At the west end of the Nave of Westminster Abbey is the grave of the Unknown Warrior, whose body was brought from France France , is covered by a slab of black Belgian marble from a quarry near Namur
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
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:
“THE LORD KNOWETH THEM THAT ARE HIS.”
“GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN THIS.”
“UNKNOWN AND YET WELL KNOWN, DYING AND BEHOLD WE LIVE.”
“IN CHRIST SHALL ALL BE MADE ALIVE.”
The idea for this 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 the Dean of Westminster, Herbert 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 Flags. 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
Hampton Court , lined with zinc, sent over fromEngland St George's Dover and it was then taken by train to Victoria station in London
Hampton Court , lined with zinc, sent over from
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 to the north door of Westminster Abbey. The coffin was borne to the west end of the Nave through a guard of honour of 100 holders of the Victoria Cross, under the command of Colonel Freyburg VC. 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.
On 11 November 1921 the present black marble stone was unveiled at a special service. General Pershing, on behalf of the United States of America
Our Bible readings tonight are also of those whose role or responsibilities or sacrifice is potentially overlooked. In our first reading (1 Kings 1. 15-40), Solomon, who had been promised the throne by his father David, is in danger of being overlooked and out manoeuvred when his elder step-brother claims the throne for himself. In our second reading (Revelation 1. 4-18), we read of the glory of the risen and ascended Jesus, but that picture also then reminds us that during his life, and in his death, he was despised and rejected by humanity. In both readings we also see those who have been overlooked then being recognised and honoured; Solomon is affirmed as King by David and Christ is glorified following his ascension.
Here at
Sara James, one of our young people at St. John’s St. John’s Chadwell Heath Foundation School and were up against GCSE students from the best private and grammar schools from all over England , Wales , Scotland and Northern Ireland
Initially they obtained information from historical research of
Their competition entry, along with all the others, was judged by a panel of historians, writers, teachers and others involved in Channel 4’s history programmes. They won a ClipBank History Library worth £700 for their school’s history department, which will enable everyone to obtain further wide-ranging historical materials about the two World Wars. There was also a VIP trip for Sara’s class of around 30 students, along with some humanities teachers, to the
As a result of their research featuring on the website of St John's Seven Kings we were contacted by the family of Charles Brooks Smith, in the football photo, and his brother Frederick Allam Smith. Both had been killed during WW1, Charles Brooks Smith at the
So today, as we remember all those who have given their lives in the service of others through the armed forces, we remember particularly Charles Brooks and Frederick Allam Smith and we rededicate this War Memorial, with the addition of their names, to the glory of God and in memory of all those from this parish who lost their lives during the First World War in the name of God almighty, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
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George Harrison - All Things Must Pass.
