The phrase was used again by the CWGC for unknown graves of the 1939-45 war in which use it is preceded by the phrase " a soldier of the Second World War " or a variant thereof . It has been used on the gravestones of the British dead of the 1899 – 1901 Second Boer War , for example at Spion Kop where some graves read : " A brave British soldier – known unto God " , though these stones do not seem to be contemporary to the war . The phrase continues to be used in modern works , for example a British poet included it as a line in a work to honour the dead of the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in 2014
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17
Known unto God