Cenotaph Service 2020/The Unknown Warriot

[ChillDoubt]

Sadly, as a result of the current Covid crisis the service at the Cenotaph this year will be scaled down and muted, the RBL asking that no veterans attend for the march past.

I’m posting because it is actually 100 years since the Unknown Warrior was brought from the battlefield and interred at Westminster Abbey, a historical note that should not go unmentioned IMHO.

I’d urge all to watch the YouTube clip and encourage others to do so, particularly the young.

Lest We Forget

[ToraToraTora]

yes chill, I have changed my avatar accordingly, till Nov 12.

[diddlydo]

So is this "scaled down" event going to be limited to 6 people as per Covid rules? I doubt it.

[naomi24]

Thanks for posting this, chill.

[ToraToraTora]

What a nasty piece of work you are diddly. The rule of 6 does not apply here any more than it applies to a football match but don't let that stop your anti British bile.

[gulliver1]

10.16 How noble of you TTT, Can't wait for Nov 13th

[SparklyKid]

Very moving. I am sure I read somewhere that 3 bodies were exhumed and one chosen at random during the voyage.

[Peter Pedant]

yes do the day
I cant do French or Haig - lions led by donkeys
and the donkeys sent millions to their deaths

I can do Lloyd George ( the old goat ) because he apparently LIED to the commanders about how many men there were
as he thought they would 'waste' them

the somme - a million casualties - "this campaign has served its purpose" A pity we didnt shoot them at the end of the war as the others did

no I did not come from a 'grateful village'

[diddlydo]

In a Tier 2 area i.e. London for example, you can't attend a football match. TTT - I'm far from being anti-British but I am anti those in some sort of authority who think that Covid rules don't apply to them.

[THECORBYLOON]

The UK Government issued guidance last week.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-authority-preparations-for-remembrance-sunday/local-authority-preparations-for-remembrance-sunday

I noticed when the new Regulations about the three tiers in England were published, there were specific exemptions including Rembrance Sunday but not for Armistice Day.

[Peter Pedant]

// Very moving. I am sure I read somewhere that 3 bodies were exhumed and one chosen at random during the voyage.//

yes times yesterday
a big thing about whether they threw the two non-winners away
which is kinda odd since many many were sucked into the flanders mud and lost.

[THECORBYLOON]

The Unknown Warrior was selected by Brigadier General Wyatt. In 1939, he wrote,

"The four bodies lay on stretchers, each covered by a union jack, in front of the altar was the shell of the coffin which had been sent from England to receive the remains. I selected one, and with the assistance of Colonel Gell, placed it in the shell; we screwed down the lid.

The other bodies were removed and reburied in the military cemetery outside my headquarters at St Pol. I had no idea even of the area from which the body I selected had come; no one else can know it."

[ChillDoubt]

yes times yesterday
a big thing about whether they threw the two non-winners away
——————
Not sure I’d have referred dead servicemen as ‘non-winners’ as this process wasn’t carried out in order to choose a ‘victor’ but given the the posters propensity for posting unintelligible bilge it sort of fits the profile, but others aren’t covering themselves in glory either.

How sad.

[youngmafbog]

Yes, a good post ChillD.

[woofgang]

An intersting article here. No more "unknown warriors"?
https://www.stripes.com/news/dna-technology-advances-may-rule-out-future-unknown-burials-1.40883

[Ken4155]

Unfortunately, due to our being in Tier 3, our Remembrance Service has been scaled down to the bare minimum. A few local dignitaries, our local MP and a couple members of our local RBL branch. The general public are allowed to visit later to lay wreaths, plant crosses, etc. By that, i assume those that do so will have to form an orderly queue and spend just a few seconds doing so.

[ladybirder]

Thank you for the link chilld, so very moving. That soldier could be a relative of almost any one of us.
What a shame on a post such as this there had to be squabbling.

[iluvmargie]

I enjoyed watching that chill - thanks.

[Mamyalynne]

A moving piece and well worth watching as a timely reminder.

This year's commemorations will be very different for so many but communities are arranging some ways round it.