140-674: The Cambrai Memorial to the Missing (sometimes referred to as the Louverval Memorial ) is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) memorial for the missing soldiers of World War I who fought in the Battle of Cambrai on the Western Front . The memorial stands at one end of Louverval Military Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery , which was founded by Commonwealth troops in April 1917 on
280-758: A British officer who was commander of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps . Birdwood was officially confirmed as commander of the AIF on 14 September 1916, while also commanding I Anzac Corps on the Western Front. Birdwood was later given command of the Australian Corps on formation in November 1917. Lieutenant General John Monash , an Australian officer, took over command of the corps in May 1918. Despite being promoted to command
420-593: A backyard in Hallu , France. In April 2013, the remains of four British soldiers discovered by a French farmer clearing land with a metal detector in 2009 were re-interred at H.A.C. Cemetery near Arras , France. In March 2014, the remains of 20 Commonwealth and 30 German soldiers were discovered in Vendin-le-Vieil , France, with the Commonwealth soldiers being subsequently reburied at Loos British Cemetery. When
560-451: A few exceptions, due to local geological conditions, the cemeteries follow the same design and uniform aesthetic all over the world. This makes the cemeteries easily recognisable and distinguishes them from war graves administered by other groups or countries. A typical cemetery is surrounded by a low wall or hedge and with a wrought-iron gate entrance. For cemeteries in France and Belgium,
700-450: A land tablet near the entrance or along a wall identifies the cemetery grounds as having been provided by the French or Belgian governments. All but the smallest cemeteries contain a register with an inventory of the burials, a plan of the plots and rows, and a basic history of the cemetery. The register is located within a metal cupboard that is marked with a cross located in either the wall near
840-451: A limited area, like along the Western Front or Gallipoli peninsula , mobile teams of gardeners operate from a local base. Elsewhere, larger cemeteries have their own dedicated staff while small cemeteries are usually tended by a single gardener working part-time. The affairs of the CWGC are overseen by a board of commissioners. The president of the board is HRH Princess Anne, Princess Royal ,
980-411: A mixture of floribunda roses and herbaceous perennials . Low-growing plants are chosen for areas immediately in front of headstones, ensuring that inscriptions are not obscured and preventing soil from splashing back during rain. In cemeteries where there are pedestal grave markers, dwarf varieties of plants are used instead. The absence of any form of paving between the headstone rows contributes to
1120-636: A record of Commonwealth civilian war deaths. A supplemental chapter was added to the Imperial War Graves Commission's charter on 7 February 1941, empowering the organisation to collect and record the names of civilians who died from enemy action during the Second World War, which resulted in the creation of the Civilian War Dead Roll of Honour. The roll eventually contained the names of nearly 67,000 civilians. The Commission and
1260-467: A sense of peace in a setting, in contrast to traditionally bleak graveyards. Recommendations given by Arthur William Hill , the assistant director of the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew enabled the commission to develop cemetery layouts and architectural structures that took into account the placement of suitable plant life. Combining structural and horticultural elements were not unfamiliar to
1400-459: Is "A Soldier of the Great War known unto God ". Some headstones bear the text "believed to be buried in this cemetery" when the grave's exact location within the cemetery is not known. In some cases soldiers were buried in collective graves and distinguishing one body from another was not possible and thus one headstone covers more than one grave. The headstone does not denote any specific details of
1540-419: Is currently responsible for the care of war dead at over 23,000 separate burial sites and the maintenance of more than 200 memorials worldwide. In addition to commemorating Commonwealth military service members, the commission maintains, under arrangement with applicable governments, over 40,000 non-Commonwealth war graves and over 25,000 non-war military and civilian graves. The commission operates through
SECTION 10
#17330845937251680-570: Is headquartered in Maidenhead , England. Offices or agencies that are each responsible for a specific geographical area manage the worldwide affairs of the organisation. They are: The CWGC's work is funded predominantly by grants from the governments of the six member states. In the fiscal year 2020/21, these grants amounted to £66.1 million of the organisation's £74.5 million of income. This equates to an approximate cost of CA$ 85 per commemorated war dead. The contribution from each country
1820-413: Is not known will contain the superscript " Buried elsewhere in this Cemetery ", "Known to be buried in this cemetery" or "Believed to be buried in this cemetery" . Many headstones are for unidentified casualties; they consequently bear only what could be discovered from the body. The epitaph, developed by Rudyard Kipling , that appears on the graves of unidentified soldiers for which no details are known
1960-516: Is proportionate to the number of graves the CWGC maintains on behalf of that country. The percentage of total annual contributions for which each country is responsible is United Kingdom 79%, Canada 10%, Australia 6%, New Zealand 2%, South Africa 2% and India 1%. Immediately following the First World War, the British Army remained responsible for the exhumation of remains. The Western Front
2100-452: The 1918 flu pandemic . The applicable periods of consideration are 4 August 1914 to 31 August 1921 for the First World War and 3 September 1939 to 31 December 1947 for the Second World War. The end date for the First World War period is the official end of the war, while for the Second World War the Commission selected a date approximately the same period after VE Day as the official end of
2240-737: The 4th and 5th left Egypt later in June 1916. The 3rd Division was the last to arrive, having been formed in Australia in March 1916, and moving to England for training in July 1916, before being sent to France in December 1916. When originally formed in 1914 the AIF was commanded by Major General William Throsby Bridges , who also commanded the 1st Division. After Bridges' death at Gallipoli in May 1915, command transferred by default to Lieutenant General William Birdwood ,
