Civilian sacrifice at sea: Homage to London seafarers

The Tower Hill Memorial comprises three separate memorials: the Mercantile Marine War Memorial, the Merchant Seamen’s Memorial, and the Falklands War Memorial. Each one commemorates the lives of the civilians who served on merchant ships and heroically lost their lives during the First and Second World Wars, as well as the casualties of the Falklands War. The initial memorial, the Mercantile Marine War Memorial, designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and dedicated in 1928, was an alternative to a grand arch proposal for the River Thames, which was rejected by the authorities.

Another memorial, the Merchant Seamen’s Memorial, designed by Sir Edward Maufe and unveiled in 1955, was added later. The memorial sites, located in Trinity Square Gardens on Tower Hill, are Crown property, necessitating a special Act of Parliament for construction. Every memorial stands as a tribute to the civilians who lost their lives without known graves.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons