Description
Physical description
rose, three loose petals, wooden box and letter
dried rose bud on a stem, with three petals detached, contained in a wooden box and accompanied by a handwritten letter the text of which reads - 'Dover Nov 15th 1920. Dear Nephew, In Loving memory of your Dear Dad who arrived at Dover Nov 10th 1920 in the Destroyer Verdun. Buried in Westminster Abbey Nov 11th 1920. the Unknown Warrior. The enclosed is a part of a rose which fell from a large wreath given by the British Army. I hope you will keep it & in years to come, you will be able to show it, in remembrance of your Dad. From your Affectionate Uncle, W Chandler'
Label
This fragile dried rose originally formed part of one of the very many large commemorative wreaths that accompanied the coffin of the British 'Unknown Warrior' on its journey from Boulogne to Dover on board HMS Verdun during the afternoon of Thursday 10 November 1920. The rose was given to the nephew of W Chandler on 15 November 1920 - as a memento of the loss of the latter's father who was killed during the First World War, at Ypres in October 1914.
The coffin of the Unknown Warrior was accompanied on board HMS Verdun by a large number of wreaths - from the French Government, Army and Navy and from the British armed forces then serving in France; it was reported that some of these wreaths were so large and extravagant that four soldiers were required to lift them. The coffin was covered in giant wreaths during its short voyage across the Channel.
On arrival at Dover the coffin was ceremonially transported from Admiralty Pier to the western platform of Dover Marine railway station (in the process a further wreath was contributed by Dover Corporation). Problems occurred in transferring coffin and wreaths into the restricted confines of passenger luggage van No. 132 of the South-East & Chatham Railway, and it was only with some difficulty that the wreaths were satisfactorily accommodated.
It is possible that the 'rose' was detached either during the initial offloading of the wreaths from HMS Verdun or in the later, delicate operation of stowing them in the railway passenger luggage van.
The rose was reunited with the 'Unknown Warrior' at a ceremony at the tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey on 19 December 2000.
History note
The donor's great uncle acquired this rose, which apparently, became detached from the British Army's wreath, atop the coffin of the Unknown Warrior when it arrived at Dover aboard HMS Verdun on 10 November 1920. Mr W Chandler, sent the rose with a covering letter to his young nephew (Mrs Lobban's father), whose own father had been killed in action at Ypres in October 1914 when his son was barely six years old. Mrs Lobban and her family had long wanted the Rose to be placed on the tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey. They were able to do this, with the agreement of the Dean of Westminster, on Tuesday 19th December 2000. Following a short prayer for peace and a blessing given by the Duty Chaplain at the Abbey, the Reverend Michael Farthing, the box containing the Rose was presented as a gift to the Imperial War Museum.
Handwritten on a sheet of paper contained in the box
Dover Nov 15th 1920
Dear Nephew, In Loving memory of your Dear Dad who arrived at Dover Nov 10th 1920 in the Destroyer Verdun. Buried in Westminster Abbey Nov 11th 1920. the Unknown Warrior.
The enclosed is a part of a rose which fell from a large wreath given by the British Army. I hope you will keep it & years to come, you will be able to show it, in remembrance of your Dad
From your Affectionate Uncle, W Chandler