Did you Ever Wonder...

At the outset of the Great War, Sir Edwin Lutyens (29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was commissioned to design suitable cemeteries and memorials to the efforts of British Commonwealth soldiers. According to British writer and architectural historian Gavin Stamp, Lutyens is "surely the greatest British architect of the twentieth (or of any other) century". In all, Lutyens contributed to more than 600 works and his output significantly affected the commemorative landscape across Europe, India, South Africa, and North America for generations to come. Two of his most important landmarks include the Cenotaph in Whitehall, London, in 1919 – the national memorial to the Fallen of the British Empire in the First World War – and the Memorial to the Missing of the Somme at Thiepval, France. Lutyens also created the concept of a 'War Stone' that came to be known by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission as 'the Stone of Remembrance'.

On this day, 1 January 2022, we commemorate the 78th anniversary of the death of Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens, O.M., K.C.I.E., P.R.A. and recognize him as one of the greatest British architects of the 20th century.

André M. Levesque