ARMISTICE DAY.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19814, 30 December 1929, Page 15

ARMISTICE DAY.

SCENES AT CENOTAPH.

OF THE V.C. HOLDERS.

(TtCX °CR oir!r COBKXSPOKDEST.) LONDON. November 21. i few weeks ago th?re was a newsdiscussion as to the desirableness * therwise of continuing the Cenoh ceremony ou November 11th. One lonely voices were raised in test aga i ns t it. It was argued that j* perpetuating the military spirit, , pQjgibly hindering the policy of dis[jatmeni. Thf.ee who were privileged witness the scene in Whitehall duri-» the morning of last Monday were convinced that the Cenotaph cereT is now ingrained in the hearts t j,e people. It is almost impossible eontemplate a Government or any «ther authority placing a ban upon it. JL form maj change as the years pro*i It may cease to be an official "fjgjsony, but a century hence, if the * Hon survives, some form of commem"Jttion will still be enacted at eleven I'elock on the morning of November 11th by tlie generations that follow. Thi/is the impression one gained while jjfcing part in the ceremony of the Great Silence. It was reported that fewer soldiers toofc part this vear. The decrease was „ t noticeable.' Over of the holders of the Victoria Cross took part. The -jjee of the King was taken by the of Wales. In all other respects tta ceremony was the same as it has yea sine* the '' Unknown Warrior'' vu bor. e on a gun-carriage from the Cenotaph to the Abbey. It was the - mfl masterpiece of organisation. He morning was cold and misty. Just lefore eleven o'clock drops of rain fell (a the great concourse of people, and there was the threatening of a serious doirapour. Fortunately, it held off. jle wind stirred the leaves on the avejM of trees in Whitehall, but the high bnildings protected the people from the (torm that was raging in the upper tir. How strong the wind wa3 could be seen by the circling seagulls which were swept swiftly windward oh unBurmg wings. An Architectural Setting.

Aj one waited on the roof of one of the Government offices facing the Cenotaph and the Home Office one could iot help but seek impressions which had not been acquired in the preceding otorea years. There was no sign of Booming. The hats of the thousands of elosely packed people below were gay jn eolom —red, green, brown, blue, grey, orange, and a few black hard hats of tie men. They looked like the magnified pains of sand found on the seashore. Aosuredly, though the day was not one for waiting, the people who must have usembled in the earlier hours were just as numerous as on previous year 3. Pnr of the many thousands can ever lope to see anything of what is happening at the Cenotaph, but they are coateat to make a unit of the reverent, devotional, uncomfortably packed arowd. Never, perhaps, has it been remarked before what a splendid background there is to the nation's monument in the eentral part of the Home Office building. As seen from Biehmond terra*, the now stained and weather-worn ttoae stands against a frame surmounted by the huge figures of Britannia, with the recumbent Lion and Unicorn « each side, and erect female figures, probably representing Peace, War, Learning, and the Law. Below are the three tiers of windows. On each side of the windows are double, columns of ■flMe —eight in each tier. The stone ef the topmost tier is white, the stone tf the second tier is darkened by the London atmosphere, but the brown aarbk pillars have retained their eolwr. Looked at from the other side of the rand this dignified piece of weMteetnre forms a fitting frame for tie Cenotaph itself.

fine Handled Victoria Cross Men. This year's ceremony will be known U the one when the V.C.'s of the Emfire took part. They marched at the lead of the large body of British League ■ea and formed up in line across the read facing towards Westminster. There were several aged heroes in top hats ltd morning coats covered with a fashionable overcoat. For the rest fere was nothing to distinguish this |eodly eompany of men from the pubBe which cheered them. Yes, there *&• the row of medals with the most eoTeted one taking precedence, but it fc designed in modesty—like the wear«»—for from a distance of forty yards in the dull red of the V.C. ribbon •tone, of all the row, that could not be ■en. These men of valour had placed i» their front rank a little girl weariig the V.C. medal that her father died i» winning. The acclamation given to the honourable company quickly died down, for we Here there to do honour to the greater ttd more glorious company of the dead. Bathe picture continued to form as in otiwr years. The Guardsmen in their Wtbies and greatcoats lined the southera side of Whitehall, protected from fte encroachment of the public by a •bolder to shoulder line of police. Facia* the monument on the Westminster Me were the massed bands of the .Guards, and a line of buglers of the Jtames. On the northern side of Wlitehall were the representatives of fl« Armv. the Navv. and the Air Force, •aifarup the street towards Trafalgar Square were the representatives of the •Woldiers' associations, and those of tie rarioos women's organisations. In &e rear of all these could be seen the *>* form of "Old Bill," the London Wme. omnibus which was the first to hat on French soil in 1914. New Zealand Wreath. At ten minutes to the hour the repre•tatatives of the Dominions and the •fflnbera of the British Cabinet emerged fenia the Home Office. Each one placed » wreath at the foot of the monument. Oa behalf of the Government and people •* Hew Zealand the High Commissioner (Si* James Parr) placed a wreath made

