The Cenotaph
| The Cenotaph | |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom | |
 The Cenotaph | |
| For the British Empire (later Commonwealth) dead of both World Wars, and the British military in later wars | |
| Unveiled | 1920 |
The Cenotaph is a war memorial situated on Whitehall in London. It began as a temporary structure erected for a peace parade following the end of the First World War but following an outpouring of national sentiment it was replaced in 1920 by a permanent structure and designated the United Kingdom's primary national war memorial.
A National Service of Remembrance is held at the site on Remembrance Sunday, the closest Sunday to 11 November (Armistice Day) each year.
Contents
Origins and purpose
The word "Cenotaph" is of Greek origin. It's root meaning may be loosely defined as "Empty Tomb". The UK Cenotaph is a national memorial to military personnel who died whilst serving in the British and Commonwealth armed forces in wars and other conflicts since World War I. The focus of remembrance Sunday on military deaths only is controversial, especially so since it necessarily involves military parades which are all to easily interpreted as mistaking remembrance for military glorification.
At the Cenotaph by Siegfried Sassoon
I saw the Prince of Darkness, with his Staff,
Standing bare-headed by the Cenotaph.
Unostentatious and respectful, there
He stood, and offered up the following prayer:
Make them forget, O Lord, what this Memorial
Means; their discredited ideas revive;
Breed new belief that War is purgatorial
Proof of the pride and power of being alive;
Men’s biologic urge to readjust
The Map of Europe, Lord of Hosts, increase;
Lift up their hearts in large destructive lust;
And crown their heads with blind vindictive Peace.
The Prince of Darkness to the Cenotaph
Bowed. As he walked away I heard him laugh.
History and Further information
The wikipedia page provides brief details of the history of the Cenotaph, its designers and builders etc
Related Documents
| Title | Type | Publication date | Author(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Document:I will wear a poppy for the last time | article | 8 November 2013 | Harry Smith | A WW2 veteran airs his disillusionment with the way in which the establishment's cynical use of remembrance day to promote the official narrative of all the US/UK/NATO military escapades as being purely altruistically motivated. |
| Document:Remembrance Day and the truths that dare not speak their name | blog post | 8 November 2018 | John Wight | If Remembrance Day imparts a message worthy of our collective intelligence it is that war should be made a crime, with those who instigate it punished as criminals. In the last analysis it does not determine who is right only who is left. We have met the enemy and he is us. End. |
