Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Military history/News/November 2020/Op-ed

Thank you for this op-ed article on the tombs of the unknowns. I've just been watching (in the UK) the BBC coverage of the Westminster Abbey service to commemorate the centenary of the burial of The Unknown Warrior. A couple of points: the French unknown was buried at the Arc de Triomphe (you are correct to say that the original proposal was for burial at the Panthéon, but someone reading this op-ed might think that was where the body was buried when it wasn't). I hadn't been aware that the burial at the Arc de Triomphe was later. As far as I am aware, the burial in the UK at Westminster Abbey was the same day as the service. The bit about the phrasing surrounding the term 'unknown' (or as you say, 'known only to God') is interesting. There is a whole article about it (or the IWGC/CWGC version produced by Kipling at any rate) at Known unto God. Carcharoth (talk) 03:20, 12 November 2020 (UTC)

The Tomb of the Unknown Australian Soldier has an interesting history. For decades after the war, the Australian Government's position was that the Unknown Soldier in London also represented Australia. The growth of Australian nationalism and self-confidence gradually eroded that position, and in 1993 an Australian soldier was returned from France and interred at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. I was fortunate enough to have been part of the large crowd at the ceremony, where Prime Minister Paul Keating delivered a remarkable speech, which is often considered one of the best in Australian political history. In keeping with the British tradition, the tomb itself is very low key and modest which I personally think is appropriate - after all, the unknown soldier is just one of the 100,000 Australians killed in war which the Australian War Memorial honours. Interestingly, he's one of only two Australians who were killed overseas during World War I to be buried in Australia, with William Bridges being the other - he is also buried in Canberra in a little-visited grave. Nick-D (talk) 22:12, 14 November 2020 (UTC)