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FEATURE: WW1
The story of the
Unknown Warrior’s coffin
As the world marked the centenary of the start of World War I in August, some unique and historic
images were uncovered of the coffin containing the Unknown Warrior, which lies at the west end
of the Nave of Westminster Abbey in London.
The Unknown Warrior, whose body was
brought from France to be buried on 11
November 1920, lies in a grave which
contains soil from France and is covered
by a slab of black Belgian marble from a
quarry near Namur. It is one of the most
symbolic memorials of the Great War, but
not many people know that the Unknown
Soldier lies at rest in a coffin fashioned from
oak taken from a tree in Hampton Court
with ironwork by Brunswick ironworks
of Caernarfon – and that the coffin was
a gift from NAFD forebears, the British
Undertakers Association.
The historic images were discovered in a
loft by Gordon Pakeman, whose family-run
funeral firm once displayed the images in
their offices. Mr Pakenham, now retired,
kindly sent the images in to the team at
Funeral Director Monthly to share with our
readers.
According to Westminster Abbey, the idea
of a National Act of Remembrance, through
the symbolic burial of a soldier to represent
all those lost in the Great War, seems to
have come from a chaplain supporting
soldiers on the Front Line, Reverend David
Railton, after 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”.
troops in France and Flanders, Brigadier
General L.J.Wyatt, went into the chapel
alone, where the bodies on stretchers were
covered by Union Flags.
In August 1920 he wrote to the Dean of
Westminster, Herbert Ryle, with his idea
and Mr Ryle, liking the idea, saw to it that
the memorial was carried into effect.
The previous day, two undertakers, Mr
Nodes and Mr Sourbutts, had travelled to
France with the coffin. After Wyatt had made
his choice, the body was placed inside the
coffin and sealed with two wrought-iron
straps topped off with a seal. Inscribed on
the seal were the words: ‘A British Warrior
Who Fell in the Great War 1914-1918. For
King and Country.’ A sword, which was also
attached to the seal, was a gift from the
King and came from his private collection.
The body was chosen from unknown
British servicemen exhumed from four
battle areas, the Aisne, the Somme, Arras
and Ypres. The remains were brought to the
chapel at St. Pol on the night of 7 November
1920. The General Officer in charge of
Having no idea from which area the bodies
had come, General Wyatt selected one and
two officers with him placed it in a plain
coffin and sealed it. The other three bodies
were reburied.
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On the morning of 10 November, the
coffin was taken to Boulogne. With
it were six barrels of earth from the
fields of Flanders. In Boulogne, the
mile-long cortège passed through
the streets of the town to the strains
of a military band playing Chopin’s
Funeral March. Children had been
given the day off school and they
joined the townspeople lining the
streets.
The coffin was then carried aboard
the Royal Naval destroyer HMS
Verdun. In the middle of the Channel,
the Verdun was met by another six
destroyers. As she approached,
the destroyers lowered their Union
Jacks and ensigns to half-mast,
an honour usually reserved for the
King. The seven ships then headed
for Dover.
As they reached England, a 19gun salute was fired and a band
played Land of Hope and Glory.
The quayside was crammed with
crowds of people.
After being brought ashore, the
coffin was placed inside SouthEast Railways Passenger Luggage
Van Number 132. The walls of the
luggage van had been draped in
purple cloth and the roof had been
painted white so that it could easily
be identified.
As the train made its way to
London, crowds of people on every
station stood in silence and bowed
their heads. That night, the luggage
van stood on one of the platforms at
Victoria Station. Inside, four guards
stood watch.
The next morning, 11 November,
the coffin was placed on a gun
carriage. Behind it were the heads
of the Armed Forces and 400 former
servicemen. According to news
reports at the time an enormous
crowd watched as the coffin was
borne through the streets of London
to the Cenotaph. There it was met
by the King, who placed his own
wreath on top.
As the chimes of Big Ben sounded
11 o’clock, the coffin was carried
through the north transept door of
Westminster Abbey for the service
and burial. The aisle was lined with
100 recipients of the Victoria Cross
and the congregation was made up
of 1,000 widows and mothers of
fallen servicemen. Within five days,
more than a million people had paid
their respects.
Above the tomb, where the body
has now lain for almost a century,
is the following inscription:
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 snd the freedom of the world
They buried him among the kings because he had done good toward God and toward his house