provides legal protection from demolition or modification. Grade II* is applied to "particularly important buildings of more than special interest" and applied to about 5.5 per cent of listed buildings; Grade I is reserved for structures of "the greatest historic interest", and applies to around 2.5 per cent of listed buildings.[72] The list entry notes its group value with the multiple other monuments on the Hyde Park Corner island (many of which are also listed), including the Wellington Arch and the multiple other war memorials.[38]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Royal Artillery Memorial.

References

  1. ^ Bailey, p.xvviii.
  2. ^ Bailey, p.239.
  3. ^ a b c d Stephenson, p.144.
  4. ^ a b c d Miles, p.102.
  5. ^ Carden-Coyne, pp.159–160.
  6. ^ Abousnnouga and Machin (2013), pp.92–93.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Black (2004a), p.141.
  8. ^ a b Curl, pp.81–83.
  9. ^ Ward-Jackson, p.98.
  10. ^ Stephenson, p.144
  11. ^ a b c Curl, p.83.
  12. ^ a b c d Skelton and Gliddon, p.150.
  13. ^ Compton (1985b), pp.9–11.
  14. ^ Compton (1985b), p.15.
  15. ^ King, p.124.
  16. ^ Borg, p.80.
  17. ^ Boorman, p.154.
  18. ^ a b Abousnnouga and Machin (2013), p.92.
  19. ^ Compton (1985b), p.16.
  20. ^ Black (2004a), p.141; Curl, p.84.
  21. ^ a b c Ward-Jackson, p.99.
  22. ^ Curl, p.89.
  23. ^ King, pp.107, 159.
  24. ^ Archer, pp. 188–189.
  25. ^ Curl, pp.84–85.
  26. ^ a b c Curl, p.85.
  27. ^ King, p.118.
  28. ^ a b Curl, p.94.
  29. ^ Bowdler and Brindle, p.31.
  30. ^ a b c Bowdler and Brindle, p.33.
  31. ^ King, p.135.
  32. ^ Curl, pp.94–95.
  33. ^ Black (2004b), p.161
  34. ^ Windrow, p.11.
  35. ^ Miles, p.103.
  36. ^ Matthews, pp.127–131.
  37. ^ Quinlan, p.61.
  38. ^ a b c d e f g Historic England. "Royal Artillery Memorial (1231613)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  39. ^ Curl, pp.86–89.
  40. ^ Corke, p.1.
  41. ^ a b c Ward-Jackson, p.97.
  42. ^ a b Glaves-Smith, p.61.
  43. ^ Cooper, p.8.
  44. ^ a b c d Glaves-Smith, p.72.
  45. ^ Carden-Coyne, p.155
  46. ^ Carden-Coyne, p.158.
  47. ^ a b Carden-Coyne, p.156.
  48. ^ Glaves-Smith, p.78.
  49. ^ Carden-Coyne, p.157.
  50. ^ Dyer, p.62.
  51. ^ Glaves-Smith, p.21.
  52. ^ Abousnnouga and Machin (2008), p.136.
  53. ^ Carden-Coyne, pp.157–158.
  54. ^ Compton (1982b), p.8.
  55. ^ Glaves-Smith, pp.75–76.
  56. ^ a b c d Curl, p.98.
  57. ^ King, pp.139, 232.
  58. ^ Abousnnouga and Machin (2013), p.151.
  59. ^ a b c Curl, p.81.
  60. ^ a b Ward-Jackson, p.100.
  61. ^ a b Black (2004a), p.142.
  62. ^ Glaves-Smith, pp.52, 78.
  63. ^ Borg, p.81.
  64. ^ Quinlan, p.46.
  65. ^ a b Bradley and Pevsner, pp.658–659.
  66. ^ Curl, p.96.
  67. ^ "Royal Artillery". War Memorials Register. Imperial War Museums. Archived from the original on 15 January 2020. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  68. ^ a b Bowdler and Brindle, p.32.
  69. ^ Compton (1985b), p.28.
  70. ^ "Royal Artillery Memorial repaired for Armistice Day". BBC News. 7 November 2011. Archived from the original on 15 January 2020. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  71. ^ "First World War Centenary Marked by Upgrading Listed Status of London War Memorials". Historic England. 16 July 2014. Archived from the original on 1 July 2017. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  72. ^ "The Listing and Grading of War Memorials". Historic England. Archived from the original on 28 December 2020. Retrieved 28 October 2020.

Bibliography

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