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The Unknown Warrior, whose body was brought from France 99 years ago today, 7 November 1920, to be buried four days later, lies in a grave which contains soil from France and is covered by a slab of black Belgian marble from a quarry near Namur.

It is one of the most symbolic memorials of the Great War, but not many people know that the Unknown Soldier lies at rest in a coffin fashioned from oak taken from a tree in Hampton Court – and that the coffin was a gift from NAFD forebears, the British Undertakers Association, to the nation.

The historic images were discovered in a loft by past NAFD National President Gordon Pakenham, whose family-run funeral firm once displayed the images in their offices.

According to Westminster Abbey, the idea of a National Act of Remembrance, through the symbolic burial of a soldier to represent all those lost in the Great War, seems to have come from a chaplain supporting soldiers on the Front Line, Reverend David Railton, after he noticed in 1916, in a back garden at Armentières, a grave with a rough cross on which were pencilled the words “An Unknown British Soldier”.

In August 1920 he wrote to the Dean of Westminster, Herbert Ryle, with his idea and Mr Ryle, liking the idea, saw to it that the memorial was carried into effect.

The body was chosen from unknown British servicemen exhumed from four battle areas, the Aisne, the Somme, Arras and Ypres. The remains were brought to the chapel at St. Pol on the night of 7 November 1920. The General Officer in charge of troops in France and Flanders, Brigadier General L.J.Wyatt, went into the chapel alone, where the bodies on stretchers were covered by Union Flags.

Having no idea from which area the bodies had come, General Wyatt selected one and two officers with him placed it in a plain coffin and sealed it. The other three bodies were reburied.

Funeral Director Horace Kirtley Nodes, who was then President of the British Undertakers’ Association (which went on to become the NAFD) accompanied the coffin to France with his colleague Mr Sowerbutts. The coffin was gift from the BUA to the nation and was funded by symbolic shilling donations from Association members across the country.

The remains of the soldier were placed inside the coffin, and it was secured with two wrought-iron straps topped off with a seal. Inscribed on the seal were the words: ‘A British Warrior Who Fell in the Great War 1914-1918. For King and Country.’ A sword, which was also attached to the seal, was a gift from the King and came from his private collection.

On the morning of 10 November, the coffin was taken to Boulogne. With it were six barrels of earth from the fields of Flanders. In Boulogne, the mile-long cortège passed through the streets of the town to the strains of a military band playing Chopin’s Funeral March. Children had been given the day off school and they joined the townspeople lining the streets.

The coffin was then carried aboard the Royal Naval destroyer HMS Verdun. In the middle of the Channel, the Verdun was met by another six destroyers. As she approached, the destroyers lowered their Union Jacks and ensigns to half-mast, an honour usually reserved for the King. The seven ships then headed for Dover.

As they reached England, a 19-gun salute was fired and a band played Land of Hope and Glory. The quayside was crammed with crowds of people.

After being brought ashore, the coffin was placed inside South-East Railways Passenger Luggage Van Number 132. The walls of the luggage van had been draped in purple cloth and the roof had been painted white so that it could easily be identified.

As the train made its way to London, crowds of people on every station stood in silence and bowed their heads. That night, the luggage van stood on one of the platforms at Victoria Station. Inside, four guards stood watch.

The next morning, 11 November, the coffin was placed on a gun carriage. Behind it were the heads of the Armed Forces and 400 former servicemen. According to news reports at the time an enormous crowd watched as the coffin was borne through the streets of London to the Cenotaph. There it was met by the King, who placed his own wreath on top.

As the chimes of Big Ben sounded 11 o’clock, the coffin was carried through the north transept door of Westminster Abbey for the service and burial. The aisle was lined with 100 recipients of the Victoria Cross and the congregation was made up of 1,000 widows and mothers of fallen servicemen. Within five days, more than a million people had paid their respects.

Above the tomb, where the body has now lain for almost a century, is the following inscription:

BENEATH THIS STONE RESTS THE BODY OF A BRITISH WARRIOR

UNKNOWN BY NAME OR RANK

BROUGHT FROM FRANCE TO LIE AMONG THE MOST ILLUSTRIOUS OF THE LAND

AND BURIED HERE ON ARMISTICE DAY 11 NOV: 1920, IN THE PRESENCE OF HIS MAJESTY KING GEORGE V

HIS MINISTERS OF STATE

THE CHIEFS OF HIS FORCES

AND A VAST CONCOURSE OF THE NATION

THUS ARE COMMEMORATED THE MANY MULTITUDES WHO DURING THE GREAT WAR OF 1914-1918 GAVE THE MOST THAT MAN CAN GIVE LIFE ITSELF

FOR GOD

FOR KING AND COUNTRY

FOR LOVED ONES HOME AND EMPIRE

FOR THE SACRED CAUSE OF JUSTICE AND THE FREEDOM OF THE WORLD

THEY BURIED HIM AMONG THE KINGS BECAUSE HE HAD DONE GOOD TOWARD GOD AND TOWARD HIS HOUSE