In an article (“Duke opens Field of Remembrance”) related to Remembrance Day activities in Britain the BBC quotes a veteran who makes the point of British war dead buried overseas in a very personal way. What also strikes me is that the burial of war dead overseas has clearly influenced the way that the British honor their war dead at home.

Mr Bowen, who joined the Army when he was just 15 and took part in D-Day with the 5th Battalion East Yorkshire, spoke of the importance of honouring his fallen comrades at the Abbey each year.

“I served for 25 years. My friends… some are buried in France, Belgium, Holland. I have friends buried in Egypt and friends buried in Palestine.

“How can I go and visit all their graves? It’s impossible. So what I do is come here and this is my way of paying my respect to my fallen comrades.”