Gunners' tribute is given a makeover

Rory Smith, a stonemason, puts the finishing touches to the refurbishment of the Royal Artillery Memorial at Hyde Park Corner (Getty Images)

Rory Smith, a stonemason, puts the finishing touches to the refurbishment of the Royal Artillery Memorial at Hyde Park Corner in London. The monument, designed by Charles Jagger and Lionel Pearson and first unveiled in 1925, has been repaired and cleaned in time for Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday.

Dedicated to the 49,076 men of the Royal Regiment of Artillery killed in the First World War, it features a giant sculpture of a 9.2-inch howitzer upon a plinth of Portland stone, with reliefs depicting scenes from the conflict.

Around its pedestal stands three bronze gunners with a fourth lying dead under a greatcoat.

The memorial is considered a masterpiece of 20th-century sculpture and was noted for its uncompromising depiction of war.