Monument

Stone Bomb Anti-war Monument

Erection date: 20/10/1935

Inscription

{On the four faces of the plinth, clockwise starting at the east:}

To those who in 1932 upheld the right to use bombing aeroplanes.

This monument is raised as a protest against war in the air.

The site of this monument is the property of Sylvia Pankhurst.  Design and work by Eric Benfield.

Originally unveiled by R. Zaphiro, Secretary of the Imperial Ethiopian Legation London, supported by James Ranger, E. J. A. Webster, J. Davey, Sylvia Pankhurst, October 20th 1935.

{This whole inscription is repeated on a metal plaque.}

Airplanes were used in WW1 but there was strong opposition to aerial bombing. The British argued in favour, needing to use the tactic on the north-west frontier in India. Already having seen the horror of WW1 bombing in London Sylvia Pankhurst was appalled at Mussolini's aerial bombing of Ethiopia (then known as Abyssinia).  In October 1935 she erected this monument as a protest in her own front garden at the Red Cottage.

The sculpture represents an 18 inch stone bomb on a plinth. The dedication refers to the members of the League of Nation who, at a Geneva disarmament conference in 1932, retained their right to bomb from the air.  PMSA quotes the sculptor: “Those who had preserved bombing were politically and morally dead, and this was their gravestone”.

The monument was vandalised and the stone bomb stolen.  Benfield made another one and the monument was re-unveiled at an even bigger ceremony this time as a protest against Mussolini's use of poison gas in Ethiopia. The Blackshirts tried to smash it. The first unveiling was 20 October 1935 but we have found two dates for the second: 21 June 1936 and 4 July 1936.

Most of the information here comes from an excellent article by Patrick Wright

Site: Stone Bomb Anti-war Monument (1 memorial)

IG8, High Road

This monument is in what is left of the garden of Red Cottage, now demolished, where Sylvia Pankhurst lived. 

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:
Stone Bomb Anti-war Monument

Subjects commemorated i

Failure of the World Disarmament Conference

Wikipedia.  War in History refers to the efforts to prohibit aerial bombing.

Read More

This section lists the subjects who helped to create/erect the memorial on this page:
Stone Bomb Anti-war Monument

Created by i

Eric Benfield, FRSA

Eric Benfield was born on 9 June 1902 in Swanage, Dorset, the third of the fo...

Read More

Sylvia Pankhurst

Born in Manchester as Estelle Sylvia, daughter of Emmeline Pankhurst.  Traine...

Read More

James Ranger

Prospective Socialist candidate for the Epping division in October 1935.

Read More

Show all 6

Nearby Memorials

Second Millennium - The Brewers

Second Millennium - The Brewers

EC2, Aldermanbury Square

There is a cross on the reverse of the monument.

2 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
Battle of Britain - London monument

Battle of Britain - London monument

SW1, Victoria Embankment

BBM says "the names and ranks of the airmen who took part in the battle are {on plaques} mounted around the outside of the monument, the ...

1 subject commemorated, 5 creators
Rossetti fountain

Rossetti fountain

SW3, Chelsea Embankment

Unveiled by William Holman Hunt. There must have been a committee to erect this memorial because in the list on the back Forman is given ...

1 subject commemorated, 101 creators
Helena Fedorowicz

Helena Fedorowicz

N4, Finsbury Park

This was originally a well-designed and substantial monument. Both sides of the base are convex and Wikipedia have a photo, November 2007...

2 subjects commemorated
Royal Artillery Monument

Royal Artillery Monument

SW1, Hyde Park Corner

The gun on top of the monument is a BL 9.2 inch Howitzer Mk I, carved in stone, which makes it surreal and all the more powerful. On the ...

5 subjects commemorated, 8 creators

Previously viewed

Lord Wandsworth

Lord Wandsworth

Banker, Member of Parliament and philanthropist. Born Sydney James Stern in London. He worked in his father's law firm, before becoming Member of Parliament for Stowmarket. Became Baron Wandsworth ...

Person, Benefactor, Commerce, Politics & Administration

2 memorials
national service / military conscription

national service / military conscription

Military conscription has existed for two periods in modern times, related to WW1 and WW2 respectively: 1916 - 20 ("military service") and 1939 - 60 ("national service" or sometimes "war service")....

Event, Armed Forces

2 memorials