From the Cenotaph on London’s Whitehall to the more contested Bomber Command Memorial in nearby Green Park, war memorials loom large in our national consciousness. But, as we shall see, the way we remember the fallen, and the monumentation that involves, can be both deeply personal and highly political, as each generation seeks to recast the past in ways that inform both the present and the future.
For my new book Lest We Forget, I criss-crossed the United Kingdom to visit Britain’s 100 most outstanding memorials to war, speaking to families, veterans, military historians, and others to whom they matter the most, on a quest to gain a better understanding of how our patchwork quilt of nations went from fighting each other to fighting together. As Remembrance Day approaches, I have picked out just ten monuments – many of which, it should be noted, result from the rediscovered passion for statuary that was a feature of the 19th century – and which together offer a concise guide to Britain’s extraordinary military legacy, both then and now. Here is their story…
Boudica and her Daughters Westminster Bridge, London, 1902
‘Miss! Miss! I can see Boudica!’ Walking along Westminster Bridge, we make our way towards the famous bronze statue of England’s defiant Iceni queen, her horses straining towards the Houses of Parliament, her arms unfurled, unapologetic. Commissioned in the 1850s, and erected the year after Queen Victoria’s death in 1901, this is the Empire personified.
The best degree?