General Chat

With remberance day still fresh - this information from the Westminster Abbey website.

People Buried or Commemorated - The Unknown Warrior At the west end of the Nave is the grave of the Unknown Warrior, whose body was brought from France to be buried here on 11 November 1920. The grave, which contains soil from France, is covered by a slab of black Belgian marble from a quarry near Namur. On it is the following inscription, composed by Herbert Ryle, Dean of Westminster: BENEATH THIS STONE RESTS THE BODY OF A BRITISH WARRIOR UNKNOWN BY NAME OR RANK BROUGHT FROM FRANCE TO LIE AMONG THE MOST ILLUSTRIOUS OF THE LAND AND BURIED HERE ON ARMISTICE DAY 11 NOV: 1920, IN THE PRESENCE OF HIS MAJESTY KING GEORGE V HIS MINISTERS OF STATE THE CHIEFS OF HIS FORCES AND A VAST CONCOURSE OF THE NATION THUS ARE COMMEMORATED THE MANY MULTITUDES WHO DURING THE GREAT WAR OF 1914-1918 GAVE THE MOST THAT MAN CAN GIVE LIFE ITSELF FOR GOD FOR KING AND COUNTRY FOR LOVED ONES HOME AND EMPIRE FOR THE SACRED CAUSE OF JUSTICE AND THE FREEDOM OF THE WORLD THEY BURIED HIM AMONG THE KINGS BECAUSE HE HAD DONE GOOD TOWARD GOD AND TOWARD HIS HOUSE Around the main inscription are four texts: (top) THE LORD KNOWETH THEM THAT ARE HIS, (sides) GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN THIS and UNKNOWN AND YET WELL KNOWN, DYING AND BEHOLD WE LIVE, (base) IN CHRIST SHALL ALL BE MADE ALIVE. The idea of such a burial seems first to have come to a chaplain at the Front, the Reverend David Railton (1884-1955), when he noticed in 1916 in a back garden at Armentières, a grave with a rough cross on which were pencilled the words "An Unknown British Soldier". In August 1920 he wrote to Dean Ryle, through whose energies this memorial was carried into effect. The body was chosen from unknown British servicemen exhumed from four battle areas, the Aisne, the Somme, Arras and Ypres. (The number of bodies exhumed varies in different accounts between four and six). The remains were brought to the chapel at St. Pol on the night of 7 November 1920. The General Officer in charge of troops in France and Flanders, Brigadier General L.J.Wyatt, with Colonel Gell, went into the chapel alone, where the bodies on stretchers were covered by Union Jacks. They had no idea from which area the bodies had come. General Wyatt selected one and the two officers placed it in a plain coffin and sealed it. The other bodies were reburied. In the morning Chaplains of the Church of England, the Roman Catholic Church and Non-Conformist churches held a service in the chapel before the body was escorted to Boulogne. The next day the coffin was placed inside another made of oak from Hampton Court sent over from England and wrapped in the flag that David Railton had used as an altar cloth during the War (known as the Ypres or Padre's Flag, which now hangs in St George's Chapel). Within the wrought iron bands of this coffin had been placed a 16th century crusader's sword from the Tower of London collection. The coffin plate bore the inscription "A British Warrior who fell in the Great War 1914-1918 for King and Country". The destroyer HMS Verdun, whose ship's bell now hangs near the grave in the Abbey, transported the coffin to Dover and it was then taken by train to Victoria station in London where it rested overnight. On the morning of 11 November the coffin was placed on a gun carriage drawn by six black horses and began its journey through the crowd-lined streets, first to Whitehall where the Cenotaph was unveiled by King George V, and then, followed by the King, members of the Royal Family and ministers of State, to the north door of Westminster Abbey. It was borne to the west end of the Nave through a guard of honour of 100 holders of the Victoria Cross. During the shortened form of the Burial Service, after the hymn “Lead kindly light”, the King stepped forward and dropped a handful of French earth onto the coffin as it was lowered into the grave. At the close of the service, after the hymn “Abide with me” and prayers, the congregation sang Rudyard Kipling’s solemn Recessional “God of our fathers…” after which the Reveille and Last Post were sounded by trumpeters. The grave was then covered by a silk funeral pall, which had been presented to the Abbey by the Actors' Church Union, with the Padre's flag lying over this. Servicemen kept watch while thousands of mourners filed past. The grave was closed on 18 November and then covered by a temporary stone with a gilded inscription on it: “A BRITISH WARRIOR WHO FELL IN THE GREAT WAR 1914-1918 FOR KING AND COUNTRY. GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN THIS.” On 11 November 1921 the present black marble stone was unveiled at a special service. The stone was supplied and lettered by Mr Tomes of Acton and the brass for the inscription supplied by Nash & Hull. The Padre’s Flag was also formerly dedicated at this service. General Pershing, on behalf of the United States of America, conferred the Congressional Medal of Honor on the Unknown Warrior on 17 October 1921 and this hangs in a frame on a pillar nearby. The body of the Unknown Warrior may be from any of the three services, Army, Navy or Air Force, and from any part of the British Isles, Dominions or Colonies and represents all those who have no other memorial.

