Your Royal Highness, My Lord Bishop, ladies and gentlemen.
I have the special privilege today of greeting our Royal visitor both as Lord Mayor Locum Tenens, since the Lord Mayor is presently in China, and as Chairman of Lloyd’s. We are delighted that you are able to join us today, Sir, not least because our records show that when the foundation stone, to my right, was laid in 1925 by His Majesty King George Vth, he was accompanied by the then Prince Henry, your late Father.
Some time ago, I received a letter from David Charlesworth enquiring as to the fate of the Memorial to those who had worked at Lloyd’s and who had given their lives in The Great War. It was originally sited in The Royal Exchange, then the home of Lloyd’s where it was unveiled by Earl Haig in 1922. It was then moved to the Lloyd’s building which stood behind where we stand today, until the building was demolished in 1979 to make way for our present home.
I subsequently learnt that the Memorial was put into storage, where it lay until the letter which I had received, led us to make enquiries. We realised that the lack of a proper memorial to those brave servicemen was not something which we should accept, but the option of re-erecting the original was fraught with difficulties.
So my colleagues and I conceived a new plan, which was endorsed by The Council of Lloyd’s, to commemorate the names of those who gave their lives in both World Wars, protecting our freedom and our heritage, in two new memorials. We decided to install them in public view on the façade of the original building, in front of which we now stand. This great arch and portico, part of Sir Edwin Cooper’s original design, is all that we have left of that great City landmark. So we also decided to clean this structure and restore it to its former glory.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I hope you will agree, when you see the new memorials on the restored portico, that together they represent the finest workmanship of British Craftsmen. Your Royal Highness, as an architect, I hope you will approve of what has been done.
The memory of those brave men and women is also honoured today by the presence of Her Majesty’s three armed services, led by the Band of the Blues and Royals and with the State Trumpeters. We are most grateful to all of them for making this such a memorable occasion.
We are also able to greet today 11 members of the families of those Lloyd’s war heroes whose names are recorded on the memorials together with a number of Lloyd’s war veterans - you are our honoured guests.
In total 434 men from Lloyd’s lost their lives in the two world wars, often in acts of extreme bravery. Lord Charles Lyell was posthumously presented with the Victoria Cross for leading a raid on two enemy machine gun posts in Tunisia in April 1943 and Peter Emslie was awarded the Medaille Militaire, the rarest and the highest military honour the French Government could bestow on a foreign soldier for his work in training soldiers for the front line in The Great War.
These are just two out of hundreds of stories of heroism. There were also countless other men and women whose bravery and dedication on the home front ensured that the market continues today. These selfless acts should never be forgotten.
But sadly, as we know today, the days of war are not over, and we are still protected by the brave men and women of our armed services who put their lives at risk everyday in Iraq and Afghanistan. So this occasion is also an opportunity to reflect on their sacrifice and pay tribute to them.
Finally I would like to thank my colleagues at Lloyd’s for their hard work in making today possible, and in particular to the Lloyd’s Choir for leading the hymns. Together with the City Police, the City Corporation and the emergency services they have worked hard to make this event happen. We are also privileged that the Bishop of London is leading the dedication today, one of the foremost religious leaders in this country and a great friend and ally of the City of London.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I would now like to invite HRH The Duke of Gloucester to address us and to unveil the memorial to the Lloyd's fallen of the First World War. I will then unveil the memorial to those lost in the Second World War, following which, His Royal Highness will address us.
