Many countries today have a tomb which is dedicated to the Unknown Warrior or the Unknown Soldier. The British tomb is just inside the grand West Entrance of Westminster Abbey in London. It is set into the floor of the Abbey and is usually surrounded by poppies. Such monuments are there to remember and honour all soldiers who had died in war. But, as in all wars, there are many soldiers whose bodies are lost or remain unidentified and it is these who are especially commemorated with these monuments.
They all contain the body of such a soldier who was slain and who remained unidentified. The one in Westminster Abbey is from the First World War. In fact, it was after this war that the idea of such a commemoration should be built. However, this is not the first such monument. The first recorded such tomb was in 1593 when Korea dedicated a monument to those who had fallen in the Imjin War of 1592. It is believed that the first such monument in Europe was at Landsoldaten which means “The Valliant Private Soldier.” It commemorates the First Schleswig War in Fredericia, Denmark in 1849.
In 1921, the United States of America built their monument at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. Ukraine and Chili not only have a monument to the Unknown Soldier but a second dedicated to the “Unknown Sailor.” Even with the advent of DNA testing, which has identified many who have fallen in battle since the Vietnam War, the warriors in the toms remain unknown.
John Pullen 