Gulf war memorial at St Paul's

JAMES CUSICK

Amid the tightest security seen in London since VE Day, the Queen yesterday unveiled a memorial in St Paul's Cathedral to the 47 British servicemen killed in the Gulf war.

The Prime Minister, senior members of the cabinet and senior opposition politicians were among the congregation, together with other members of the royal family, Baroness Thatcher and Sir Edward Heath. Officers and servicemen from British, Commonwealth and other armed forces which made up the Allied Forces in the war against Saddam Hussein, following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1991, also took part.

A large area around St Paul's was cordoned off, with police marksmen mounting roof-top surveillance. Following the recent IRA bombings, the large-scale security operation was quietly described by a Ministry of Defence official as "commensurate with recent events".