2380-486: The Battle of La Bassée in October 1914. In March 1915, the 7th (Meerut) Division was chosen to lead the assault in the Battle of Neuve Chapelle . The Expeditionary Force was hampered by a lack of familiarity with new equipment, only being issued Lee–Enfield rifles on their arrival in France and they had almost no artillery, relying on support from their neighbouring corps when in the front line. They were not accustomed to
2520-728: The Battle of the Sambre by the First, Third and Fourth Armies and to the capture of Mons, 11 November 1918, by the First Army. The British Empire responded to the British call for troops for the Western Front and major formations of the British Indian Army , Canadian Army , Australian Army , New Zealand Army and the South African Army all served in France. The BEF also integrated most of
2660-732: The Beaumont-Hamel Memorial by Newfoundland. The programme of commemorating the dead of the Great War was considered essentially complete with the inauguration of the Thiepval Memorial in 1932, though the Vimy Memorial would not be finished until 1936, the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial until 1938 and stonemasons were still conducting work on the Menin Gate when Germany invaded Belgium in 1940. The only memorial created by
2800-575: The Dean of Westminster reached an agreement that the roll would eventually be placed in Westminster Abbey but not until the roll was complete and hostilities had ended. The Commission handed over the first six volumes to the Dean of Westminster on 21 February 1956; it added the final volume to the showcase in 1958. Following the Second World War, the Commission recognised that the word 'Imperial' within its name
2940-687: The Fifth Army , Birdwood retained command of the AIF. Following a British Government call for Portuguese troops, on 7 August 1916 the Parliament of Portugal agreed the participation of the Portuguese Army on the Western Front. In addition to a heavy artillery corps of 1,000 men under the command of the French Army , most of the Portuguese forces to be sent to the Western Front were to be incorporated in
SECTION 20
#17330845937253080-683: The Gaza cemetery , which contains 3,691 graves, allegedly in retaliation for the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal. On 24 February 2012, during the Libyan Civil War , Islamist militia damaged over 200 headstones in the Benghazi war cemetery, as well as the central memorial. In April 2021, a special committee of the CWGC published a report on historical inequalities in commemoration, concerning "failures to properly commemorate black and Asian troops" after
3220-817: The Portuguese Army troops who fought on the Western Front. In September 1914, the BEF was reinforced by the Indian Expeditionary Force A which eventually formed two corps each of two divisions, the Indian Cavalry Corps and the Indian Infantry Corps . Upon arrival in Marseilles on 30 September 1914, only six weeks after the declaration of war, they were moved to the Ypres Salient and took part in
3360-1003: The Thiepval Memorial on the Somme and the Arras Memorial designed by Edwin Lutyens; and the Basra Memorial in Iraq designed by Edward Prioleau Warren . The Dominions and India also erected memorials on which they commemorated their missing: the Neuve-Chapelle Memorial for the forces of India, the Vimy Memorial by Canada, the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial by Australia, the Delville Wood Memorial by South Africa and
3500-582: The United States Army and with better morale than the French Army . The cost of victory, however, was high. The official "final and corrected" casualty figures for the British Army, including the Territorial Force , were issued on 10 March 1921. The losses for the period between 4 August 1914, and 30 September 1919, included 573,507 "killed in action, died from wounds and died of other causes" and 254,176 missing (minus 154,308 released prisoners), for
3640-604: The Victory Medal . The 1914 Star was issued to officers and men of British forces who served in France or Belgium between 5 August and midnight 22/23 November 1914. The former date is the day after Britain's declaration of war against the Central Powers, and the closing date marks the end of the First Battle of Ypres. The 1914–1915 Star was issued to officers and men of British and Imperial forces who served in any theatre of
3780-661: The Western Front during the First World War . Planning for a British Expeditionary Force began with the 1906–1912 Haldane Reforms of the British Army carried out by the Secretary of State for War Richard Haldane following the Second Boer War (1899–1902). The term British Expeditionary Force is often used to refer only to the forces present in France prior to the end of the First Battle of Ypres on 22 November 1914. By
3920-659: The 1980s, with regular maintenance being impractical since after the Gulf War . The commission also provides support for war graves outside its traditional mandate. In 1982, the British Ministry of Defence requested the commission's assistance to design and construct cemeteries in the Falkland Islands for those killed during the Falklands War . Although these cemeteries are not Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries,
4060-630: The 1st Siege Artillery Brigade was formed under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Walter Adams Coxen , the Australian Army's Director of Artillery, for service on the Western Front. About half the men in the unit were permanent gunners of the Garrison Artillery. The brigade departed Melbourne for England on 17 July 1915 and landed in France on 27 February 1916. Its 54th Siege Battery was equipped with 8 inch howitzers and its 55th Siege Battery with 9.2 inch howitzers . Five infantry divisions of
4200-644: The 623,907 total casualties, 146,431 were either killed or missing. In 1917 the BEF's attacks moved along the front, they operated in the Pas-de-Calais during the Battle of Arras . They then concentrated in Belgium for the Battle of Messines and the Battle of Passchendale , and ended the year back in the Pas-de-Calais for the Battle of Cambrai . In the spring of 1918 the BEF came under attack both in Flanders and on
4340-520: The AIF saw action on the Western Front in France and Belgium, leaving Egypt in March 1916. Initially they were organised into I Anzac Corps and II Anzac Corps alongside the New Zealand Division , however, on 1 November 1917 the Australian divisions were re-grouped together to form the Australian Corps . The 2nd Division was the first to arrive in France, followed by the 1st Division , while
Cambrai Memorial to the Missing - Misplaced Pages Continue
