The Long March Memorial - RAF Museum, Hendon, London, UK
N 51° 35.845 W 000° 14.263
30U E 691311 N 5719878
The Long March memorial is located within the RAF Museum at Hendon in London. It is dedicated to the memory of prisoners of war of the RAF, Allied and Commonwealth air forces made to march from prison camps in 1945.
Waymark Code: WMNFZP
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 03/09/2015
Views: 2
The RAF Museum is open daily from 10am to 6pm with admission being free. Car parking is available but there is a charge. The nearest underground station is Colindale about a 10-15 minute walk away or a number 303 bus passes both the tube station and museum. The co-ordinates posted are for the entrance to the "Milestones of Flight" hall/exhibition entrance.
The memorial shows a three-quarter size bronze statue of an airman dragging his meagre possessions on a sled. The plinth has inscriptions on three sides. On the front is inscribed:
The Long March
On the right side (facing the way the airman is walking) is inscribed:
Erected by the Royal Air Forces ex-Prisoners of War Association and dedicated to the memory of prisoners of war of the RAF, Allied and Commonwealth air forces.
This Memorial represents air forces prisoners of war trudging through snow after being forced by German guards to leave their prison camps in the face of the Russian advance in 1945.
On the left side is inscribed:
Unveiled by His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh KG KT
14th May 2003
Generously funded by members and widos of the RAF's ex-PoW Association and their friends.
Sculptor Pam Taylor ARBS
The RAF Info website has an article about the memorial that, in part, tells us, before the memorial was complete, that:
Pam Taylor, a distinguished sculptor, whose work includes the Royal and Allied Air Forces Memorial which stands on Plymouth Hoe and the bust of Sir Arthur Harris displayed at the RAF Museum at Hendon, is now working on our memorial, which will depict a kriegie, on a forced winter march, trudging through the snow, dragging his sledge behind him.
Using her husband as a model, Pam produced a maquette. This put the idea into three dimensions and enabled us to advise on detail. Initially she had to rely on guesswork to some extent.
She has now completed another maquette, incorporating our suggestions, and is now engaged upon the statue itself. This vvill be cast in bronze and is to be sited in a new section of the RAF Museum. Until now, kriegies have been under-represented at the Museum, but that will be put right when the new area is complete. It was intended originally that the statue should be life-size, but the site does not allow of this and the work will be three-quarter size.
Funds raised to date are sufficient to meet the sculptor's fee, plus the cost of casting the piece and its conveyance to the site. We estimate that about another £20,000 will be needed, of which £13,000 will be required for the plinth, for engraving and for installation (a crane will have to be hired). Maintenance and various other costs account for the balance. As expected, money is coming in more slowly now, but there are other sources to explore and we hope, too, that members who have made donations might consider a further gift.