Overview
The Royal Artillery Memorial was unveiled in 1925 for 49,076 artillerymen killed in the First World War. Charles Sargeant Jagger rejected distant classical comfort: his stone howitzer, working soldiers and dead gunner forced viewers to face the weapons, labour and human cost of industrial war.
Why it was made
The Royal Artillery War Commemoration Fund formed in 1918 and sought a memorial that visibly represented artillery and the regiment's 49,076 First World War dead.
People and events
Sculptor and wounded veteran Charles Sargeant Jagger designed it with architect Lionel Pearson. Prince Arthur unveiled it on 18 October 1925; a later dedication added the 29,924 artillerymen killed in the Second World War.
How it worked
A large stone howitzer dominates the cross-shaped base, surrounded by an officer, driver, shell carrier and dead soldier. This blunt realism made the memorial controversial but spoke directly to serving veterans.
What remains
The Grade I memorial remains at Hyde Park Corner with its gun, four soldier figures and carved battle scenes. Restoration in 2011 repaired damage from weather and water.
Why it mattered
It changed British war remembrance by showing the machinery and bodily cost of combat instead of hiding loss behind purely classical symbols.
History checked 16 August 2026 against the named sources below.
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