4480-541: The American Graves Registration Service . In 1918, three of the most eminent architects of their day, Sir Herbert Baker , Sir Reginald Blomfield , and Sir Edwin Lutyens were appointed as the organization's initial Principal Architects. Rudyard Kipling was appointed literary advisor for the language used for memorial inscriptions. In 1920, the Commission built three experimental cemeteries at Le Treport , Forceville and Louvencourt , following
4620-501: The American Graves Registration were permitted to repatriate the remains of an unknown number of American citizens who were in service of a Commonwealth nation during the Second World War. In 1949, the Commission completed Dieppe Canadian War Cemetery , the first of 559 new cemeteries and 36 new memorials. Eventually, the Commission erected over 350,000 new headstones, many from Hopton Wood stone . The wider scale of
4760-546: The BEF carried a .303 Lee–Enfield rifle fitted with an easily loaded ten-round magazine and issued with a seventeen-inch (430 mm) bayonet . These rifles enabled a high rate of fire with good accuracy, such that pre-war British soldiers were trained to hit a target fifteen times a minute at a range of 300 yards. The devastating efficiency and accuracy of the BEF infantry led the Germans to incorrectly believe that there were approximately 28 machine guns in each battalion. When
4900-418: The BEF landed in France each infantry battalion and cavalry regiment was equipped with two Vickers or Maxim machine guns . Part of the reason for only allocating two guns per unit was the cost of manufacture and the need of a ten-week intensive training course for a Vickers gunner. During the course of 1916, the quicker to manufacture and more versatile Lewis guns began to be issued on the intended scale of
5040-514: The BEF retreated unmolested by the Germans for a further five days, eventually retreating a full 400 km in thirteen days. The Allied retreat finally ended at the River Marne , where Entente forces prepared to make a stand to defend Paris. This led to the First Battle of the Marne , which was fought from 5 to 10 September 1914. This battle would prove to be a major turning point of the war: it denied
5180-547: The British Empire's war effort on the Western front in 1918 and some of its allies. Over the course of the war 5,399,563 men served with the BEF, the peak strength being 2,046,901 men. The First Army was formed on 26 December 1914. Its first commander was Douglas Haig promoted from command of the I Corps. When Haig took over command of the BEF in 1915, the new commander was General Henry Horne . First Army remained in France until
5320-453: The British armies in France and Flanders throughout the First World War. Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany , who was famously dismissive of the BEF, allegedly issued an order on 19 August 1914 to "exterminate ... the treacherous English and walk over General French's contemptible little army". Hence, in later years, the survivors of the regular army dubbed themselves " The Old Contemptibles ". No evidence of any such order being issued by
5460-483: The British. In 1916 the BEF had moved into the Picardy region of France. The Battle of the Somme dominated British military activity for the year. Allied forces attempted to break through the German lines along a 25 miles (40 km) front north and south of the River Somme in northern France. On the first day on the Somme the BEF suffered 57,000 casualties. After the war a final tally counted 419,654 British and 204,253 French killed, wounded, or taken prisoner; of
5600-420: The CEP – Corpo Expedicionário Português ( Portuguese Expeditionary Corps ) under British command. The CEP was organised as an army corps of two divisions and corps troops, totalling 55,000 men, under the command of General Tamagnini de Abreu . The first CEP troops arrived in France on 2 February 1917. The first troops reached the front on 4 April. On 4 June, the 1st Infantry Brigade of the 1st Division repelled
5740-426: The Care of Soldiers' Graves was created with the intention of taking over the work of the Directorate of Graves Registration and Enquiries after the war. The government felt that it was more appropriate to entrust the work to a specially appointed body rather than to any existing government department. By early 1917, a number of members of the committee believed a formal imperial organisation would be needed to care for
Cambrai Memorial to the Missing - Misplaced Pages Continue
5880-456: The Commission are no exception. The Commission believes that graffiti and damage to stonework are usually the work of young people, noting that the number of incidents increases when schoolchildren are on school holidays. Metal theft is also a problem: determined thieves target the bronze swords from the Cross of Sacrifice, which are now replaced with replicas made of fibreglass. The vandalism of Commission cemeteries has also been connected to
6020-472: The Commission manages the administrative responsibilities for them. Since 2005, the commission has carried out similar management duties on behalf of the British Ministry of Defence for cemeteries and graves of British and Imperial soldiers who died during the Second Boer War . In 2003, Veterans Affairs Canada employed the commission to develop an approach to locate grave markers for which the Canadian Minister of Veterans Affairs has responsibility. As of 2011,
6160-458: The Commission that was not in the form of a monument or cemetery was the Memorial Ophthalmic Laboratory at Giza , Egypt —complete with library, and bacteriology and pathology departments—as its memorial to men of the Egyptian Labour Corps and Camel Transport Corps . Its erection was agreed with local political pressure. From the start of the Second World War in 1939, the Commission organised grave registration units and, planning ahead based on
6300-431: The Cross of Sacrifice, the design for the stone deliberately avoided "shapes associated with particular religions". The geometry of the structure was based on studies of the Parthenon . Each stone is 12 feet (3.5 m) long and 5 feet (1.5 m) high. The shape of the stone has been compared both to that of a sarcophagus and an altar . The feature was designed using the principle of entasis . The subtle curves in
6440-450: The Fallen . The illustrated booklet was intended to soften the impact of Kenyon's report as it included illustrations of cemeteries with mature trees and shrubs; contrasting the bleak landscapes depicted in published battlefield photos. There was an immediate public outcry following the publication of the reports, particularly with regards to the decision to not repatriate the bodies of the dead. The reports generated considerable discussion in
