Monument to the Women of World War II

About

The Monument to the Women of World War II is a British national war memorial situated on Whitehall in London next to the Cenotaph at the end of Downing Street. The sculpture represents the wartime contributions of over seven million women, including 650,000 who joined military services. It is a 6.7-metre (22 ft) tall hollow bronze resembling a coat rack representing Winston Churchill's call 'Let the Women Come Forward', the idea being that women left their normal lives to fight for survival in any role necessary.

The monument was sculpted by John W. Mills, himself a wartime evacuee when his mother joined the fire service. The bronze was unveiled by Queen Elizabeth II in July 2005, the 60th anniversary of VE Day.

The Queen was a teenage mechanic and driver in the Auxiliary Territorial Service, the women's army service. Fundraising was conducted by the Memorial to Women of WWII charitable trust, the patron of which was the Speaker of the House of Commons Baroness Boothroyd. Anne, Princess Royal was a vice-patron, as was wartime singer Dame Vera Lynn.

The National Heritage Memorial Fund paid for most of the project. Boothroyd also raised money and public support on the game show Who Wants...