Cenotaph Whitehall London SW1

 

Lat = 51 degrees, 30.2 minutes North

Long = 0 degrees, 7.6 minutes West

 

Sunday 8th November 1987

Ten fifty-five hours GMT

 

The day had started as a typical cold grey rain soaked November morning in the UK’s capital, the sun was beginning to shine through, as if it was aware of the impending ceremony.

Standing solemnly at thirty-seven feet in the middle of Whitehall made from Portland stone, that mass of national emotion frozen in stone is the world’s famous Cenotaph, Literally meaning ‘Empty Tomb’ in Greek.

It is undecorated save for a carved wreath on each end and the words “The Glorious Dead”, chosen by Rudyard Kipling.

Any other day of the year, visitors could be forgiven for passing the Cenotaph by unnoticed, however today the closest Sunday to 11th November it had become the focus of Britain’s Remembrance Service.

It commemorates specifically the victims of the First World War, but is used to commemorate all of the dead in all wars in which British service members have fought.

Hundreds of people young and old braving the weather, had queued for the last two hours to witness the ceremony.

 

Lining both sides of Whitehall were members of the three armed forces, Royal Navy, Royal Airforce and the Army.

The Queen along with religious leaders, politicians, representatives of state and the armed and auxiliary forces had just arrived to pay respect to those who gave their lives defending others.

The service has changed little since it was first introduced in 1921, hymns were sung and prayers were said, and as nearby Big Ben struck eleven o’clock, the whole area observed the two-minute silence.

As the two-minute silence ended, a bugler played the last post accompanied by the sound of cannon fire.

A few minutes later Her Majesty the Queen laid the first wreath at the foot of the Cenotaph and bowed, followed one by one, by other adult members of the immediate Royal Family, who bowed or saluted for those in military uniform. The next to lay their wreaths were The Prime Minister, then the leader of the Opposition and leaders of other political parties.

Twenty minutes later the ceremony would be concluded with a march past of war veterans; a poignant gesture of respect for their fallen comrades.