The National Firefighters Memorial is composed of three bronze statues depicting firefighters in action at the height of the London Blitz. It is located on the Jubilee Walkway to the south of St Paul's Cathedral which can be seen behind the monument in this photograph.
The monument was unveiled by Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother on 4 May 1991. Initially, the structure was intended as a tribute to those men and women who fought against fire during the Blitz of World War II, when the city was struck by bombs on 57 consecutive nights in a sustained campaign of bombing. It also served as a monument to commemorate the service of firefighters throughout the war.
In 1998, the memorial was made a national monument to commemorate not just the firefighters who died in World War II, but the lives of all firefighters throughout the United Kingdom who were killed in the line of duty. The National Firefighters Memorial was moved from its original site in Old Change Court and the names of all those killed in peacetime were added.
These sculptures, above the portico of the Bank of England, were the work of Sir Charles Wheeler - part of a set depicting 'Creators and Guardians of Wealth' - for Sir Herbert Baker's reconstruction of the Bank edifice between the World Wars.