Thread by @wabbey

The Unknown Warrior was buried in Westminster Abbey on 11 November 1920, representing the many thousands who had died on the battlegrounds of the First World War and who had no other memorial or known grave. #Warrior100

Over the next few days, as we approach the centenary of his funeral in the Abbey, we'll be sharing with you the timeline of the Warrior’s final journey home to be buried here, ‘among the kings’.

The idea that an unknown solider might be buried in the Abbey came from David Railton, an Army padre who served on the Western Front. In August 1920 he wrote to the Dean of Westminster, Herbert Ryle, to propose a grave in the nave of the Abbey – ‘the parish church of the Empire’

Dean Ryle took up the idea and alongside the Prime Minister, David Lloyd George, wrote to King George V to secure his support. The date for the burial was set for 11 November – Armistice Day – exactly two years after the end of the War.
westminster-abbey.org/abbey-commemor…

Preparations began. On 7 November, bodies from four battle fields – Aisne, the Somme, Arras and Ypres – were exhumed and brought to a chapel at St Pol in northern France.

Brigadier General L J Wyatt, General Officer Commanding troops in France and Flanders, had directed that the bodies should come from graves marked simply, ‘Unknown British Solider’, should be wearing a British uniform and should not otherwise be identifiable.

The bodies were laid on stretchers in the chapel, each covered with a Union Jack. Wyatt selected one of the bodies, which was placed in a wooden coffin which had been sent over from England. The other bodies were re-buried.

In 1939, Wyatt told the Daily Telegraph: ‘I had no idea even of the area from which the body I selected had come; and no one else can know it.’

Join us again tomorrow as we trace the Warrior's journey home from France before his funeral in the Abbey on 11 November 1920.

westminster-abbey.org/abbey-commemor…

On the afternoon of 8 November, the Unknown Warrior began his final journey home. A short service was held in the chapel at St Pol before the coffin was driven to Boulogne, the route lined with British and French troops.

The coffin was taken to rest in the city’s medieval castle, with a company from the French 8th Infantry Regiment standing vigil over night.

Tomorrow we'll follow the Warrior's journey home to Britain aboard HMS Verdun on 9th November 1920.

#Warrior100

On the morning of 9 November, the Unknown Warrior’s body was placed inside a second coffin, made of oak from Hampton Court Palace and with a plate reading: 'A British Warrior who fell in the Great War 1914-1918 for King and Country'.

A 16th-century sword from King George V's private collection was fixed on top of the coffin, which was readied for its journey home.

westminster-abbey.org/abbey-commemor…

The coffin had been brought to the Abbey and photographed here, resting on a pall, before being taken over to France.

At 10:30am, the coffin was placed onto a military wagon drawn by six black horses and taken to the harbour. From there, it was piped aboard HMS Verdun, which set sail for Dover. The ship's bell was later presented to the Abbey and now hangs near the Grave.

Also aboard Verdun were one hundred sandbags of soil from the battlefields, so that, in Wyatt’s words: ‘The body should rest in the soil on which so many of our troops gave up their lives’.

A 19-gun salute greeted Verdun on arrival in England. The coffin was taken off the ship to a waiting train for its final journey to London. The roof of the carriage carrying the body was painted white so that those waiting on bridges for a glimpse of the train could identify it.

Shortly after 8:30pm on 10th November, the train from Dover arrived at Victoria Station in London, where it rested overnight guarded by soldiers from the Kings Company Grenadier Guards

At 9:15am on 11 November 1920, the Unknown Warrior’s coffin was taken from Victoria Station to begin its procession to the Abbey. It was placed on a gun carriage pulled by six black horses.

The coffin was covered with a Union flag which the Reverend David Railton – whose idea the burial in the Abbey had been – had draped over his makeshift battlefield altars. The Padre's Flag, as it became known, now hangs in a chapel close to the grave.

The procession set off at 9:40am passing Hyde Park Corner and the Mall before arriving in Whitehall where the Cenotaph was unveiled by George V. He placed a wreath on the coffin along with this handwritten card 'in proud memory of those warriors who died unknown in the Great War'

The procession moved off to the Abbey where it was met by a guard of honour of 100 holders of the Victoria Cross. Inside, a congregation including members of the Royal Family and almost a thousand widows and mothers of those killed in the war was waiting.

The choir sang the hymn Lead, Kindly Light as the coffin was lowered in the grave at the west end of the nave, which had been prepared with the soil brought over from France

westminster-abbey.org/media/11886/un…

After the service, with soldiers standing guard at each corner, members of the public came into the Abbey to file past the grave, many leaving tributes of red poppies.

A week after the funeral service, the grave was filled with the earth brought from France and covered with a stone inscribed with the words: ‘A British Warrior who fell in The Great War 1914-18. For King and Country. Greater Love Hath No Man Than This.’

By this time, an estimated 1,250,000 people had visited the Abbey to see the grave and pay their respects, with many doubtless wondering whether it was perhaps their lost loved one buried there.

A year later, the original gravestone was replaced with this Belgian marble stone, inscribed with words composed by the Abbey’s Dean, Herbert Ryle

In the century since the funeral, the Warrior has become an important symbol of remembrance. Visiting heads of state come to the Abbey to lay a wreath on the grave and to pray for peace.

At her wedding in 1923, HM Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother laid her flowers on the grave in memory of her brother Fergus who had been killed during the war. It began a tradition which royal brides have followed ever since – most recently HRH Princess Beatrice earlier this year

Despite the passing of 100 years, the Grave of the Unknown Warrior continues to stand as a remarkable tribute to the lost of the two World Wars and more recent conflicts. Discover more about the history of this most poignant of memorials on our website: westminster-abbey.org/about-the-abbe…

You can follow live coverage of our service to mark the centenary of the Unknown Warrior's funeral on @BBCOne from 10:30am this morning, with a highlights programme on @BBCTwo at 7:00pm