The Royal Artillery Memorial at Hyde Park Corner

The Royal Artillery Memorial, located in the heart of London's Hyde Park Corner, is a war tribute erected to commemorate the soldiers from the Royal Artillery who lost their lives in both the First and Second World Wars. The memorial, designed by Charles Sargeant Jagger and unveiled in 1925, features an imposing howitzer as a visual representation of the artillery that played a major role in the conflict.

The memorial is guarded by three bronze soldiers and features a sculpture of a dead soldier at the rear (north) side. This sculpture of a dead soldier at eye level was an unusual and dramatic feature among First World War memorials, as architects often preferred abstract designs or portrayed death through allegory. The memorial was built to ensure the monument was unmistakably recognisable as an artillery memorial.

Originally intended to be a smaller structure, the final design was a third larger than first proposed. Jagger rotated the howitzer by 90 degrees to point south, producing a pleasing silhouette from the park and resolving objections regarding the memorial's appearance from different vantage points. The memorial is now a Grade I listed building managed by English Heritage, sharing its site with multiple other military monuments.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons