The Postcard
A postally unused postcard that was printed and published by W & K of 116-120, Golden Lane, London EC1. The image is a glossy real photograph, and the card was printed in Great Britain.
On the divided back of the card is printed:
'The Guards Memorial.
Unveiled by the Duke of Connaught,
October 16th. 1926.
An obelisk of Portland stone with a Granite
base 43 ft. in height. Five Bronze figures
are on the plinth, representing the Grenadier,
Coldstream, Scots, Irish and Welsh Guards
and the Household Cavalry.
The Bronze used in these Statues has been
taken from German Guns captured by the
Guards during the Great War.'
The Guards Memorial
The Guards Memorial is an outdoor war memorial located on the west side of Horse Guards Road, opposite Horse Guards Parade in London, United Kingdom.
It commemorates the war dead from the Guards Division and related units during the Great War, and of the Household Division in the Second World War and other conflicts since 1918.
Design of the Memorial
The cenotaph memorial was designed by H. Chalton Bradshaw. It includes a broad squat white Portland stone obelisk standing on a white stone base with three steps.
On a raised platform to the east side of the memorial, facing Horse Guards Parade, are five large bronze sculptures by Gilbert Ledward, representing each of the Foot Guards Regiments, standing easy with their rifles above stone carvings showing the badge of each regiment, each slightly larger than life size, about 7 feet 3 inches (2.21 m) high.
The statues are modelled on serving guardsmen: Sergeant R. Bradshaw MM of the Grenadier Guards, Lance Corporal J. S. Richardson of the Coldstream Guards, Guardsman J. McDonald of the Scots Guards, Guardsman Simon McCarthy of the Irish Guards (with legs modelled by another guardsman, Lance Sergeant W. J. Kidd) and Guardsman A. Comley of the Welsh Guards.
The other three sides each bear a bronze panel, one to either side depicting military equipment, and the one to the rear depicting artillery in action. The statues and panels were cast by the William Morris Art Bronze Foundry.
Above the five statues, the cenotaph also bears an inscription written by Rudyard Kipling, whose only son John was killed in action while serving with the Irish Guards at the Battle of Loos in September 1915:
"To the Glory of God
And in the 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 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 the
Guards Division in France &
Belgium 1915–1918 fell with them in
the fight for the World's Freedom."
Above the main inscription is an incised cross between bands of horizontal incised lines, and lower down is a second inscription:
"This monument
was erected by their friends and comrades".
Further inscriptions on the sides of the cenotaph record the units involved, and the west side, below another cross, records their battle honours.
Construction of the Memorial
The monument was built by the Birmingham Guild at a cost of around £22,000, with the lettering cut by Ernest Gillick. It was unveiled by Field Marshal Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, accompanied by the 100-year-old veteran of the Crimean War General Sir George Higginson, with a dedication by Rev. H. J. Fleming, who became senior chaplain of the Guards Division when it was formed in 1915, and a benediction by the Chaplain-General to the Forces, Rev. Alfred Jarvis, and a march-past by 15,000 serving and former guardsmen.
The memorial suffered bomb damage during the Second World War, and some was left unrepaired as "honourable scars".
Later History of the Memorial
After World War II, an inscription was added below the statues to commemorate those who died between 1939 and 1945:
"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."
The memorial received Grade II listing in 1970, and was promoted to Grade I in October 2014.
A Huge Shipboard Explosion
So what else happened on the day that the Duke of Connaught unveiled the memorial?
Well, on Saturday the 16th. October 1926, the ammunition on the Chinese troopship Kuang Yuang exploded near Kiukiang, China, killing 1,200.
The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier
Also on that day, the Sherlock Holmes short story 'The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier' by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was published for the first time in Liberty magazine in the United States.
The story was unusual in that it was narrated by Holmes himself rather than by Dr. Watson.