of pmk carnations with a srrav of lilies or the valley. On one part "of the i wreath the letters "X.Z." were pi»ked ! out in blue violets. j The setting was at last completed bv tne appearance of the Prince of Wales, i the Duke of York, the Duke of Glouces- ! W, and Prince Arthur of Connaught. j ihe anthem. "I will arise and go to mv I iather," which the bands had boon I playing, ended. The Princes laid their 1 wreaths and saluted, and for a minute j the people waited for the signal for ! B "ence. Big Ben struck the hour, ] and at the same time a gun boomed out i and was heard far over the city, j Human silence was complete except for j a little subdued coughing. At least~there ! was absolutely no movement among that I mighty concourse of people. The leaves i on the trees rustled and one or two of | the police horses moved their trappings, j Apart from these unimportant distrae- ! tions, it was as though the migbtv shrine j with its untold thousands had been j turned to stone.

Unique March Past. Trumpeters sounded Last Post. A short service followed, opened with the hymn, "O, God Our Help in Ages Past." After the service came the stately notes of the Reveille, and a verse of the National Anthem, and then the unhurried dissolution of the picture. Princes and statesmen retired. The soldiers and sailors marched away, and then began the march past of the civilians which invariably continues until late in the day.

The march past of the ex-servicemen was headed by the company of V.C.'s, and as they saluted the monument the people let themselves go and cheered long and vigorously. "This is a sight we shall never see again," and similar remarks, were heard as the company swung by and out of Whitehall.

In the Abbey. They were mostly women who kept the Silence round the grave of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey. Very few of them were in any sort of uniform, but a great many wore medals or medal ribbons. Some of those decorations meant that the wearers themselves had served actively, but more were worn on the right breast than on the left. At the head of such mourners was Princess Beatrice, by right of the three medals won by her youngest son in the first weeks of the war, before he fell in action.

These plaintly-dressed women, with a sprinkling of men in dark overcoats, formed a neutral background to the scene. Between the head of the grave and the great west door were grouped the Dean of 'Westminster, other clergy of the Abbey, and the choir, and above their mingled red and white was held a golden cross. At the foot of the grave, and facing them, stood six men, all but one in uniforms of khaki or dark blue. In the front rank were General Sir W. Braithwaite, AdjutantGeneral to the Forces; Vice-Admiral Sir M. Hodges, the Second Sea Lord; and Air Vice-Marshal Sir E. Ellington, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Air Defence of Great Britain. These were the official representatives of the Services. The three behind them were FeildMarshal Lord Plumer; Commodore C. Adams, representing the Merchant Navy and Fishing Fleets; and Captain A. S. Mackay, one of the Elder Brethren of Trinity House. There was a service of Preparation for a half-hour before the signal for silence.

Outside St. Paul's Cathedral, a great assembly of city people observed the Silence, while the Archbishop of Canterbury stood at the head of the steps to give them his blessing. The great west door of the cathedral was open. On the steps were the band, 150 strong, from the Eoyal Military School of Music, and the surpliced- choir to lead the one hymn and the National Anthem. Within the church, dimly seen in the grey morning, was the congregation gathered for the service of the League of Natipns' Union, with only a thin sprinkling of representatives of the Forces, and crowded in the churchyard and all the way down Ludgate Hill were the thousands who had left offices and warehouses for the brief space of remembrance.

Another impressive service was held in the open before the Koyal Exchange, the Mansion House, the Bank of New Zealand, and the Bank of England. Traffic was diverted from this busy centre for an hour. Hundreds of men at work on the new Bank of England stood to attention on the cranes when the signal sounded for silence.