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The Tomb of the
Unknown Soldier
(one photo below)
At the west end of the Nave is the grave of
the Unknown Warrior, whose body was brought from France to be
buried here on 11 November 1920.
The grave, which contains soil from France, is covered by a slab
of black Belgian marble from a quarry near Namur.
On it is the following inscription, composed by Herbert Ryle,
Dean of Westminster:
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 AND
THE FREEDOM OF THE WORLD
THEY BURIED HIM AMONG THE KINGS BECAUSE HE
HAD DONE GOOD TOWARD GOD AND TOWARD
HIS HOUSE
Around the main inscription are four texts:
Top - THE LORD KNOWETH THEM THAT ARE
HIS
Sides - GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN THIS and
UNKNOWN AND YET WELL KNOWN, DYING AND BEHOLD WE LIVE
Base - IN CHRIST SHALL ALL BE MADE ALIVE
General Pershing, on behalf of the United States
of America, conferred the Congressional Medal of Honor on the
Unknown Warrior on 17 October 1921 and this hangs in a frame on
a pillar nearby.
