My father is buried at Hannover War Cemetery, Germany. His grave is my only memory of him. I now live near Rome, Italy, and know that my father was with the allied troops liberating Italy from Messina to Rome. His badge cap reads "Gibraltar / Talavera / Northamptonshire" and I have photographs of him in Naples on 15 June 1944, a post card he sent home on 01 June 1944 from the Old Apian Way in Rome, he wrote that a lot of lives were lost at this place. He was in Jerusalem on 16 dec 1944
in 2005 it was revealed that the "Unknown Warrior" was deliberately chosen as a fallen soldier from the year 1914.
1914 was specifically chosen as this guarantees the "unknown Warrior" wouldnt be a black or colonial soldier!!! the chosed dead person had to be a career soldier as well..a lot of politics went into choosing a suitable person..they didnt just pick any WW1 British body...the coffin he lays in is made of oak from a tree grown in the grounds of Hampden Court Palace........
his coffin is based on a 16th century treasure chest..the lid bears an original "crusaders" sword from the royal collection. the marble headstone is made from black Tournai marble from Belgium with its lettering inlaid with brass smelted from cartridge cases retrieved from the great War battlefields. On November 7 1920 four field ambulances each containing an officer and two other ranks equipped with shovels and sacks arrived at cemetaries at the four main British battle areas ....
on the Western front..the Aisne, the Somme, Arras and ypres..they were not told what the exact work was, but to choose a headstone marked "Unknown British Soldier", the idea being that he could be anyone, soldier,sailor,english,scots,welsh,irish,dominoin,sikh or gurkha.
However, the burial parties were also privately instructed that the fallen should be from the early part of the war..this had the side benefit of ensuring the unknown warrior would be a white member .....
of the British Expeditionary Forces and a career soldier, rather than one of Kitcheners civillian volunteers..or one of the thousands of Empire troops..the earth that fills his grave is from 16 barrels of earth brought over from the french salient at Ypres.
May we never forget
still there is war in the world make it stop
koningp 8 months ago
My father is buried at Hannover War Cemetery, Germany. His grave is my only memory of him. I now live near Rome, Italy, and know that my father was with the allied troops liberating Italy from Messina to Rome. His badge cap reads "Gibraltar / Talavera / Northamptonshire" and I have photographs of him in Naples on 15 June 1944, a post card he sent home on 01 June 1944 from the Old Apian Way in Rome, he wrote that a lot of lives were lost at this place. He was in Jerusalem on 16 dec 1944
DOLPHIN031954 1 year ago
in 2005 it was revealed that the "Unknown Warrior" was deliberately chosen as a fallen soldier from the year 1914.
1914 was specifically chosen as this guarantees the "unknown Warrior" wouldnt be a black or colonial soldier!!! the chosed dead person had to be a career soldier as well..a lot of politics went into choosing a suitable person..they didnt just pick any WW1 British body...the coffin he lays in is made of oak from a tree grown in the grounds of Hampden Court Palace........
2491tj 3 years ago
his coffin is based on a 16th century treasure chest..the lid bears an original "crusaders" sword from the royal collection. the marble headstone is made from black Tournai marble from Belgium with its lettering inlaid with brass smelted from cartridge cases retrieved from the great War battlefields. On November 7 1920 four field ambulances each containing an officer and two other ranks equipped with shovels and sacks arrived at cemetaries at the four main British battle areas ....
2491tj 3 years ago
on the Western front..the Aisne, the Somme, Arras and ypres..they were not told what the exact work was, but to choose a headstone marked "Unknown British Soldier", the idea being that he could be anyone, soldier,sailor,english,scots,welsh,irish,dominoin,sikh or gurkha.
However, the burial parties were also privately instructed that the fallen should be from the early part of the war..this had the side benefit of ensuring the unknown warrior would be a white member .....
2491tj 3 years ago
of the British Expeditionary Forces and a career soldier, rather than one of Kitcheners civillian volunteers..or one of the thousands of Empire troops..the earth that fills his grave is from 16 barrels of earth brought over from the french salient at Ypres.
2491tj 3 years ago
for reference see the book of the great war missing titled "The Unknown Soldier" by Neil Hanson , pub 2005 and 2007..a fascinating read.
2491tj 3 years ago