Vernon Coaker MP, Labour’s Shadow Defence Secretary, on attending the 100th anniversary event marking the start of the First World War at Saint Symphorien Cemetery in Mons, Belgium, said:

“I am proud to be attending an international memorial event in Belgium where royalty, the Armed Forces, families of the fallen, members of the public and politicians—including the Prime Minister—gather as one to pay their respects to the immense sacrifice of those who died during the First World War.

“We must not forget the thousands of individual acts of courage, suffering and bravery that tell the stories of the 513 graves at Saint Symphorien Cemetery in Mons.

“Buried at Mons are Private John Parr and Lieutenant Maurice Dease, who were the first Commonwealth soldiers to be killed in action in the war in August 1914, and Private George Price and Private George Ellison, who both died minutes before the armistice on the morning of 11th November 1918.

“All four men are laid to rest at Mons, their deaths separated by four years but connected through having made the ultimate sacrifice in the most tragic of circumstances. These are just some of the stories of the First World War, and there are millions more like them.

“This week we will fulfill our duty to remember and honour them, and renew our pledge never to forget.”