From the archive: A silent parade in Paris
Today's review of the troops of the Paris Garrison at the Arc de Triomphe passed off without the slightest hitch in perfect weather. The crowd began to assemble by 7am, and two hours later was dense. As is usual with Paris spectators, it was extremely quiet, the only real cheer raised being one for General Couraud.
By 9 o'clock a large number of military, diplomatic, and ministerial personages had arrived on the scene, and five minutes later 24 aeroplanes wheeled overhead in formation. At 9.10 M Doumergue, President of the Republic, drove up from the Elysée escorted by a detachment of Dragoons. He bent over the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier while a distant salute of guns broke the silence. The President then gave the accolade to a number of members of the Legion of Honour.
The March Past then began, the troops, which had been assembled in the adjacent avenues, crossing the front of the Arc de Triomphe and disappearing down the Avenue d'Iéna. Led by General Charpy, there came the cadets of the Polytechnic, St Cyr and the Naval school.
These were followed by General Lagrue, the Republican Guard, firemen, engineers, fusiliers marins, cyclists, the Fifth, Thirty-first, and Forty-sixth Regiments of Infantry, and the Twenty-first and Twenty-third Colonial Regiments, a few .75mm guns, and a considerable body of cavalry, some mobile anti-aircraft guns, and three siege guns drawn by tractors.
The review over, the President and his entourage drove away down the Avenue des Champs Elysées between the silent crowds.
A large crowd had again assembled by 4 o'clock to witness the arrival of the runners in a relay torch race, which began at the Citadel of Verdun at 12.30 this morning. The distance is 183¾ miles. One hundred and thirty-four runners, in six teams, took part.
The winning team performed the ceremony, nominally performed daily at dusk, of reviving the Flame of Remembrance at the Arc de Triomphe, which is allowed to die down during the day. The winning team also had the right to lay on the tomb of the Unknown Soldier a bunch of poppies, cornflowers, and marguerites gathered on the battlefield.
Explore 200 years of history as it appeared in the pages of The Times, from 1785 to 1985: thetimes.co.uk/archive
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