6580-555: The First World War was after the 1918 Armistice. Civilians who died as a result of enemy action during the Second World War are commemorated differently from those that died as a result of military service. They are commemorated by name through the Civilian War Dead Roll of Honour located in St George's Chapel in Westminster Abbey. In addition to its mandated duties, the commission maintains, under arrangement with applicable governments, over 40,000 non-Commonwealth war graves and over 25,000 non-war military and civilian graves. As well as
6720-421: The First World War, individual commemoration of war dead was often on an ad hoc basis and was almost exclusively limited to commissioned officers. However, the war required mobilisation of a significant percentage of the population, either as volunteers or through conscription . An expectation had consequently arisen that individual soldiers would expect to be commemorated, even if they were low-ranking members of
6860-399: The First World War. A set of public statements by CWGC and the Special Committee on the issue and the next steps to be taken were published on the CWGC website, and the defence secretary Ben Wallace made an official apology in the House of Commons. British Expeditionary Force (World War I) The British Expeditionary Force ( BEF ) was the six divisions the British Army sent to
7000-403: The Frontiers . The massed rifle fire of the professional British soldiers inflicted heavy casualties on the Germans who attacked en masse over terrain devoid of cover. The British held up the German advance until the evening when they began retiring to a second defensive line in the retreat from Mons during which they were engaged in the Battle of Le Cateau . Following the battle at Le Cateau,
7140-409: The German advance. The force was commanded by Field Marshal Sir John French until December 1915, when he was replaced by General Sir Douglas Haig . The BEF's Chief of Staff on mobilisation was General Archibald Murray . He was replaced in January 1915 by General William Robertson . Lieutenant-General Launcelot Kiggell then served as Chief of Staff from December 1915 to January 1917 when he
SECTION 50
#17330845937257280-407: The German right flank. By the end of First Battle of Ypres both sides started to dig in and trench warfare replaced the manoeuvre warfare that had featured during the Race to the Sea . The continuous trench lines of the Western Front now stretched 400 miles (640 km) from the North Sea to the Swiss frontier. The British Army held a small portion of this 400 mile front: from just north of
7420-421: The Germans an early victory. From 13 September the First Battle of the Aisne took place, with both sides starting to dig trenches. Then for a three-week period following the development of trench warfare each side gave up frontal assaults and began trying to encircle each other's flank. This period became known as the Race to the Sea : the Germans aimed to turn the Allied left flank, and the Allies sought to turn
7560-425: The Germans, a captured intelligence report named them "...An exceptionally good assault division ...". The Australian Imperial Force (AIF) was originally supposed to supply 20,000 men organised into one infantry division and one light horse brigade plus supporting units. By the end of the war, the AIF on the Western Front comprised five infantry divisions. The first Australian troops arrived in France in June 1915,
7700-458: The Kaiser has ever been found. Under the terms of the Entente Cordiale the United Kingdom had a diplomatic "understanding" with France to counter military aggression from the German Empire in the European continent. Detailed plans had been made for the British Army in the event of war breaking out between those two countries to dispatch an Expeditionary Force to France which consisted of six infantry divisions and five cavalry brigades under
7840-708: The Red Cross for this purpose. In March 1915, with the support of Nevil Macready , Adjutant-General of the British Expeditionary Force , Ware's work was given official recognition and support by the Imperial War Office and the unit was transferred to the British Army as the Graves Registration Commission. The new Graves Registration Commission had over 31,000 graves of British and Imperial soldiers registered by October 1915 and 50,000 registered by May 1916. When municipal graveyards began to overfill Ware began negotiations with various local authorities to acquire land for further cemeteries. Ware began with an agreement with France to build joint British and French cemeteries under
7980-456: The Republic of South Africa to the United Kingdom, Jeremiah Nyamane Mamabolo; the High Commissioner for India to the United Kingdom, Vikram Doraiswami ; the High Commissioner for Canada to the United Kingdom, Ralph E. Goodale ; Keryn James; Sir Tim Hitchens; Vice Admiral Peter Hudson ; Hon Philip Dunne; Dame Diana Johnson ; Vasuki Shastry; Dame Judith Mayhew Jonas ; Lieutenant General Sir Ben Bathurst ; Air Marshal Sir Stuart Atha . The CWGC
8120-410: The Reserve Corps, it was expanded and renamed the Reserve Army and became the Fifth Army in October 1916. Fifth Army suffered heavy losses during the German spring offensive in March 1918 . It was reformed again in May 1918 under the command of General William Birdwood . The British Army first engaged the German Army in the Battle of Mons on 23 August 1914, which was part of the greater Battle of
8260-421: The Roll of Honour maintained at Westminster Abbey. The majority of the casualties commemorated on the Brookwood 1914–1918 Memorial are servicemen and women identified by the In From The Cold Project as having died while in care of their families and were not commemorated by the Commission at the time. Cemeteries, including those of war dead, are targets for vandalism. The gravestones, cemeteries and buildings of
8400-541: The Second World War and until the German reunification because it was located in an area occupied by Russian forces and was not entirely rebuilt until 2005. The Six-Day War and War of Attrition resulted in the destruction of Port Tewfik Memorial and Aden Memorial, and the death of a Commission gardener at Suez War Memorial Cemetery. During the Lebanese Civil War two cemeteries in Beirut were destroyed and had to be rebuilt. The maintenance of war graves and memorials in Iraq has remained difficult since Iran–Iraq War in
8540-430: The Second World War, coupled with manpower shortages and unrest in some countries, meant that the construction and restoration programmes took much longer. In Albania the graves of 52 of the 54 graves of British SOE personnel had been reburied in Tirana before Major McIntosh from the CWGC Florence base was expelled by the new regime. Three-quarters of the original graves had been in "difficult" or remote locations. Following
