Several years ago I visited Bodiam Castle in Kent. I arrived by steam train! One of the exhibits at the Bodiam Station was the “Cavell Van” (above). It’s a luggage van which had carried the body of Edith Cavell, a nurse executed in 1915 for helping Allied service personnel escape occupied Belgium.
What I didn’t know until my visit was that this same van was also used to transport the body of the “Unknown Warrior” from HMS Verdun, which docked at Dover to Victoria Station in London. I also didn’t know that as part of the procession to the burial ceremony in Westminster Abbey, the Cenotaph in Whitehall was unveiled by the King as Big Ben struck 11am. There was a 2 minute silence, then the King followed on foot to the ceremony. If you wish to read more, and it’s an interesting read, I recommend this from the National Archives.
Inside the van is a replica of the coffin of the Unknown Warrior.
Chatter: Pentax ME Super with 50mm f1.7, Agfa Vista 200
S.H.O.U.T. 