Early on Remembrance Sunday, before the town woke up, a new tribute appeared at the War Memorial on Oaklands Road, Bexleyheath.
It's a large placard dedicated to the Unknown Warrior, signed only Pops2026.
Ours is one of nine installations. The others were placed at war memorials in Lewisham, Mottingham, Chislehurst, Orpington, Sidcup and Eltham, and at Old Bexley War Memorial.
The placards begin with words that echo the Kohima Epitaph: they gave their today for our tomorrow. Then they ask something harder: "But what have we done with their tomorrow?"
The placards remind us that the Unknown Warrior has no name and no face we can recognise. Yet that one soldier stands for every family whose future was changed by war. They were ordinary people in extraordinary times.
So what can we do in return?
According to the placards, the answer isn't a grand gesture.
It's small acts of kindness, compassion and respect. Speaking kindly to the person beside us. Helping a stranger. Healing a division. As the placards put it, remembrance shouldn't only be about the past. It should change the way we live now.
The creator has chosen to stay anonymous. It's a fitting choice for a tribute to a soldier whose name we will never know, and it lets the message speak for itself.
Our thanks go to Pops2026 for taking the time to create and install these surprise displays.
Visit before Armistice Day
The placards will stay in place for Armistice Day on Wednesday 11th November.
If you're passing the memorial on Oaklands Road, take a moment to stop and read it. Then take with you the question it leaves behind:
"What will I do today to make someone else's tomorrow better?"
We will remember them.