SECTION 60
#17330845937258680-456: The Second World War. Commonwealth military service members are commemorated by name on either a headstone, at an identified site of a burial, or on a memorial. As a result, the commission is currently responsible for the care of war dead at over 23,000 separate burial sites and maintenance of more than 200 memorials worldwide. The vast majority of burial sites are pre-existing communal or municipal cemeteries and parish churchyards located in
8820-420: The Somme during the German Spring Offensive . The Second Battle of the Somme represented the BEF response to the German attack. This in turn began the Hundred Days Offensive , which led to the eventual defeat of the German Army on the western front, after the First and Third armies broke through the Hindenburg Line at the Battle of the Canal du Nord . This led to the final battle of the war in November 1918,
8960-598: The United Kingdom, however the commission has itself constructed approximately 2,500 war cemeteries worldwide. The commission has also constructed or commissioned memorials to commemorate the dead who have no known grave; the largest of these is the Thiepval Memorial . The Commission only commemorates those who have died during the designated war years, while in Commonwealth military service or of causes attributable to service. Death in service included not only those killed in combat but other causes such as those that died in training accidents, air raids and due to disease such as
9100-404: The Victoria Cross or George Cross emblem. Sometimes a soldier employed a pseudonym because he was too young to serve or was sought by law enforcement; in such cases his primary name is shown along with the notation " served as" . Some American citizens who served with Commonwealth forces during the Second World War have the notation "Of U.S.A." . Those whose exact burial location within a cemetery
9240-446: The War between 5 August 1914 and 31 December 1915 (other than those who had already qualified for the 1914 Star). The British War Medal was issued to officers and men of British and Imperial forces who had rendered service between 5 August 1914 and 11 November 1918. Officers and men of the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, and Dominion and Colonial naval forces (including reserves) were required to have completed 28 days mobilised service —
9380-414: The War from the Battle of Amiens in August 1918. The New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) under the command of General Alexander Godley was the title of the military forces sent from New Zealand to fight for Britain during the First World War. Upon the outbreak of war, New Zealand immediately offered to provide two brigades — one of infantry and one of mounted troops — a total of 8,500 men. The NZEF
9520-461: The War. The badge, sometimes known as the Discharge Badge, Wound Badge or Services Rendered Badge, was first issued in September 1916, along with an official certificate of entitlement. The British Army during the Great War was the largest military force that Britain had ever put into the field up to that point. On the Western Front , the British Expeditionary Force ended the war as a strong fighting force, more experienced and slightly bigger than
9660-432: The basis of III Corps and the cavalry had grown to form the Cavalry Corps of three divisions. By December 1914, the BEF had expanded to such an extent that the First Army and the Second Army were formed. By the end of 1914, after the battles of Mons , Le Cateau , the Aisne and Ypres , the old regular British Army had suffered massive casualties and lost most of its fighting strength but had managed to help stop
9800-426: The cemetery entrance or in a shelter within the cemetery. More recently, in larger sites, a stainless steel notice gives details of the respective military campaign. The headstones within the cemetery are of a uniform size and design and mark plots of equal size. The cemetery grounds are, except in drier climates, grass-covered with a floral border around the headstones. There is also an absence of any paving between
9940-411: The chairman is the United Kingdom's secretary of State for Defence , John Healey MP , and the vice chairman is Vice Admiral Peter Hudson CB CBE . Claire Horton was appointed Director-General of the CWGC in 2020 The members are: the High Commissioner for New Zealand to the United Kingdom, Phil Goff ; the High Commissioner of Australia to the United Kingdom, Stephen Smith ; the High Commissioner of
10080-460: The command of Fifth Army . Newfoundland in 1914 was not yet part of Canada. The tiny Dominion with a population of only 240,000 raised a force that eventually reached a strength of three battalions to serve in the war. The Newfoundland Regiment deployed to France in March 1916, as part of the 29th Division , after already having served in the Gallipoli Campaign . The Newfoundland Regiment
10220-508: The command of General William Birdwood . After the end of the Gallipoli campaign, the NZEF formed its own infantry division; the New Zealand Division which served on the Western Front from April 1916. It took part in the Battle of Flers-Courcelette , the Battle of Morval , the Battle of Le Transloy , and the celebrated Battle of Le Quesnoy . The New Zealanders were considered exceptional troops by
10360-557: The command of General Sir John French to repel any German attack in the West. The BEF was arranged into I Corps , under the command of General Sir Douglas Haig , and II Corps , under the command of General Sir James Grierson , which embarked for France on 15 August 1914. The Expeditionary Force was given the prefix "British" on the arrival of Expeditionary Force A from the Indian Army. In October 1914, 7th Division arrived in France, forming
10500-507: The commission conducts a twelve-year cyclical inspection programme of Canadian veterans' markers installed at the expense of the Government of Canada . In 2008, an exploratory excavation discovered mass graves on the edge of Pheasant Wood outside of Fromelles . Two-hundred and fifty British and Australian bodies were excavated from five mass graves which were interred in the newly constructed Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery . This
10640-509: The commission to carry out its work assured of support for its principles. The 1920 United States Public Law 66-175 ensured American citizens who were killed while in service of a Commonwealth nation were eligible for burial in national cemeteries in the United States However, the commission made no repatriation policy exception for American citizens and attempts to retrieve loved ones from Commonwealth cemeteries were not supported by
