AROUND half of the South Cumbrian men to be killed in the First World War have no known grave and are represented at a national level by the Tomb of The Unknown Warrior.

The unidentified British soldier, who was killed on a European battlefield, was buried in Westminster Abbey, London, on November 11 in 1920, simultaneously with a similar interment of a French unknown soldier at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

The story behind the tomb is being told by author Neil Hanson as part of a meeting behind held by the Cumbria branch of the Western Front Association.

The event, which includes a carvery lunch and a talk by George Sutherland on the 1915 Gallipoli Campaign, is being held at the Shap Wells Hotel, near Kendal, on Sunday December 4.

The idea of a Tomb of the Unknown Warrior was devised in 1916 by the Reverend David Railton, an army chaplain who had seen a grave marked by a rough cross, which bore the pencil-written legend “An Unknown British Soldier”.

He won support from the Dean of Westminster and Prime Minister David Lloyd George.

Attendance at the Shap Wells Hotel meeting costs £28, including lunch and refreshments, and further details are available by contacting branch secretary John Chandler by sending an email to hylton@talk21.com, or writing to Mr Chandler at 4 Smithy Close, Natland, Kendal, Cumbria, LA9 7RX