One must remember the First World War was truly a global epoch. It was the first time the world was engaged in conflict and Total War was first coined as a concept. For the first time, civilians from both sides found themselves firmly in the firing line. In Britain, conscription would be introduced and latterly rationing would also come into effect. Women would find themselves engaged in essential war work; slaving tirelessly in munitions factories, which would have been unthinkable in rigid Victorian society. It was the first time war was inescapable. The Napoleonic wars were simply not on the same scale and was during the age of musket, cannon and galleon. The Great War found itself in the age of machine gun, howitzer and dreadnought. The war was relentless; thousands died daily and the march of men and materials over the channel continued for over four years. It is the symbol of the fertile fields of post-war Flanders, the poppy, which we still use today. It was set up by the Earl Haig fund, the former Field Marshal Haig who would seemingly send hundreds of thousands of his men to death. Whilst revisionism is much kinder to Haig, undoubtedly a man of his time, constrained by the resources and techniques at his disposal, it is clear the high command realised how the conflict had surpassed anything before it in terms of casualties, political repercussions and social change. By devising a way of remembering his fallen 'Old Contemptibles' which continues to this day, encompassing all those who have died since, Haig has ensured that we have not forgotten the Great War.
The Cenotaph
The Cenotaph itself is the striking, white wide obelisk-type structure in the middle of Whitehall which forms the focal point of remembrance in the UK. The realisation that the Great War should not be forgotten and should be commemorated suitably was agreed by all sectors of society. At the top, King George V decreed a period of celebration following an end to the war in July 1919 following the Treaty of Versailles (11th November saw the cessation of hostilities; the top brass, still achingly Edwardian needed seven months to divide the spoils). The eminent architect, Edwin Lutyens, the designer of the Brighton Pavilion, designed a wooden structure to stand in the centre of Whitehall as the men filed past on 19th July 1919. The stark, white structure, lacking any triumphalism which could be seen on war memorials from the previous century, struck a chord with the British public and it was decreed that the monument should be re-made in stone. The word 'Cenotaph' comes from the Greek kenotaphian meaning 'empty tomb' and after a war when hundreds of thousands of soldiers had no known grave and those that did were on the battlefields they fell, the Cenotaph offered a place to grieve.
The Cenotaph after its unveiling in 1920. The coffin of the unknown soldier sits on a gun carriage to the left
Written on the cenotaph are the words 'The Glorious Dead'. Suitably grand and Edwardian, the phrase seems to hold an element of triumphalism, echoes of the old Empire; the glory of those who died fighting for King and Country. It should come as no surprise then, that the man tasked with finding the language for such such monuments should be a close friend of the King and champion of Empire; Rudyard Kipling.
Rudyard Kipling
Kipling is perhaps best known for his Jungle Book stories, later adapted for film by Walt Disney. Having been born in India and watched first hand the work of the Imperial administration, Kipling believed strongly in the hegemony of the British and the work of Empire and this would become obvious in some of his work such as "The White Man's Burden" of 1899. Whilst this would be seen as totally politically incorrect today, it called for Britain and Europe to help advance the 'uncivilised' countries of the Empire and further afield. Kipling was a patriot and foresaw the beginning of the Great War, later working tirelessly, campaigning to get the young men of Britain to join the army. This continued in his own home where he fought for his son John to be allowed into the army despite failing his medical on account of his poor eyesight. As a friend of Earl Robert, Chief of the Imperial General Staff and Colonel of the Irish Guards, Kipling managed to pull the appropriate strings so that John 'Jack' Kipling was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Irish Guards in August 1914.
Rudyard Kipling (left) and 2nd Lieutenant John 'Jack' Kipling in the uniform of the Irish Guards
The slaughter of the Western Front began with the retreat from Mons in August-September 1914 and despite beginning as a mobile, fast moving conflict, the main belligerents found themselves entrenched in bloody stalemate from Nieuport on the Belgian coast in the West to the Swiss border in the East. Soon, dugouts would be joined into sprawling, zig-zagging trench systems and the daily artillery bombardments would be punctuated by offensives designed to push the enemy back. The little gains made would invariably be reversed at the cost of more life. One of those to fall would be 'Jack'. Like so many others in the Great War, details of his demise are sketchy to say the least. John led his men at the Battle of Loos on 29th September 1915 when he was hit by shellfire and his body badly disfigured. Fighting continued and John Kipling's body lay on the battlefield. Due to the nature of Great War battles, with the same thin strip of land fought over and chewed up by shellfire, and offensives lasting for days, the recovery of bodies was difficult. When it was possible, bodies had to be identified by personal effects on the body, the introduction of two fibre dog tags on the body helped and sometimes they were identified by their comrades who recovered them from the battlefield.
As John's body was not identified, he was officially posted as 'missing presumed dead'. Rudyard and his wife, Carrie searched field hospitals and interviewed comrades in the vain hope they would find him. His father threw his weight behind the Imperial (later Commonwealth) War Graves Commission to ensure his son would not be forgotten. Rudyard felt a great sense of loss and guilt for having gained John entry into the army despite failing his eyesight test. In 1992 John Kipling's grave was identified after the body of a Lieutenant of the Irish Guard was discovered in the St Mary's Cemetery in Haisnes, but current theory suggests this is actually the body of Arthur Jacob, another young officer in the same unit.
Kipling Senior's work with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission can still be seen scattered across the fields of Belgium and Northern France. The neat Portland stone headstones in cemeteries are inscribed with the rank, name, age and unit of a fallen soldier. Of the nearly 1 million British and Commonwealth soldiers that died in the war, 526,816 have no known grave. Instead, their names appear on the monuments to the missing, with the largest at Thiepval on the Somme and the Menin Gate at Ypres. However, there are 187,861 unidentified graves. Given headstones, theirs simply bear the inscription "A soldier of the Great War. Known unto God"; another of Kipling's influences we can see across many Commonwealth War Grave Commission sites across Continental Europe.
The war changed Kipling's life. It robbed him of his only son and he poured his energies afterwards into ensuring John and his comrades would not be forgotten. The rows of pristine stone tablets which mark the earth where the British army went to battle almost 100 years ago are a timeless reminder.
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