An Unknown Warrior

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An Unknown Warrior: Episode 1

Episode 1

BBC Radio 4 - An Unknown Warrior, Episode 1

Readings to mark the centenary of the funeral of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey.

On Armistice Day 1920, 100 years ago, an unknown warrior was buried among the kings in Westminster Abbey, a symbol of a nation’s grief and gratitude.

Drawn from official documents of the time, newspaper reports and writings of those involved, this is the story of how, on Armistice Day 1920, 100 years ago, an unknown warrior was buried among the kings in Westminster Abbey, and became a symbol of a nation’s grief and gratitude.  

Britain in 1920 was extremely unsettled - spiritually, emotionally and politically.  Many were still in mourning for those lost in the Great War.  Across the fields of France and Flanders, bodies were still being exhumed and taken to the new war cemeteries, many of them never to be identified. 

Many families were never to know where their loved ones were buried.  And for those that did, the government had already decided that no bodies were to be returned to their families and that, for the time being, travel to the graves in the fields of France and Flanders was not permitted.   

One wise war padre, who felt acutely the sorrow of the bereaved, suggested that one unknown soldier could be brought home. One body to stand for the many.  

Readers:  Janet Ellis and David Haig
Sound by Lucinda Mason-Brown 
Production Co-ordinator:  Sarah Wright
Written, compiled and produced by Caroline Raphael
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4



The music used in this programme was played as the congregation waited in the Abbey for the cortege to arrive:
Arthur Sullivan:  In Memoriam
Arthur Somervell:  The "Thalassa" Symphony in D minor

With thanks to:
Charlotte Beskeen & Samantha Gibson:  The London Library
Eddie Bundy: British Newspaper Archive
Julie Crocker, Senior Archivist: The Royal Archives
Peter Francis & Andrew Featherston: Commonwealth Graves Commission 
Tim Kendall
Tanya-Jayne Park, WRAC Association
Victoria Ribbans:  Westminster Abbey
Antony Schipani:  Mirrorpix
William Smith:  Imperial War Museum
Tasha Swainston, Archivist:  National Army Museum
Tony Trowles:  Westminster Abbey Collections & Library 
Stephen Tyers, SPCK

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Drawn from documents of the time, the story of how, on Armistice Day 1920, an unknown warrior was buried in Westminster Abbey and became a symbol of a nation's grief and gratitude.

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