About this Event
Would you fight for a country you did not belong to?
In the 20th Century, countries from around the world answered Britain’s call to arms. Some answered because of their historic and political alliance. Some because they belonged to the British Empire.
How does London remember their sacrifice? Join me on a walk through Hyde Park and Constitution Hill to discover monuments, memorials and the human cost of imperial conflict.
Through the monuments, statues, and memorials that populate these areas, this walk explores how the British Empire went to war and how it chose to remember those who served, resisted, or were lost.
The tour considers war not just as an event, but as an enduring feature of imperial rule. From conquest and colonisation to global conflict and eventual decolonisation, the British Empire was shaped and sustained by warfare. Participants will uncover how soldiers, labourers, and resources from across Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific were mobilised to serve the Empire, particularly during the two World Wars. Though many of these men and women made immense sacrifices, their contributions have often been marginalised or forgotten, sometimes even in the very memorials that were erected in their name.
We will explore how public monuments honour imperial unity and sacrifice, while often concealing the costs of war and the uneven power structures within the Empire. We will also examine who funded these memorials, who is represented, and what stories are left untold. This tour raises questions about memory, national identity, and the politics of commemoration. Alongside the official narrative of noble sacrifice, we will also reflect on the wars of conquest that built the empire, and the rebellions that challenged it.
As we move from site to site, you will be invited to consider how historical memory is constructed and how monuments shape our understanding of the empire today. You will leave with a deeper awareness of how London’s grand memorials speak volumes - not only about what happened, but also about how the Empire wanted to be remembered.
Key Themes of the Walk
- Memorials and memory - who do we remember and who do we forget?
- First War of the Empires - a cousin’s war.
- Second War of the Empires - fight for freedom from within and without.
This walk is part of a three-part series that explores how imperial power shaped London. By sharing these stories, we will map the global majority back into the city.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Cavalry Memorial, Hyde Park, London, United Kingdom
GBP 0.00 to GBP 16.96
