This was placed in a coffin which was taken to Boulogne, where it was transported to Dover on HMS Verdun. The commander of British troops in France and Flanders, Brigadier General LJ Wyatt, picked one. ![]() There are a number of versions of how the selection of the Unknown Warrior was made, but it is generally agreed that between four and six bodies were exhumed from each of the main British battle areas on the Western Front on the night of 7 November 1920, and brought to the chapel at St Pol, in northern France. It is thought that the idea came from the reverend David Railton, who had served as a chaplain on the Western Front. This was to symbolise all those who had died for their country, but whose place of death was not known, or whose body remained unidentified. In 1920, as part of ceremonies in Britain to commemorate the dead of World War One, there was a proposal that the body of an unknown soldier, sailor or airman lying in an unmarked grave abroad be returned to England for burial in Westminster Abbey. © The Unknown Warrior is buried in Westminster Abbey as a memorial to the dead of World War One, particularly those who have no known grave. ![]() ![]() George V places a wreath on the coffin of the Unknown Warrior, 11November 1920
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