Object of the Month – The Submariner

1st July 2026

The inscription beneath the submariner figure in Westminster Abbey reads:

“To the Glory of God and in memory of the officers and men of the Submarine Branch of the Royal Navy who have given their lives both in peace and war. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.”

The submariner is one of three bronze figures on the 1939–45 Special Forces Memorial in the Abbey's west corridor, commemorating the Royal Navy Submarine Service, the Commandos, and the Airborne Forces and Special Air Service (SAS). Designed by sculptor Gilbert Ledward, the figures were modelled on serving personnel: Leading Seaman Reginald Read, Company Sergeant Major Ayres, and Corporal Howard Elliott. The memorial was unveiled by Sir Winston Churchill on 21 May 1948.

Gilbert Ledward (1888–1960) was one of Britain's leading sculptors of war memorials and public monuments. A First World War veteran, Official War Artist, and the first recipient of a sculpture scholarship to the British School at Rome, he later became Professor of Sculpture at the Royal College of Art, where Henry Moore served as his assistant between 1926 and 1929. While many contemporaries embraced abstraction, Ledward remained dedicated to figurative sculpture. His major commissions include the Guards' Division Memorial, architectural sculptures for the Adelphi Building in London, and the bronze Venus fountain in Sloane Square. His work is represented in the collections of the Royal Academy and Tate.

The Silver & Objects of Vertu sale on Tuesday 14^th July includes a modern silver model of the Westminster Abbey submariner after Gilbert Ledward, (maker's mark DI, London 2001), offered as Lot 375 which sold for £1,207 (including fees).

Director and Silver Specialist Rupert Slingsby said: "This is a really attractive object. The modelling of the figure is very fine, with the crisp detail of the facial features demonstrating the maker's exceptional skill."