Remembrance Sunday

[The Don]

On September 7th 1920, in strictest secrecy four unidentified British bodies were exhumed from temporary battlefield cemeteries at Ypres, Arras, the Asine and the Somme. None of the soldiers who did the digging were told why. The bodies were taken by field ambulance to GHQ at St-Pol-sur-Ternoise.

There the bodies were draped with the Union Flag. Sentries were posted and Brigadier-General Wyatt and a Colonel Gell selected one body at Random. A French honour guard was selected, who stood by the coffin overnight. In the morning of the 8th a specially designed coffin made of oak from the grounds of Hampton Court was brought and the Unknown Warrior placed inside. On top was placed a Crusaders Sword and a shield on which was inscribed 'A British Warrior who fell in the Great War 1914-1918 For King and Country'.

On the 9th of November the Unknown Warrior was taken by horse drawn carriage through Guards of Honour and the sound of tolling bells and bugle calls to the Quayside. There it was saluted by Marechal Foche and loaded onto HMS Verdun bound for Dover.....

The coffin stood on the deck covered in wreaths and surrounded by the French Honour Guard. On arrival at Dover the the Unknown Warrior was greeted with a 19 gun salute, normally only reserved for field marshals. He then traveled by special train to Victoria station London. He stayed there overnight and on the morning of the 11th of November he was taken to Westminster Abbey.

The Idea of the Unknown Soldier was thought of by a Padre called David Railton who had served at the front during the Great War and it was the Union Flag he used as an altar cloth at the front, that had been draped over the coffin. The intention was that all relatives of the 517,773 combatants whose bodies had not been identified could believe that the Unknown Warrior could very well be their lost Husband, Father, Brother or Son....

On the morning of 11 November 1920 - the second anniversary of the armistice that ended World War One - the body of the Unknown Warrior was drawn in a procession to the Cenotaph. This new war memorial on Whitehall, designed by Edwin Lutyens, was then unveiled by George V.

At 11 o'clock there was a two-minute silence, and the body was then taken to Westminster Abbey where it was buried at the west end of the nave. To the surprise of the organisers, in the week after the burial an estimated 1,250,000 people visited the abbey, and the site is now one of the most visited war graves in the world.

The text inscribed on the tomb is taken from the bible (2 Chronicles 24:16): 'They buried him among the kings, because he had done good toward God and toward his house'..........

Every year on the 11th of November remember the Unknown Warrior...

[hallamblue]

[ashfordblue]

and today with DNA testing he would be identified ??? yes

[marko69]

and today with DNA testing he would be identified ??? yes

Saying this with an element of ignorance; no they wouldn't. Pretty sure DNA has to be referenced against something else that is documented against him. Will there be anything? I'm thinking not. Could be wrong though.

[hallamblue]

They could match any DNA found through unidentified remains, with a suspected living relatives.

[patthegimp]

Respect.

[marko69]

"Unidentified" remains with "Suspected" living relatives? Must be honest, with the use of those two words, they'd have more chance of being successful in the euromillions draw.

Yes, respect to all who were involved, and not directly involved in both world wars. Always take time to remember the Glasgow side of my dads family who were wiped out in the Glasgow blitz.
Completely uncomprehendable to me. Must've been a living hell.

[Charnwood]

It's a shame the whole world didn't learn lessons from the two great wars and agree terms where all can live in peace.

[marko69]

From a power perspective Charnwood, I believe the world DID learn lessons from the two great wars.

Then along came religion, and it's all REALLY fkd now.

[ipswichtownNo1]

What happened to the other 3?

[herforder]

Whilst religion may provide the justification, it's invariably politicians who chose to peruse the military option in it's name to further their own twisted agendas. It's the ordinary, the poor and the weak who become the victims, and it's left to the Armed Forces to pick up the pieces of shattered lives and restore hope. Themselves just ordinary people doing extraordinary jobs.