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Imperial Camel Corps Memorial

1921 establishments in the United Kingdom1921 sculpturesCamels in artGrade II listed statues in the City of WestminsterMilitary memorials in London
Outdoor sculptures in LondonVictoria EmbankmentWorld War I memorials in England
Camel Corps Memorial, Victoria Embankment Gardens front view
Camel Corps Memorial, Victoria Embankment Gardens front view

The Imperial Camel Corps Memorial is an outdoor sculpture commemorating the Imperial Camel Corps, located in Victoria Embankment Gardens, on the Thames Embankment to the east of Charing Cross station, in London, England. The unit of mounted infantry was created in December 1916 from troops that had served in the Gallipoli campaign in the Dardanelles. The memorial was sculpted by Major Cecil Brown, who served in the Corps, with bronze elements cast by A.B. Burton at his Thames Ditton Foundry. It comprises (considerably smaller than life-size) a bronze statue of a man riding a camel, on a Portland stone pedestal with bronze panels on its four sides. Two bronze plaques list the names of all 346 men who died while serving with the Corps in Egypt, Sinai and Palestine between 1916 and 1918: 191 from Australia on the east plaque, and 106 from the UK, 41 from New Zealand, and 9 from India on the west plaque. The bronze plaque to the south depicts two soldiers running, and that to the north depicts two officers next to a camel. Below the bronze plaque, the north face of the stone plinth bears a dedication: To the Glorious and Immortal // Memory of the Officers, N.C.O.s and Men // of the Imperial Camel Corps – British, // Australian, New Zealand, Indian – who fell in action or died of wounds // and disease in Egypt, Sinai, and Palestine, 1916, 1917, 1918. The south face is inscribed with a list of the engagements of the Corps: 1916: Romani, Baharia, Mazar, Dakhla, Maghara, El. Arish, Maghdaba 1917: Rafa, Hassana, Gaza 1, Gaza 2, Sana Redoubt, Beersheba, Bir Khu Weilfe, Hill 265 1918: Amman, Jordan Valley, Mudawar (Hedjaz)Lieutenant-General Sir Philip Chetwode, who was the first commander of the Desert Mounted Corps, unveiled the memorial on 22 July 1921. The Bishop of London, Arthur Winnington-Ingram, delivered the dedication. The memorial received a Grade II listing in 1958. Westminster City Council restored the memorial in 1999.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Imperial Camel Corps Memorial (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Imperial Camel Corps Memorial
Savoy Place, City of Westminster Covent Garden

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N 51.508499 ° E -0.121671 °
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Imperial Camel Corps Memorial

Savoy Place
WC2N 6BJ City of Westminster, Covent Garden
England, United Kingdom
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Camel Corps Memorial, Victoria Embankment Gardens front view
Camel Corps Memorial, Victoria Embankment Gardens front view
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Anglo-Belgian Memorial, London
Anglo-Belgian Memorial, London

The Anglo-Belgian Memorial, also known as the Belgian Gratitude Memorial or the Belgian Refugees Memorial, is a war memorial on Victoria Embankment in London, opposite Cleopatra's Needle. It was a gift from Belgium, as a mark of thanks for assistance given by the UK during the First World War, and in particular for sheltering thousands of Belgian refugees who fled from the war. It is a Grade II* listed building. Plans for a Belgian war memorial in London were proposed by a group of Belgians in 1916, to be funded by public subscription. The memorial was designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield. Its main feature is a central bronze sculpture by Belgian sculptor Victor Rousseau, who himself spent time as a refugee in London during the war. The sculpture was cast by A.B. Burton at the Thames Ditton Foundry. It depicts a Belgian woman, accompanied by a boy and a girl carrying garlands of flowers. The bronze stands on a stone plinth which bears the inscription, "To the British nation from the grateful people of Belgium, 1914–1918". The central group is sheltered by a curved screen wall of Portland stone, which bears two further relief sculptures (now quite worn) representing "Justice" (left) and "Honour" (right). The wall also bears carved wreaths and nine heraldic shields, representing the provinces of Belgium: Brabant, Antwerp, Liège, Hainault, Namur, Limburg, Luxembourg, East Flanders and West Flanders. Vandals damaged the memorial in July 1920, while it was under construction, and for a time it was guarded by a nightwatchman. It was unveiled by Princess Clémentine of Belgium at a ceremony on 12 October 1920, the fifth anniversary of the execution of British nurse Edith Cavell in Brussels. The ceremony was attended by the Prime Minister of Belgium Leon Delacroix, and the gift was formally accepted on behalf of the British nation by Lord Curzon. In response, an Anglo-Belgian Memorial was erected in Brussels in 1923, designed by British sculptor Charles Sargeant Jagger. The memorial became a Grade II listed building in 1970, and was upgraded to Grade II* in 2014.