Hi everyone who is interested in the 'Unknown Warrior'. I though that you might like to know that New Zealand now has its own 'Unknown Warrior'. He was returned to New Zealand and interred in his homeland on Armistice Day this year. A friend has just sent me these extracts from a NZ newspaper: SATURDAY , 13 NOVEMBER 2004 It was an impressive welcome home for the, (New Zealand), Unknown Warrior whose remains have finally been laid in a new national shrine. It was dignified and solemn, smooth and seamless; there were no gaffes or embarrassing hitches. It was a remarkable effort pulled off by a cast of thousands shedding more than their share of sweat and tears. It was a project driven from the top after decades of inertia and indifference to an idea that was first raised in the 1920s. And at the end of it all there was a round of mutual congratulations. Returned servicemen praised Prime Minister Helen Clark for putting her weight behind a project they had wanted for decades and Miss Clark in turn thanked her public servants and particularly the military who carried it off with such aplomb. The final push began three years ago when Miss Clark's support was sparked by war historian Ian McGibbon, who suggested at a book launch that a tomb of an unknown warrior would play a part in establishing national identity. The Culture and Heritage Ministry and the Defence Force were given their orders and a budget to match. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission was asked to exhume a body from one of its war cemeteries and the defence department launched Operation Valhalla named after the mythological Norse palace in which the souls of slain heroes feast for eternity. Hundreds of personnel from the three services were brought into the operation under the command of Lieutenant Colonel David Russell. They planned and drilled, as only the military do: Defence Chief Air Marshal Bruce Ferguson, echelons of senior officers, the pallbearers, the bandsmen, the cultural party, the privates, the able seamen, the airmen and cadets, those who stood guard, the marchers and the drivers. An air force Boeing 757 flew a 90-strong contingent to Europe to bring the casket home and more than 350 personnel were brought to Wellington from throughout New Zealand for the two days of ceremonies. They impressed World War 11 veteran Earl Jensen, who said he had nothing but praise for the servicemen and women involved. "They did everything with such dignity, solemnity and precision and it was all done with the commands given quietly. What they did is not easy," Mr Jensen said. The 40,000-kilometre flight to Europe and back cost an estimated $300,000 and $350,000 in accommodation costs for the 10-day trip. But it seems no one is quibbling at the expense and if anybody does they are liable to be put in their place. "Cost doesn't come into this," Colonel Russell said. "We had 30,000 killed in all conflicts and 27,000 are buried offshore and so many of the families have no opportunity to visit their graves. Here we have brought back an unknown warrior representing all our forces. I can't put a price on that." As for the Unknown Warrior's return, Mr McGibbon said: "It was totally exhilarating. "Everything went so smoothly, the march, the turnout of the people, even the weather. It was such a wonderful occasion."

Bernie Thats a event - well worth the effort of all involved. Liz

Further to Bernie's comments - One of the many unknowns - * The Unknown Warrior is almost certainly an Army Soldier. * His remains are those of a New Zealander who died in northern France during World War 1 - probably in the advance at the Somme, in September 1916. * More than 1500 New Zealanders died in Somme battles, and more than 1272 have no grave or lie in unidentified graves. * The term 'warrior' has been used instead of soldier. This is to ensure the tomb represents all three services, Navy, Army and Air Force. * The remains of many air crew and sailors have also never been recovered. Nine thousand New Zealanders killed in wars have no marked graves. * The idea is that, being unknown, the Unknown Warrior will represent all New Zealanders who have fought and died overseas. Source: Ministry for Culture and Heritage