10780-520: The commission's architects. Sir Edwin Lutyens furthered his long-standing working relationship with horticulturist Gertrude Jekyll , whose devotion to traditional cottage garden plants and roses greatly influenced the appearance of the cemeteries. Where possible, indigenous plants were utilised to enhance sentimental associations with the gardens of home. Variety in texture, height and timing of floral display were equally important horticultural considerations. The beds around each headstone are planted with
10920-486: The commission, or won competitions for the Commission memorials, included George Salway Nicol, Harold Chalton Bradshaw , Verner Owen Rees, Gordon H. Holt, and Henry Philip Cart de Lafontaine. In January 1944, Edward Maufe was appointed Principal Architect for the UK. Maufe worked extensively for the commission for 25 years until 1969, becoming Chief Architect and also succeeding Kenyon as Artistic Advisor. Together with Maufe,
11060-571: The commission, with the support of the Red Cross, began to dispatch photographic prints and cemetery location information in answer to the requests. The Graves Registration Commission became the Directorate of Graves Registration and Enquiries in the spring of 1916 in recognition of the fact that the scope of work began to extend beyond simple grave registration and began to include responding to enquiries from relatives of those killed. The directorate's work
11200-555: The condition that cemeteries respected certain dimensions, were accessible by public road, were in the vicinity of medical aid stations and were not too close to towns or villages. Similar negotiations began with the Belgian government. As reports of the grave registration work became public, the commission began to receive letters of enquiry and requests for photographs of graves from relatives of deceased soldiers. By 1917, 17,000 photographs had been dispatched to relatives. In March 1915,
11340-478: The continental weather and were poorly equipped to resist the cold, leading to low morale which was further compounded by the reserve system, whereby reinforcements were drafted in from any regiment and had no affiliation to their new units. Officer casualties were even more of a handicap, as replacements were unfamiliar with the Indian Army and could not speak the language. The infantry divisions were finally withdrawn to Egypt in October 1915, when they were replaced by
11480-571: The continued financial support of the member states: United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India and South Africa. The current and first ever Patron of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission is King Charles III . The current president of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission is Anne, Princess Royal . At the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, Fabian Ware , a director of the Rio Tinto Company , found that he
11620-568: The death except for its date, and even then only if it is known, and are deliberately ambiguous about the cause of death. Due to local conditions it was sometimes necessary for the commission to deviate from its standard design. In places prone to extreme weather or earthquakes, such as Thailand and Turkey, stone-faced pedestal markers are used instead of the normal headstones. These measures are intended to prevent masonry being damaged during earthquakes or sinking into sodden ground. In Italy, headstones were carved from Chiampo Perla limestone because it
11760-585: The design, if extended, would form a sphere 1,801 feet 8 inches (549.15 m) in diameter. Every grave is marked with a headstone . Each headstone contains the national emblem or regimental badge, rank, name, unit, date of death and age of each casualty inscribed above an appropriate religious symbol and a more personal dedication chosen by relatives. The headstones use a standard upper case lettering, Headstone Standard Alphabet, designed by MacDonald Gill . Individual graves are arranged, where possible, in straight rows and marked by uniform headstones,
11900-552: The end of 1914—after the battles of Mons , Le Cateau , the Aisne and Ypres —the existent BEF had been almost exhausted, although it helped stop the German advance. An alternative endpoint of the BEF was 26 December 1914, when it was divided into the First and Second Armies (a Third , Fourth and Fifth being created later in the war). "British Expeditionary Force" remained the official name of
12040-425: The end of 1919, the commission had spent £7,500, and this figure rose to £250,000 in 1920 as construction of cemeteries and memorials increased. By 1921, the commission had established 1,000 cemeteries which were ready for headstone erections, and burials. Between 1920 and 1923, the commission was shipping 4,000 headstones a week to France. In many cases, the Commission closed small cemeteries and concentrated
12180-435: The end of the First World War. Once land for cemeteries and memorials had been guaranteed, the enormous task of recording the details of the dead could begin. By 1918, some 587,000 graves had been identified and a further 559,000 casualties were registered as having no known grave. The scale, and associated high number of casualties, of the war produced an entirely new attitude towards the commemoration of war dead. Previous to
12320-555: The end of the war had suffered 15,000 casualties, with 5,000 killed. The Canadian Expeditionary Force was the designation of the field force created by Canada for service overseas in the First World War. Its major combat formation was the Canadian Corps , which eventually commanded four Canadian infantry divisions. The Canadian Corps' first commander was General Edwin Alderson , who was succeeded by General Julian Byng in 1916, who
12460-532: The end of the war. The Second Army was formed at the same time as the First Army on 26 December 1914. The first commander was Smith–Dorrien promoted from command of the II Corps. In May 1915, Smith–Dorrien was sacked and replaced by General Herbert Plumer . Second Army served in France notably in the Ypres Salient , and later served in Italy between November 1917 and March 1918, then returned to France. The Third Army
12600-514: The experience gained from the First World War, earmarked land for use as cemeteries. When the war began turning in favour of the Allies, the commission was able to begin restoring its First World War cemeteries and memorials. It also began the task of commemorating the 600,000 Commonwealth casualties from the Second World War. As with the First World War, casualties were commemorated with uniform memorials and bodies should not be repatriated. Exceptionally,
