The Guards Memorial

MATERIALS: the memorial stands 38ft 6” high and is constructed of Portland stone with bronze relief panels and statuary.

DESCRIPTION: the central pylon is a broad, squat obelisk with inscription on all four sides. An incised string-course of five lines caps the structure. The memorial records no names but on the Eastern face, that which fronts Horse Guards Parade, the inscription reads TO THE GLORY OF GOD/ AND IN MEMORY OF THE/ OFFICERS WARRANT OFFICERS/ NON COMMISSIONED OFFICERS &/ GUARDSMEN OF HIS MAJESTY'S/ REGIMENTS OF FOOT GUARDS/ WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR THEIR/ KING AND COUNTRY DURING THE/ GREAT WAR OF 1914 - 1918 AND OF THE/ OFFICERS WARRANT OFFICERS/ NON COMMISSIONED OFFICERS AND/ MEN OF THE HOUSEHOLD CAVALRY/ ROYAL REGIMENT OF ARTILLERY/ CORPS OF ROYAL ENGINEERS/ ROYAL ARMY SERVICE CORPS ROYAL/ ARMY MEDICAL CORPS AND OTHER/ UNITS WHO WHILE SERVING WITH/ THE GUARDS DIVISION IN FRANCE &/ BELGIUM 1915 - 1918 FELL WITH THEM IN/ THE FIGHT FOR THE WORLD'S FREEDOM.

Five over life-sized bronze soldiers (7ft 3" high), one for each of the Guards regiments represented, stand at ease against a stone cenotaph on a podium atop a three-stepped plinth. Badges of the Guard’s regiments are carved in relief below the figures with the following inscription THIS MEMORIAL ALSO COMMEMORATES ALL THOSE MEMBERS/ OF THE HOUSEHOLD DIVISION WHO DIED IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR/ AND IN THE SERVICE OF THEIR COUNTRY SINCE 1918. Bronze relief panels are mounted on either side of the cenotaph depicting various pieces of equipment specific to the regiments commemorated. On the rear face of the memorial, facing St James’s Park, is a panel depicting an 18-pounder field gun being loaded.

This List entry has been amended to add sources for War Memorials Online and the War Memorials Register. These sources were not used in the compilation of this List entry but are added here as a guide for further reading, 10 February 2017.