Royal Air Force Memorial

A committee to erect an RAF memorial was first established in February 1919, and relaunched in January 1920, led by Lord Hugh Cecil and Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Trenchard. Funds to erect a memorial were raised by the RAF Memorial Fund subsequently known as the RAF Benevolent Fund. The memorial was designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield. The memorial was unveiled on 16 July 1923 by the Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII). The Chief of the Air Staff traditionally places a wreath at the memorial on Battle of Britain Day, 15 September, each year.

The memorial comprises a tapering Portland stone pylon topped by zodiacal globe bearing a gilded eagle, taken from the RAF's badge, with raised wings, facing east towards the River Thames and nominally towards France. The eagle was sculpted by William Reid Dick and cast by the Parlanti Foundry. Blomfield used similar pylons for Torquay War Memorial and Luton War Memorial, topped by different devices. The pylon bears inscriptions on the sides facing the Embankment to the west and to the river to the east. Further inscriptions were added after the Second World War, unveiled by Trenchard on 15 September 1946.