Monument

Machine Gun Corps memorial

Erection date: 1925

Inscription

{Front of main plinth:}
Erected to commemorate the glorious heroes of the Machine Gun Corps who fell in the Great War.
Saul hath slain his thousands, but David his tens of thousands.
{Quote from the Bible 1 Samuel 18:7.} 

{On the front of the two side plinths:}
MCMXIV - MCMXIX {1914 - 1919}

{On the right end of plinth:}
Derwent Wood R.A. 1925

{Rear of plinth:}
The Machine Gun Corps of which His Majesty King George V was Colonel-in-Chief, was formed by royal warrant dated the 14th day of October 1915. The corps served in France, Flanders, Russia, Italy, Egypt, Palestine, Mesopotamia, Salonica, India, Afghanistan and East Africa. The last unit of the Corps to be disbanded was the depot at Shorncliffe on the 15th day of July 1922. The total number who served in the Corps was some 11,500 officers, and 159,000 other ranks of whom 1,120 officers and 12,671 other ranks were killed and 2,881 officers and 45,377 other ranks were wounded, missing or prisoners of war.

The statue is of the boy David holding Goliath's sword (the clue is in the size of the sword). The model for this statue used to be on public display on Chelsea Embankment but was stolen.

See Ornamental Passions for more background to this statue.

Site: Machine Gun Corps memorial (1 memorial)

W1, Hyde Park Corner

The memorial was originally erected in 1925 next to Grosvenor Place (the road entering this traffic hell from the south), but was dismantled in 1945 due to roadworks. It was rededicated in its present location in 1963. The statue is flanked by two real Vickers machine guns, encased in bronze and laurel-wreathed.

Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
Machine Gun Corps memorial

Subjects commemorated i

World War 1

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

Read More

Machine Gun Corps

A corps of the British army. It was formed in response to the need for more e...

Read More

King George V

Reigned: 1910 - 1936.  Born third in line to the throne, after his father (wh...

Read More

This section lists the subjects who helped to create/erect the memorial on this page:
Machine Gun Corps memorial

Created by i

Derwent Wood

Sculptor. Born Francis Derwent Wood at Eskin Place, Caslerigg, St John's, Kes...

Read More

Nearby Memorials

Crystal Palace workmen's grave

Crystal Palace workmen's grave

SE26, Westwood Hill, St Bartholomew's Churchyard

Twelve workmen were killed, but we are unable to find out where the other two were buried. The grave was restored in 2003. 'In the midst...

12 subjects commemorated
Women in WW2

Women in WW2

SW1, Whitehall

The typeface used on the sides of the monument replicates that used in war-time ration books. The unveiling was one of the ceremonies to ...

1 subject commemorated, 4 creators
East Anglians - WW1

East Anglians - WW1

EC2, Liverpool Street Station

{Inscribed on the large stone medallion:} This memorial to the men of Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire who fell in the Great Wa...

2 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
St Saviours, Pimlico war memorial

St Saviours, Pimlico war memorial

SW1, Lupus Street, St Saviours, Pimlico

The list of names are presented in two columns but unusually they are not listed alphabetically. Apart from the same surnames being group...

War dead | WW1, WW2
37 subjects commemorated
St Marys Stoke Newington war memorial

St Marys Stoke Newington war memorial

N16, Stoke Newington Church Street, St Marys Stoke Newington

On site we thought there were only 2 inscriptions but IWM gives the text of 3. It seems likely that the 4th face also carried text origin...

3 subjects commemorated, 1 creator

Previously viewed

Henry Fawcett statue - lost

Henry Fawcett statue - lost

SW8, Vauxhall Park

Donated by Henry Doulton and created in terracotta by Tinworth, who worked at Doulton’s nearby Lambeth factory where it was made. The bas...

1 subject commemorated, 2 creators
King Charles III

King Charles III

One-time patron of the Goon Show Preservation Society. On the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II on 8 September 2022, Charles, the longest-serving British heir apparent, went from Prince of W...

Person, Royalty, Seriously Famous

27 memorials
John Abernethy Warburton

John Abernethy Warburton

Initially this plaque looked like it was raised by a man simply concerned about his property. The only notable Warburton we could find in the area is a Dr Warburton who managed the insane asylum w...

Person, Property

1 memorial
Sir Harry Vane (the younger)

Sir Harry Vane (the younger)

Statesman. Born Debden. As a Protestant dissenter he failed to secure the advancements at the King's court for which he had hoped and so set off to the newly established Massachusetts where he was ...

Person, Execution, Politics & Administration, USA

2 memorials
National Portrait Gallery - Lawrence

National Portrait Gallery - Lawrence

WC2, Charing Cross Road

This building, 1896, designed by Ewan Christian, has 18 busts contained in medallions around the top of the facades. Starting at the east...

1 subject commemorated