The night of 30 June was an especially poignant night commemorating the centenary of the Battle of the Somme's war dead. Over 485,000 British and French soldiers and 630,000 German soldiers died, including 24,029 Canadian soldiers. Notably was the slaughter at Beaumont-Hamel of the Newfoundland Regiment, wiping out entire villages of a generation of men.
I was honoured to be a part of the all night vigil held at Westminster Abbey for the Centenary of the Battle of the Somme. Of course, it was hard to contain my excitement about attending a ceremony with Her Majesty the Queen in attendance, despite the reverent occasion.
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I'm going to London to see the Queen, again!
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A new painting in Chancery Rooms of Her Majesty,
which are not open to the public but we got to hang out in all night |
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| This is where Her Majesty sits! |
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| Some other important guests! |
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| Why doesn't Ms. Samantha Cameron get her own name? |
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| Amy says, "Yeah, we're pretty excited to be here!" |
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| Michelle says, "Pinch me! Another surreal experience in London!" |
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| Sneaking a picture before the ceremony |
The Chelsea pensioners are a most hardy and impressive bunch of veterans, staying up all night as well to do their vigils.
We posted several vigils at the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior at the West entrance to Westminster Abbey throughout the night. I also read in French from war diaries at a 0615 hrs vigil. Despite being up all night, we were amazingly perky, running on adrenalin, even though it was a sedate affair. It was a very moving experience, not just for remembering the significance of this battle but for connecting with some great Canadians here in the UK.
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| Listening to Amanda and Hilary read from war diaries as we stand vigil at the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior |
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Joanne standing vigil with a CF Cpl who came from Canada for the ceremony
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| Hilary and Amanda reading from the war diaries |
It was a strange experience being in Westminster Abbey all night with a small group of quiet people. It seemed like we had the Abbey to ourselves. Wandering and seeing much more without the hoards of tourists felt privileged. We weren't supposed to take pictures of the Abbey, so here is a glimpse of some contraband. Unfortunately the light was low, so a lot are grainy.
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| Westminster Cloisters by night! |
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| Is it ironic that Darwin is buried in a church? |
We also went for a walk in London in the middle of the night, again kinda of weird without so many people. We even went by Sting's old house.
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| Just so cool not to be bumping into people. Like a private London to ourselves |
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| A really beautiful night |
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| Parliament reflected in the Thames. |
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| Dawn in the Cloisters |
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| Morning light |
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| Yep, we're running on caffeine! |
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With the dawn light, Michelle and I took out posts to read
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A gun salute on Parliament Square finished with two minutes of silence at 0730 hrs marking the beginning of the battle 100 years ago.
CBC documented the event and interviewed the Symes family, but we never saw it aired. However, BBC did air a compilation you can see in the link below. If you look carefully, you can see some of us Canadians near the pulpit. Its like finding Waldo.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
Robert Laurence Binyon (1869-1943)
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