Father Ernest Laws and the Unknown Warrior
This page is about the connection of Father Ernest Eugene Laws to the Unknown Warrior buried in Westminster Abbey in London.
The idea of a memorial to the soldiers who died in the Great War and whose resting places are unknown was agreed to by the Dean of Westminster in August 1920.
The idea of a memorial to the soldiers who died in the Great War and whose resting places are unknown was agreed to by the Dean of Westminster in August 1920.
How the Unknown Warrior was chosen
In November 1920, six bodies were chosen from among the many unknown British servicemen exhumed from four battle areas: the Aisne, the Somme, Arras and Ypres. It was considered essential that the exact locations where the six bodies were exhumed and the regiments they belonged to were never identified so that relatives could always hold in their hearts the belief that the Unknown Warrior could be their son, brother or husband.
The remains were brought to a small chapel at St-Pol-sur-Ternoise on 8 November 1920, each one in a coffin and covered with a British flag. Late that night, Brigadier General L J Wyatt went into the chapel and placed his hand on one coffin, signifying that this was the body to be interred at Westminster Abbey. The other three bodies were removed and reburied elsewhere.
The Rev George Kendall's account of these events is here.
The remains were brought to a small chapel at St-Pol-sur-Ternoise on 8 November 1920, each one in a coffin and covered with a British flag. Late that night, Brigadier General L J Wyatt went into the chapel and placed his hand on one coffin, signifying that this was the body to be interred at Westminster Abbey. The other three bodies were removed and reburied elsewhere.
The Rev George Kendall's account of these events is here.
Service over the body of the Unknown Warrior
According to the official story, on the morning of 9 November chaplains of the Church of England, the Roman Catholic Church and Non-Conformist churches held a service in the chapel before the body was escorted to Boulogne to rest overnight before being taken to London. This may be incorrect, however, as some details on the Westminster Abbey website are disputed.
In November 1938, Father Laws wrote to the Daily Telegraph in London to tell a slightly different story.
In November 1938, Father Laws wrote to the Daily Telegraph in London to tell a slightly different story.
From later October, Father Laws had been in France assisting with the work of exhuming and attempting to identify the bodies of soldiers who had been hastily buried on the battlefields. This work was undertaken by the Imperial War Graves Commission (later the Commonwealth War Graves Commission) from mid-1919 until early 2021 and many chaplains of different denominations took part, including the Rev. George Kendall, a Methodist minister and army chaplain who worked with Father Laws [1].
To me in 2021, it doesn't seem strange that a Catholic priest would say mass over the body of the Unknown Warrior, however, those involved in 1920 seem to have held a different view. This unknown soldier was an Englishman who was to be buried in an Anglican church at a time when Catholics and Anglicans often did not associate with one another.
So how did Father Laws come to celebrate this mass on 9 November 1920?
In his 2017 book The Flag, Andrew Richards recounts the involvement of Major S G Hammack, a Catholic who was based at the headquarters in St-Pol-sur-Ternoise.
According to Hammack's wife, Hammack realised that the Unknown Warrior could have been a Catholic in which case it would be important that a mass be offered for the repose of his soul. Mrs Hammack says only that her husband "found a priest" and that the mass was said. She does not give the name of the priest who offered the mass. Perhaps she did not know.
In any event, it seems Father Laws did, indeed, celebrate the mass, although he appears not to have spoken about it for some years.
To me in 2021, it doesn't seem strange that a Catholic priest would say mass over the body of the Unknown Warrior, however, those involved in 1920 seem to have held a different view. This unknown soldier was an Englishman who was to be buried in an Anglican church at a time when Catholics and Anglicans often did not associate with one another.
So how did Father Laws come to celebrate this mass on 9 November 1920?
In his 2017 book The Flag, Andrew Richards recounts the involvement of Major S G Hammack, a Catholic who was based at the headquarters in St-Pol-sur-Ternoise.
According to Hammack's wife, Hammack realised that the Unknown Warrior could have been a Catholic in which case it would be important that a mass be offered for the repose of his soul. Mrs Hammack says only that her husband "found a priest" and that the mass was said. She does not give the name of the priest who offered the mass. Perhaps she did not know.
In any event, it seems Father Laws did, indeed, celebrate the mass, although he appears not to have spoken about it for some years.
Finding out about the mass
On 9 November 1938, Ernest wrote to the Daily Telegraph to tell the story of the mass he offered in the chapel at St-Pol on 9 November 1920 (see article above).
On 9 December 1938, an anonymous article appeared in The Guardian telling the same story. The article (see below) revealed that Father Laws had told "the facts" to the writer in Rome in 1920 but would not allow him to "release them".
On 9 December 1938, an anonymous article appeared in The Guardian telling the same story. The article (see below) revealed that Father Laws had told "the facts" to the writer in Rome in 1920 but would not allow him to "release them".
References
[1] Emails from Tim Kendall, August 2021;
[1] Emails from Tim Kendall, August 2021;