Fleet Air Arm Memorial, War memorial statue in Victoria Embankment Gardens, England.
The Fleet Air Arm Memorial is a war memorial in Victoria Embankment Gardens, central London, made up of a stone column topped with a bronze figure in a flight suit and helmet with outstretched wings. It stands on a narrow green strip between the River Thames and the Ministry of Defence building.
The memorial honors personnel of the Royal Naval Air Service and the Fleet Air Arm who served from the First World War through to the Gulf War. It was built to give lasting public recognition to the role of naval aviation across those decades of conflict.
The bronze figure represents Daedalus from Greek mythology, the man who built wings to fly. A verse from Psalm 18 about flying upon the wings of the wind is carved at the base, bringing together two very different traditions around the same image.
The memorial sits in the freely accessible Victoria Embankment Gardens and is within easy walking distance of several central London tube stations. A visit fits naturally into a walk along the Thames or a stop between nearby sites.
Sculptor James Butler attached the wings directly to the figure's arms rather than to its back, which gives the statue an outline rarely seen on a war memorial. This choice strengthens the link to the Daedalus myth, where wings were fastened to the arms with wax.
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