Monument

Cavalry Memorial

Erection date: 1961

Inscription

{On the front of the plinth:}
Erected by the cavalry of the Empire in memory of comrades who gave their lives in the war 1914 - 1919, also in the war 1939 - 1945 and on active service thereafter.
{This text was extended to include the post-WW1 period in 1961 when the monument was moved.}

{On a corner of the ground at the horse's hooves:}
Adrian Jones, Sc.

{On the frieze:}
Adrian Jones, 1924

{On the screen behind the statue:}

Cavalry of the Empire

1914 - 1919

 

1st Life Guards

2nd Life Guards

Royal Horse Guards

King’s Dragoon Guards

Queen’s Bays

3rd Dragoon Guards

4th Dragoon Guards

5th Dragoon Guards

Carabiniers

7th Dragoon Guards

Royal Dragoons

Scots Greys

3rd Hussars

4th Hussars

5th Lancers

Inniskilling Dragoons

7th Hussars

8th Hussars

9th Lancers

10th Hussars

11th Hussars

12th Lancers

13th Hussars

14th Hussars

15th Hussars

16th Lancers

17th Lancers

18th Hussars

19th Hussars

20th Hussars

21st Lancers

---

North Irish Horse

South Irish Horse

King Edward’s Horse

2nd King Edward’s Horse

 

YEOMANRY
Royal Wiltshire

Warwickshire

Yorkshire Hussars

Sherwood Rangers

Staffordshire

Shropshire

Ayrshire

Cheshire

Yorkshire Dragoons

Leicestershire

North Somerset

Duke of Lancaster’s Own

Lanarkshire

Northumberland

South Notts Hussars

Denbighshire

Westmoreland & Cumberland

Pembroke

Royal East Kent

Hampshire

Buckinghamshire

Derbyshire

Dorset

Gloucestershire

Herts

Berks

1st County of London

Royal 1st Devon

Suffolk

Royal North Devon

Worcestershire

West Kent

West Somerset

Oxfordshire

Montgomeryshire

Lothians and Border Horse

Queen’s Own Royal Glasgow

Lancashire Hussars

Surrey

Fife and Forfar

Norfolk

Sussex

Glamorgan

Welsh Horse

Lincolnshire

City of London

2nd County of London

3rd County of London

Bedfordshire

Essex

Northamptonshire

East Riding of Yorkshire

1st and 2nd Lovat’s Scouts

Scottish Horse

 

INDIA

1st Lancers

2nd Lancers

3rd Skinner’s Horse

4th Cavalry

5th Cavalry

6th Cavalry

7th Lancers

8th Cavalry

9th Hodson’s Horse

10th Lancers

11th Lancers

12th Cavalry

13th Lancers

14th Lancers

15th Lancers

16th Cavalry

17th Cavalry

18th Lancers

19th Lancers

20th Deccan Horse

21st Cavalry F. F.

22nd Cavalry F. F.

23rd Cavalry F. F.

25th Cavalry F. F.

26th Light Cavalry

27th Light Cavalry

28th Light Cavalry

29th Lancers

30th Lancers

31st Lancers

32nd Lancers

33rd Light Cavalry

34th Poona Horse

35th Sind Horse

36th Jacob’s Horse

37th Lancers

38th Central India Horse

39th Central India Horse

Guides Cavalry

Aden Troop

---

Alwar Lancers

Bhavnagar Lancers

2nd Gwalior Lancers

3rd Gwalior Lancers

Hyderabad Lancers

Indore Mounted Escort

Jodhpur Lancers

Kashmir Lancers

Mysore Lancers

Patiala Lancers

Ratlam Despatch Riders

 

AUSTRALIA

1st, 2nd and 3rd Light Horse

5th, 6th and 7th Light Horse

8th, 9th and 10th Light Horse

4th, 11th and 12th Light Horse

13th Light Horse

14th and 15th Light Horse

 

