Unknown Soldier of WWI (1 Viewer)

Four bodies were collected, one each from the Aisne, Somme, Arras and Ypres battlefields, and taken to a chapel at St. Pol. Brigadier-General L.J. Wyatt, accompanied by Colonel Gell then entered and selected one which was then enclosed in a special coffin which had been sent from England. the other bodies were removed and reburied in the military cemetary at St. Pol.

One popular story that the General was blindfolded to make his selection is completely false. Wyatt himself set the record straight in November 1939 in replying to the many inaccurate reports circulating at the time.
 
trooper said:
Four bodies were collected, one each from the Aisne, Somme, Arras and Ypres battlefields, and taken to a chapel at St. Pol. Brigadier-General L.J. Wyatt, accompanied by Colonel Gell then entered and selected one which was then enclosed in a special coffin which had been sent from England. the other bodies were removed and reburied in the military cemetary at St. Pol.

One popular story that the General was blindfolded to make his selection is completely false. Wyatt himself set the record straight in November 1939 in replying to the many inaccurate reports circulating at the time.
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Correct. What medals were bestowed on him?
 
Medal of honour from General Pershing in 1921 and the US unknown soldier was reciprocoly bestowed the VC. I think!!
Mitch
 
When the body was returned to England it was accompanied by six barrels of earth from the Ypres Salient which were emptied into the grave so that he rests in the same soil as his comrades in France.
 
Mitch said:
Medal of honour from General Pershing in 1921 and the US unknown soldier was reciprocoly bestowed the VC. I think!!
Mitch
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The medals were the Congressional Medal of Honor and the Distinguished Service Cross bestowed by President Harding. My source story from the January 2011 issue of the "St Mihiel Trip-Wire" of the Great War Society is slightly different from Trooper's. On October 24, 1921 in the presence of The Quartermaster General, CG of the American forces in Germany, the Mayor of Chalous-sur Marne and other Frence dignitaries, SGT Younger circled the four caskets three times and laid a spray of white roses on the casket of his choice. The Unknown was brought to Washington by the cruiser USS Olympia which was Admiral Dewey's flagship now berthed in Philadelphia.
 
W T Allison II said:
The medals were the Congressional Medal of Honor and the Distinguished Service Cross bestowed by President Harding. My source story from the January 2011 issue of the "St Mihiel Trip-Wire" of the Great War Society is slightly different from Trooper's. On October 24, 1921 in the presence of The Quartermaster General, CG of the American forces in Germany, the Mayor of Chalous-sur Marne and other Frence dignitaries, SGT Younger circled the four caskets three times and laid a spray of white roses on the casket of his choice. The Unknown was brought to Washington by the cruiser USS Olympia which was Admiral Dewey's flagship now berthed in Philadelphia.
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I think we are talking about two different ceremonies here. I was refering to the British Unknown Warrior and it would appear that you are refering to the American.
 
trooper said:
I think we are talking about two different ceremonies here. I was refering to the British Unknown Warrior and it would appear that you are refering to the American.
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I was wondering how long before someone noticed this.:D At any rate, all the information is quite interesting. -- Al
 
lancer said:
I was wondering how long before someone noticed this.:D At any rate, all the information is quite interesting. -- Al
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I wondered also when the Victoria Cross was mentioned. Interesting stories. There is a 1989 film "Life and Nothing But" about the selection of the French Unknown Soldier and the ceremony.
 
Nice work gentlemen- excellent question. I read an article a few years back saying that the Unknown soldier may be a thing of the past given the advances in forensic sciences. I would say barring some sort of catastrophic global conflict like we had in WW1 and 2 (and even Korean and Nam), I would agree with them. The actions are pretty low key and accountability is pretty high.

Then again, if another Unknown does happen, I can see it being a fallen specops operator who may be known by some but due to the sensitivity of his mission, cannot be identified or risk jeopardizing what he died for.

5 Stars Mr. Allison and way to go Trooper!! :)
 
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Removing the casket of America's Unknown Soldier from the USS Olympia, Naval Yard, Washington, D. C.
 
Am I correct in thinking that America has Unknown Warriors from WW2 and Korea in addition to WW1? Trooper
 
it appears as if they attempted to designate an unknown for Vietnam but, fortunately, their remains were later identified.
 
Currahee Chris said:
it appears as if they attempted to designate an unknown for Vietnam but, fortunately, their remains were later identified.
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I would think that modern forensics and DNA would be able to identify all casualties these days and we have seen the last of the "Unknown Warriors".
 
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