12740-570: The first major attack made by the German Army against the lines defended by the CEP troops. On 5 November 1917 the CEP assumed the responsibility for an autonomous sector in the front, under the direct command of First Army . Most of the CEP was destroyed in the Battle of the Lys on 9 April 1918, losing more than 7,000 men. From July 1918, the remaining men of the CEP participated in the final allied offensives under
12880-466: The graves into larger ones. By 1927, when the majority of construction had been completed, over 500 cemeteries had been built, with 400,000 headstones, a thousand Crosses of Sacrifice, and 400 Stones of Remembrance. The commission had also been mandated to individually commemorate each soldier who had no known grave, which amounted to 315,000 in France and Belgium alone. The Commission initially decided to build 12 monuments on which to commemorate
13020-593: The graves. With the help of Edward, Prince of Wales , Ware submitted a memorandum to the Imperial War Conference in 1917 suggesting that an imperial organisation be constituted. The suggestion was accepted and on 21 May 1917 the Imperial War Graves Commission was established by Royal Charter, with the Prince of Wales serving as president, Secretary of State for War Lord Derby as chairman and Ware as vice-chairman. The commission's undertakings began in earnest at
13160-455: The headstone rows which is intended to make the cemetery feel like a traditional walled garden where visitors could experience a sense of peace. However, Carter and Jackson argue that the uniform aesthetics are designed to evoke a positive experience which deliberately masks and sanitises the nature of the war deaths. Typically, cemeteries of more than 40 graves contain a Cross of Sacrifice designed by architect Reginald Blomfield . This cross
13300-404: The inter-war period and after the Second World War, included William Reid Dick , Ernest Gillick , Basil Gotto , Alfred Turner , Laurence A. Turner , Walter Gilbert , Henry Poole , Vernon Hill , Robert Anning Bell , Ferdinand Victor Blundstone , Joseph Armitage, and Gilbert Bayes . Structural design has always played an important part in the commission's cemeteries. Apart from
13440-520: The main Principal Architects for France and Belgium (Baker, Blomfield and Lutyens), there were Principal Architects appointed for other regions as well. Sir Robert Lorimer was Principal Architect for Italy, Macedonia and Egypt, while Sir John James Burnet was Principal Architect for Palestine and Gallipoli, assisted by Thomas Smith Tait . The Principal Architect for Mesopotamia was Edward Prioleau Warren. As well as these senior architects, there
13580-595: The majority of the dead and the sword represents the military character of the cemetery, intended to link British soldiers and the Christian concept of self-sacrifice. Cemeteries with more than 1000 burials typically have a Stone of Remembrance , designed by Edwin Lutyens with the inscription " Their name liveth for evermore " . The concept of the Stone of Remembrance stone was developed by Rudyard Kipling to commemorate those of all faiths and none respectively. In contrast to
13720-496: The medal was automatically awarded in the event of death on active service before the completion of this period. The Victory Medal was issued to all those who received the 1914 Star or the 1914–1915 Star, and to those who were awarded the British War Medal. It was never awarded singly. Women qualified for this and the earlier two medals, for service in nursing homes and other auxiliary forces. The Territorial Force War Medal
13860-475: The military. A committee under Frederic Kenyon , Director of the British Museum , presented a report to the Commission in November 1918 detailing how it envisioned the development of the cemeteries. Two key elements of this report were that bodies should not be repatriated and that uniform memorials should be used to avoid class distinctions. Beyond the logistical nightmare of returning home so many corpses, it
14000-470: The missing; each memorial being located at the site of an important battle along the Western Front. After resistance from the French committee responsible for the approvals of memorials on French territory, the Commission revised their plan and reduced the number of memorials, and in some cases built memorials to the missing in existing cemeteries rather than as separate structures. Reginald Blomfield's Menin Gate
14140-467: The names of seven recipients of the Victoria Cross who have no known grave. Commonwealth War Graves Commission The Commonwealth War Graves Commission ( CWGC ) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations military service members who died in
14280-406: The new British divisions of Kitchener's Army . The South African Overseas Expeditionary Force consisted of the 1st South African Infantry Brigade of four infantry battalions supported by five Heavy Artillery batteries, a Field Ambulance, a Royal Engineers Signal Company and a General Hospital under the command of Brigadier General Henry Lukin . The brigade arrived in France in April 1916, and
14420-456: The other Principal Architects appointed during and after the Second World War were Hubert Worthington , Louis de Soissons , Philip Hepworth and Colin St Clair Oakes . Leading sculptors that worked on the memorials and cemeteries after the First World War included Eric Henri Kennington , Charles Thomas Wheeler , Gilbert Ledward , and Charles Sargeant Jagger . Other sculptors, both in
14560-578: The participation of Commonwealth countries in contemporary conflicts. In the 1970s, during the Troubles , Commission cemeteries in Ireland experienced vandalism. Vandals defaced the central memorial of the Étaples Military Cemetery in northern France with anti-British and anti-American graffiti on 20 March 2003 immediately after the beginning of the Iraq War . On 9 May 2004, thirty-three headstones were demolished in
14700-505: The pre-war Belgium border to the River Somme in France, varying in length from 20 miles (32 km) in 1914, to over 120 miles (190 km) in 1918, in the area commonly known as Flanders . From the end of 1914, and in 1915, BEF attacks centred around the Ypres Salient . Then in September 1915, six divisions took part in the Battle of Loos – notable for the first use of poison gas by
14840-489: The press which ultimately led to a heated debate in Parliament on 4 May 1920. Sir James Remnant started the debate, followed by speeches by William Burdett-Coutts in favour of the commission's principles and Robert Cecil speaking for those desiring repatriation and opposing uniformity of grave markers. Winston Churchill closed the debate and asked that the issue not proceed to a vote. Remnant withdrew his motion, allowing
