The Rev. David Railton & the unknown soldier.
The unknown soldier was for the benefit of the people who mourned over their lost ones who were killed. This idea was thought of by a Bradford Vicar called David Railton. The unknown soldier was buried in a tomb. This soldier might have been anyone of the 187,094 British Commonwealth servicemen who were killed in the 1914-1918 First World War who now lie in unmarked graves in the mud of Northern France. Back in 1916 a young padre named David Railton found himself on a shell-pitted battlefield and was moved as he read an inked inscription on a make shift wooden cross which simply read "An unknown warrior of the Black Watch". David Railton was struck by the lonliness of death. Shortly after the war David wrote to the Dean of Westminster and made the suggestion about the unknown soldier. The Dean of Westminster made no hesitation o make this suggestion a reality. He said, "We shall bring a single British soldier from the muddy graves of Northern France and bring it back home to have a funeral of the highest standard." The unknown soldiers tomb lies in Westminster Abbey. On the Queen Mothers wedding day in 1919 she placed her wedding bouquet on the coffin for her own brother who never returned from France.
Researched by Scott Doherty 8A