Monument: Fleet Air Arm
War Memorial
Erection date: 1/6/2000
{On the front of the curved 'prow' in gilded letters, below a gilded badge:}
Fleet Air Arm
{On the inside of the curved 'prow':}
To the everlasting memory of all the men and women from the United Kingdom the British Commonwealth and the many Allied Nations who have given their lives whilst serving in the Royal Naval Air Service and the Fleet Air Arm.
He rode upon a cherub and did fly yea he did fly upon the wings of the wind. {Psalms 18:10}
{On the right side of the curved stone plinth:}
Belgian Coast 1914 – 18; Suez Canal 1915, Dardanelles 1915 – 16, Mesopotamia 1915 – 17, Jutland 1916, Atlantic 1939 – 45, English Channel 1939 – 45, North Sea 1939 – 45, River Plate 1939, Mediterranean 1940 – 45, Norway 1940 – 44 – 45, Narvik 1940, Dunkirk 1940, Calabria 1940, Libya 1940 – 42, Taranto 1940, Spartivento 1940, Malta Convoys 19401 – 42, Arctic 1941 – 45, Matapan 1941.
{On the left side of the curved stone plinth:}
Crete 1941, Bismarck 1941, Diego Suarez 1942, North Africa 1942 – 43, Sicily 1943, Salerno 1943, Aegean 1944, Normandy 1944, Sabang 1944, South France 1944, Burma 1944 – 45, Palembang 19- 45, Malaya 1945, Okinawa 1945, Japan 1945, Korea 1950 - 53, Falkland Islands 1982, Kuwait 1991.
This bronze figure represents Daedalus, the Greek guy who crafted wings for himself and his son Icarus to escape Crete. But he used wax to hold the feathers and Icarus flew so close to the sun that the wax melted and he fell into the sea. Daedalus survived to mourn the fallen.
Kempster designed the memorial and Butler created the statue. Unveiled by the Prince of Wales.
Site: Fleet Air Arm (1 memorial)
SW1, Victoria Embankment, Victoria Embankment Gardens - Whitehall section
