05 March 2002

St. Paul's Usher Describes Service for Terrorism Victims

London -- A British citizen who has personally witnessed the outpouring of concern in the United Kingdom for victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York City says, "Don't for a minute believe that the British people are unmoved by the attacks you've recently suffered and don't still sympathize with you."

Eric Davies, a former member of the metropolitan police force who now works for an events planning agency, was present at the special service of remembrance held at St Paul's Cathedral just three days after terrorists hijacked two aircraft and slammed them into the twin World Trade Center towers, killing 2,800 people, including scores of British citizens.

Davies spoke to the Washington File March 5 at a memorial service at St. Brides Church for Daniel Pearl, the American Wall Street Journal reporter who was killed recently by terrorists in Pakistan. Davies is a guildsman of St. Bride's Church and a wandsman of St. Paul's Cathedral. In the latter role, he served as an usher at the September 14 memorial service, which the queen and prime minister attended.

"I was on duty in the north transept" of the cathedral on that day, Davies said. "I got a call saying the cathedral was putting on -- at very short notice -- a service for the American community in London. Its purpose was to help those who were here and to show some solidarity for what America had gone through.

"I don't think I've ever seen a more moving and well-attended ceremony," he added. "The queen, Duke of Edinburgh, Prince of Wales, and the American ambassador were present. It was open to everyone -- first come, first served -- and it was absolutely packed. The congregation that couldn't get in stretched right down Ludgate Hill." Approximately 2,400 people made it inside the church and loudspeakers served the crowds outside, estimated to be more than 10,000 people.

A number of prelates, including the archbishop of Canterbury, archbishop of York, and the bishop of London, attended the 50-minute service, which was also broadcast live on television and radio.

Davies said, "In my area, by the north transept, we had most of the British Cabinet, including the prime minister and former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher." He said, "A very touching moment came when the American national anthem was played, which I think is the first time it had been played in St. Paul's Cathedral." It was also the first time the queen had sung any other national anthem, the press reported.

"We had two U.S. Marines who were in that part of the cathedral and we spoke to them and asked them to form a small guard of honor after the service so that as people came out they passed them, and I thought that was very dramatic and touching," Davies said.

Another American who attended the ceremony, U.S. Ambassador William S. Farish, read the first lesson of the service from the Book of Isaiah. It said, in part: "And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations. For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations."

After the reading, Davies said, he and others felt "a tremendous sense of solidarity" with Americans. "People were touched by that and there was a real heartfelt sympathy" that arose. "When people ask me why, I say, 'Because we are family.' We are family."

One example of that solidarity from a previous time sits behind the cathedral's high altar. It is the American Memorial Chapel, which honors U.S. servicemen and women who died in World War II. Dedicated in 1958, it contains more than 28,000 names of Americans who gave their lives while stationed in the United Kingdom.

Asked if he planned to see the U.S.-government-sponsored photo exhibition called "After September 11: Images from Ground Zero," which opened down the road at the Museum of London later in the day, Davies said he looked forward to viewing the 27 photos by celebrated New York photographer Joel Meyerowitz.