Every November 11th the top brass of all the armed forces and a crowd of people wishing to pay their respects gather at the Cenotaph in Whitehall. Since the end of World War I, Edwin Lutyens simple structure has formed the focus of our national remembrance, slowly coming to symbolise the memory of all those who have died in service, from the trenches to Afghanistan.
Cenotaph is derived from two Greek words ‘kenos’ meaning empty and ‘taphos’ meaning tomb. This is not the only Cenotaph in the world, the word is used to describe all memorials, not necessarily war-related, which commemorate a person or group of people buried elsewhere. It is however, the most famous Cenotaph worldwide, and a focus for national military events, especially in November.
Today’s Whitehall Cenotaph was erected in 1920 and dedicated to the ‘Glorious Dead’ on the 11th November that year. Lutyen’s design was an exact replica of a Cenotaph he had built on the same spot in 1919 for the Allied Victory Parade, with one significant difference. Lutyen’s original Cenotaph was a hastily constructed memorial of wood and plaster, today’s permanent memorial is made of Portland Stone.
The Cenotaph’s simple inscription ‘The Glorious Dead’ was chosen by author Rudyard Kipling, who lost his son on the Western Front. The simple design was purely Lutyen’s, although he originally wanted stone flags on either side of the memorial, rather than the cloth ones which stand today.
The monument is Grade I listed and although it’s brought centre stage every November, it provides a focal point for Britain to remember its war dead throughout the year.
