St George's Day Ceremony at the Cenotaph

Standing solemnly in the middle of Whitehall, the Cenotaph is a suitably sombre place for reflection and remembrance of Englands patron saint. Following a short parade, a wreath-laying event organised by the Royal Society of St George is held here on Saturday 24th April, the day after St George's Day. Most famous as the focus of the national Remembrance Service (the closest Sunday to the 11th November), the Cenotaph is traditionally known as the place where the servicemen of the British Empire and Commonwealth who died in the two World Wars are remembered. The monument was originally built of wood and plaster for the first anniversary of the Armistice in 1919. The memorial you see today was designed by Edward Lutyens. Fashioned from Portland Stone it was unveiled one year later in 1920. The inscription simply reads "The Glorious Dead".