Talk:Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
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The idea of a Tomb of the Unkown Warrior, was first conceived in 1916 by the Reverend David Railton, who while serving as an army chaplain on the Western Front had seen a grave marked by a rough cross, which bore the pencil written legend 'An Unknown British Soldier'.
He wrote to the Dean of Westminister in 1920 proposing that an unidentified British soldier from the battlefields in France be buried with due ceremony in Westminister Abbey "amongst the kings" to represent the many thousands of Empire dead. The idea was strongly supported by the Dean and the then Prime Minister Lloyd George. There was initial opposition from King George V and others but a surge of emotional support from the great number of bereaved families ensured its adoption. Arrangements were placed in the hands of George Nathaniel Curzon who prepared in committee the service and location.
The body was chosen from four bodies draped with Union Flags at the chapel at Ste Pol near Arras, France on the night of 7th November, 1920 by Brigadier General L.J. Wyatt and Lieutenant Colonel E.A.S. Gell. The Body was placed into a coffin and sealed. The following morning a multi-denominational service was held for the soldier who's coffin bore the legend 'A British Warrior who fell in the Great War'.
The Coffin was then taken to Boulogne under guard by French soldiers and placed aboard HMS Verdun, Marshall Foch saluted the coffin as it rested on the Quayside before loading. As the flotilla carrying the coffin closed on Dover Castle it received a 19 gun Field Marshall's salute.
On the morning of the 11th November, 1920 the Coffin was loaded onto a gun carriage of the Royal Horse Artillery and drawn by 6 horses through through immense and silent crowds. The route followed was Hyde Park Corner, The Mall, and to Whitehall where the Cenotaph was unveiled by King George V. The Cortege was then followed by King, Royal Family and ministers of state to Westminster Abbey, where the Coffin was borne into the West Nave of the Abbey flanked by an honour guard of 100 holders of the Victoria Cross. The coffin was then interred with soil from each of the main battlefields and covered with a silk pall. The Armed Services then stood as honour guard as an estimated one and quarter million mourners filed past during the seven days before the tomb was closed. The ceremony appears to have served as a form of catharsis for collective grief on a scale not previously known.
The grave was then capped with a black marble stone featuring an inscription composed by Dean Ryle.
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
From Tomb of the Unknown Warrior article
[edit] Gilleleje, Denmark
There's a grave in my hometown [1] for an unknown French Soldier from WW2. Is it notable enough for inclusion? Mikkel 02:43, 1 August 2006 (UTC)
![[1]](http://tuekistan.com/newimages/PA270069.jpg){kind=link}