Sir Winston Churchills funeral on 30 January 1965 was the largest state funeral in world history up to that point in time, with representatives from 112 nations; only China did not send an emissary. Only Ireland did not broadcast the service live on television in Europe, where 350 million people watched, including 25 million in Britain. By decree of the Queen, his body lay in state in Westminster Hall for three days and a state funeral service was held at St. Pauls Cathedral. One of the largest assemblages of statesmen in the world was gathered for the service. Unusually, The Queen attended the funeral. As Churchills lead-lined coffin passed up the River Thames from Tower Pier to Festival Pier on the MV Havengore, dockers lowered their crane jibs in a salute. The Royal Artillery fired the 19-gun salute due a head of government, and the RAF staged a fly-by of sixteen English Electric Lightning fighters. The coffin was then taken the short distance to Waterloo station where it was loaded onto a specially prepared and painted carriage as part of the funeral train for its rail journey to Hanborough, seven miles north-west of Oxford. [Source: Wikipedia https://youtube/watch?v=87Xkr8z3lEo]
Posted on: Sun, 07 Sep 2014 06:42:32 +0000
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