There would have been an epidemic of Fourth-of-July oratory all over the town--before we'd done anything--Americans spouting over the edges and killing Kruger with their mouths.

I got representatives of 'em all together and proposed that we hold our tongues till we'd won the war--then we can take London.

And to give one occasion when we might all assemble and dedicate ourselves to this present grim business, I arranged for an American Dedicatory Service at St.
Paul's Cathedral.

The royal family came, the Government came, the Allied diplomats came, my Lords and Ladies came, one hundred wounded American (Canadian) soldiers came--the pick of the Kingdom; my Navy and Army staff went in full uniform, the Stars and Stripes hung before the altar, a double brass band played the Star Spangled Banner and the Battle Hymn of the Republic, and an American bishop (Brent) preached a red-hot American sermon, the Archbishop of Canterbury delivered the benediction; and (for the first time in English history) a foreign flag (the Stars and Stripes) flew over the Houses of Parliament.

It was the biggest occasion, so they say, that St.Paul's ever had.