Q & A WITH JOHN NICHOL

How the remains of an unidentified serviceman became the focal point for national mourning

In 1920, the remains of an unidentified ser viceman of the First World War were secretly disinterred, transported to London and laid to rest at Westminster Abbey, at the west end of the nave. For a nation still mourning the colossal sacrifice and loss during the war, the tomb served to represent over 500,000 war dead with no known resting place, for bereaved families and loved ones to visit. The history of the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior, and how it can relate to our modern experiences of war, is the subject of the latest book and nationwide theatre tour by John Nichol, himself a war veteran who’s now an author and historian. Here he speaks with History of War about the key figures involved in creating the Unknown Warrior’s resting place, as well as his own personal journey discovering the horrific experiences of those on the frontline and the bereaved on the home front, tragically common in conflicts generations apart.

What did you know about the background to the Unknown Warrior prior to your research? I’m not sure that I knew very much at all, other than there is a Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey. It wasn’t until one day, which I describe in the book, where a Second World War veteran was telling me about it, that I realised I knew almost nothing. That was the spark. That was the thing that said to me: “There really is a story to be told about how it happened and the people that made it happen.”