THE UNKNOWN

On 11 November 1920, the second anniversary of the armistice that ended the violence of the First World War, Britain and France both buried the remains of unknown soldiers, recognising the huge sacrifice made by the men who had fought in the war as well as acknowledging the tragic fact that so many could never hope to be identified.

Fallen soldiers have traditionally had to be satisfied with a hastily dug grave, often shared with comrades and usually close to the place where they died. Bringing bodies home was a luxury available to a select few, and with advances in weapons technology came new problems – it was often simply impossible to identify a soldier killed in action. It is a sad fact, therefore, that the majority of soldiers who died in service throughout history are now lying in anonymous graves.

This was