| Monument to the Women of World War II | |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom | |
.jpg) Monument to the Women of World War II (looking west) | |
 | |
| For the women of theSecond World War | |
| Unveiled | 9 July 2005; 20 years ago (2005-07-09) |
| Location | 51°30′13″N0°07′34″W / 51.5035°N 0.1262°W /51.5035; -0.1262 (Monument to the Women of World War II) |
TheMonument to the Women of World War II is a British nationalwar memorial situated onWhitehall in London next tothe Cenotaph at the end ofDowning Street. The sculpture represents the wartime contributions of over seven million women, including 650,000 who joined military services. It is a 6.7-metre (22 ft) tall hollow bronze resembling a coat rack representingWinston Churchill's call 'Let the Women Come Forward',[1] the idea being that women left their normal lives to fight for survival in any role necessary.The monument was sculpted byJohn W. Mills, himself a wartime evacuee when his mother joined the fire service.
The bronze was unveiled byQueen Elizabeth II in July 2005, the 60th anniversary ofVE Day. The Queen was a teenage mechanic and driver in theAuxiliary Territorial Service, the women's army service.Fundraising was conducted by the Memorial to Women of WWII charitable trust, the patron of which was the Speaker of the House of CommonsBaroness Boothroyd.Anne, Princess Royal was a vice-patron, as was wartime singerDame Vera Lynn. TheNational Heritage Memorial Fund paid for most of the project. Boothroyd also raised money and public support on thegame showWho Wants to Be a Millionaire?. Only two of the original charitable trustees are still living. JournalistPeri Langdale followed the campaign for eight years, making two programmes forITV Tyne Tees about the project.
The idea for a memorial was raised with retired Major David McNally Robertson in 1997, who was informed that, while many countries had a national monument to the work that women undertook during World War Two, the UK did not.[2] Previous campaigns had only been limited to attempting to generate funds for a plaque inYork Minster with Robertson, and former gunners Edna Storr and Mildred Veal leading the campaign.[3] They founded a fundraising trust together with Bill Moralee and Peri Langdale, journalist and ITV documentary producer. Speaker of the House of Commons Betty Boothroyd, Dame Vera Lynn and the Princess Royal joining.[2] Boothroyd became patron of the trust, with Dame Vera and the Princess Royal as vice–patrons. The remaining vice–patrons wereJohn Grogan, MP forSelby;Hugh Bayley, the MP forCity of York;Baroness Finlay of Llandaff andRobert Crawford.[4]
Over £300,000 was raised by the public. TheNational Heritage Memorial Fund then gave £934,115 towards the cost of the bronze sculpture to celebrate its 25th anniversary,[4] while £8,000 was raised by Baroness Boothroyd who chose the fund as when she appeared on the game showWho Wants to Be a Millionaire? in 2002.[5] The remaining funds were raised by the Memorial to the Women of World War II Fund, a charitable fund based inYork.[6]
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The initial design involved a femaleAir Raid Warden sheltering children; however, this was simplified until the final design was created.[2] The bronze monument stands 22 feet (6.7 m) tall,[6] 16 feet (4.9 m) long and 6 feet (1.8 m) wide.[4] The lettering on the sides replicates the typeface used on war timeration books. There are 17 individual sets of clothing and uniforms around the sides, symbolising the hundreds of different jobs women undertook inWorld War II and then gave back for the homecoming men at the end of the war.[7] These outfits include uniforms as worn by theWomen's Land Army,Women's Royal Naval Service, a nursing cape, a police overall and awelding mask.[2]
The memorial was unveiled on 9 July 2005, two days after the7/7 London bombings, byQueen Elizabeth II as part of the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. Also in attendance at the ceremony were Baroness Boothroyd,Baroness Thatcher, Dame Vera Lynn and theDefence SecretaryJohn Reid, as well as a number of female war veterans.[7] These veterans includedNancy Wake, the Allies' most decorated servicewoman.[8] A flypast of five military helicopters took place, anApache,Sea King,Lynx,Chinook andMerlin, which were flown by all-female crews. This was followed by a flypast of twoPanavia Tornado ADVs, flown by female pilots.[7]
Baroness Boothroyd dedicated the memorial saying: "This monument is dedicated to all the women who served our country and to the cause of freedom, in uniform and on the home front. I hope that future generations who pass this way will ask themselves: 'what sort of women were they?' and look at our history for the answer."[7]
In May 2015, after theConservative Party won a majority ina general election, the memorial was vandalised with the words "Tory scum" in red graffiti.[9]Downing Street called the damage "despicable", and at least 17 people were arrested following clashes inWhitehall.[10]
£8,000 winnings
