Eagle Squadron Memorial

Memorial to the Eagle Squadrons of the Second World War, 1985, incorporating sculpture by Elisabeth Frink.

MATERIALS: a pale sandstone shaft and bronze eagle sculpture.

DESCRIPTION: the memorial consists of an obelisk with a tapering top surmounted by an eagle in flight. The figurative eagle is roughly moulded with a deeply textured surface finish; the feet appear oversized, and the head is painted white, rendering it recognisable as the American bald eagle.

The square shaft is inscribed with incised lettering on each side. On the north-facing front is the stylised emblem of a spread eagle as seen on the Great Seal of the United States, clutching arrows in its left claw and what an olive branch in its right, with the inscription ‘EAGLE SQUADRONS / THIS MEMORIAL IS TO THE / MEMORY OF THE 244 AMERICAN / AND 16 BRITISH FIGHTER PILOTS / AND OTHER PERSONNEL WHO / SERVED IN THE THREE ROYAL / AIR FORCE EAGLE SQUADRONS / PRIOR TO THE PARTICIPATION OF / THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR / THEY SERVED WITH VALOR / FOUNDED BY CHARLES F SWEENY, JUNE 1940 / ERECTED THROUGH THE GENEROSITY / OF THE / HEARST CORPORATION OF AMERICA / IN THE NAME OF / WILLIAM RANDOLPH HEARST / PUBLISHER’.

The other faces commemorate each of the three squadrons: Squadron 133 on the east, with an emblem of a spread eagle on a bed of stars, and the motto, ‘LET US TO THE BATTLE’; Squadron 121 on the south with a carved crest showing a Native American at the centre, and the motto, ‘FOR LIBERTY’, and on the west, Squadron 71 has a carved spread eagle crest and the motto ‘FIRST FROM THE EYRIES’. The names, rank and decoration of the 289 subjects, of whom 71 died, are ordered by regiment and surname.

This List entry has been amended to add the source for War Memorials Online. This source was not used in the compilation of this List entry but is added here as a guide for further reading, 10 February 2017.