CANADA

Royal Canadian Dragoons

Lord Strathcona’s Horse

Fort Garry Horse

Canadian Light Horse

 

NEW ZEALAND

Auckland Mounted Rifles

Wellington Mounted Rifles

Canterbury Mounted Rifles

Otago Mounted Rifles

 

SOUTH AFRICA

South African Horse

Mounted Rifles

Rhodesia Mounted Forces

Ist Imperial Light Horse

2nd Imperial Light Horse

East African Mtd Rifles

 

{In the 4 laurel wreaths:}

French

Haig

Allenby

Robertson

Unveiled in its original location, at Stanhope Gate by the Dorchester Hotel, by the Prince of Wales (Edward VIII to be), French and Connaught. Haig and Robertson were also present.

The statue represents St George slaying the dragon, which is shown with an upturned moustache, just like the Kaiser's.

Normally we would photo the face of the statue but this one is particularly unappealing so we have used the frieze instead - we do like the way the parade of riders is shown turning the corner. However when the design was first displayed the formation of the marching column was criticised as showing each pair too close to the one in front - health and safety, basically. Ornamental Passions points out that the headgear of the riders identifies riders from the various countries of the Empire.

The background bronze tablet was part of the original design and lists all the cavalry units of the Empire which took part in the war. The design of this tablet has the lists separated by representations of four field-marshals' batons each above a name surrounded by a laurel wreath. The names are of the four cavalry officers who became field-marshals during the war and who also survived: Haig, French, Allenby and Robertson.

Site: Cavalry Memorial (1 memorial)

W2, Hyde Park, Serpentine Road

This was erected after 'the war to end all wars' and then, as with many war memorials, the inscription was extended following the next war.

The Parks website tell us: "Cast from guns captured in World War I. Originally it stood at Stanhope Gate which was altered to accommodate it. Moved to present site in 1961 when Park Lane was widened." That widening turned 'Stanhope Gate' into the motorway-style right turn off Park Lane into the road that is now called Stanhope Gate, previously Great Stanhope Street.

The Western Front Association provides the full story of how this memorial was erected. The original site was chosen for its prominence and for its position on a military procession route. We doubt that still applies. The WFA's pictures include some, rather murky, of the memorial in its original location.

We were delighted to find, in a 1938 film, an image of the memorial at Stanhope Gate, taken from high up in the Dorchester Hotel, showing its setting very well.

The second Sunday in May is named Cavalry Sunday and is marked with The Combined Cavalry Old Comrades Association Memorial Parade. This normally consists of a march past this memorial and a short service.

2019: The Daily Mail carries photos of the Parade and they are worth a glance: "The event, which honours soldiers lost in conflict since the First World War, has a strict dress code - Twenties city attire including a bowler hat - because that's the decade in which the parade first began." Prince Charles is particularly, em, fetching."

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This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
Cavalry Memorial

Subjects commemorated i

World War 1

We'd always assumed that this war was known as the Great War until WW2 came a...

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World War 2

Sorry, we've done no research on WW2, it's just too big a subject. But do vis...

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members of the cavalry of the empire lost in WW1, WW2 and since

Members of the cavalry of the empire who gave their lives in WW1 and WW2 and ...

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Field Marshal Allenby

Army officer. Born Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby at Brackenhurst Hall, near Sou...

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Sir John French, 1st Earl of Ypres

Born Kent.  1913 promoted field marshal. 1922 created earl of Ypres for his I...

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Show all 7

This section lists the subjects who helped to create/erect the memorial on this page:
Cavalry Memorial

Created by i

Sir John James Burnet

Architect.  Born Glasgow.  Studied in Paris and returned to gain significant ...

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Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn

Born Arthur William Patrick Albert, the seventh child and third son of Queen ...

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King Edward VIII

Born as Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David, at White Lodge i...

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Alfred Adrian Jones, MVO, FRBS

Born Ludlow. Served in the army in the First Boer War as a veterinary captain...

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