14980-531: The principles outlined in the Kenyon report. Of these, the Forceville Communal Cemetery and Extension was agreed to be the most successful. Having consulted with garden designer Gertrude Jekyll , the architects created a walled cemetery with uniform headstones in a garden setting, augmented by Blomfield's Cross of Sacrifice and Lutyens' Stone of Remembrance . After some adjustments, Forceville became
15120-605: The public periodically results in the identification of previously buried casualties. The archival records of the commission are open to the public to permit individuals to conduct their own research. In December 2013, it was discovered that Second Lieutenant Philip Frederick Cormack, who was previously commemorated on the Arras Flying Services Memorial, had in fact been buried in a French military cemetery in Machelen , East Flanders in Belgium. Sergeant Leonard Maidment
15260-475: The remains of a Commonwealth soldier from the First or Second World War is discovered the commission is notified, and a Commission burial officer tries to collect any associated artefacts that may help identify the individual. The details are then registered and archived at the commission's headquarters. Evidence used for identification purposes may include artifacts found with the remains, anthropological data and DNA. Investigation of archival records by members of
15400-558: The simplicity of the cemetery designs. Lawn paths add to the garden ambience and are irrigated during the dry season in countries where there is insufficient rain. Where irrigation is inappropriate or impractical, dry landscaping is an ecological alternative favoured by the commission's horticulturists, as is the case in Iraq. Drier areas require a different approach not only for lawns but also to plants and styles of planting. Similarly, there are separate horticultural considerations in tropical climates. When many cemeteries are concentrated within
15540-648: The site of Louverval Chateau in northern France . The memorial lists the 7,048 missing soldiers of the United Kingdom and South Africa who died at the Battle of Cambrai and have no known graves. The memorial was designed by H. Chalton Bradshaw , who also designed the Ploegsteert Memorial to the Missing in Belgium, with sculpture by Charles Sargeant Jagger . It was unveiled on 4 August 1930 by Lieutenant-General Sir Louis Ridley Vaughan . The memorial holds
15680-576: The sixteen per battalion, one for each platoon . At the same time, the Vickers guns and their trained operators were redeployed to specialist companies of the Machine Gun Corps ; one company was attached to each infantry brigade . As well as individual gallantry awards, all members of the BEF qualified for up to three campaign medals. The 1914 Star , the 1914–15 Star , the British War Medal and
15820-452: The template for the commission's building programme. Cost overruns at all three experimental cemeteries necessitated some adjustments. To ensure future cemeteries remained within their budget the Commission decided to not build shelters in cemeteries that contained less than 200 graves, to not place a Stone of Remembrance in any cemetery with less than 400 graves, and to limit the height of cemetery walls to 1 metre (3.3 ft). At
15960-444: The three years following the conclusion of the general search 38,000 bodies were discovered. In the mid-1920s, 20 to 30 bodies were being discovered weekly. The discovery of remains of First and Second World War casualties remains a common occurrence, with approximately 30 bodies discovered annually. For example, in 2006 eight bodies of Canadian soldiers from the 78th Battalion (Winnipeg Grenadiers), CEF were discovered in
16100-624: The two World Wars. The commission is also responsible for commemorating Commonwealth civilians who died as a result of enemy action during the Second World War . The commission was founded by Sir Fabian Ware and constituted through royal charter in 1917 as the Imperial War Graves Commission . The change to the present name took place in 1960. The commission, as part of its mandate, is responsible for commemorating all Commonwealth war dead individually and equally. To this end,
16240-429: The understanding that these would be maintained by the French government. Ware eventually concluded that it was not prudent to leave the maintenance responsibilities solely to the French government and subsequently arranged for France to purchase the land (under the law of 29 December 1915 ), grant it in perpetuity, and leave the management and maintenance responsibilities to the British. The French government agreed under
16380-413: The vast majority of which are made of Portland stone . The original headstone dimensions were 30 inches (76 cm) tall, 15 in (38 cm) wide, and 3 in (7.6 cm) thick. Most headstones are inscribed with a cross, except for those deceased known to be atheist or non-Christian. In the case of burials of Victoria Cross or George Cross recipients, the regimental badge is supplemented by
16520-504: The war dead are commemorated by a name on a headstone, at an identified site of a burial, or on a memorial. War dead are commemorated uniformly and equally, irrespective of military or civil rank, race or creed. The commission is currently responsible for the continued commemoration of 1.7 million deceased Commonwealth military service members in 153 countries. Since its inception, the commission has constructed approximately 2,500 war cemeteries and numerous memorials. The commission
16660-408: The war, the Commission implemented a five-year horticultural renovation programme which addressed neglect by 1950. Structural repairs, together with the backlog of maintenance tasks from before the war, took a further ten years to complete. With the increased number of civilian casualties compared with the First World War, Winston Churchill agreed to Ware's proposal that the commission also maintain
16800-544: Was a team of Assistant Architects who were actually responsible for many of the cemetery and memorial designs. These architects were younger, and many of them had served in the war. The Assistant Architects were: George Esselmont Gordon Leith, Wilfred Clement Von Berg , Charles Henry Holden (who in 1920 became a Principal Architect), William Harrison Cowlishaw , William Bryce Binnie , George Hartley Goldsmith, Frank Higginson, Arthur James Scott Hutton, Noel Ackroyd Rew, and John Reginald Truelove. Other architects that worked for
16940-651: Was a unit of the British Army during the First World War , formed from volunteers from British colonies in the West Indies . Until 1914, British infantry officers still carried swords and the cavalry retained the cavalry sword throughout the war. The other officers' weapon was the revolver, the three most common being the Webley MK V or VI , the Colt New Service and the Smith & Wesson hand ejector . All other ranks in
17080-555: Was also expanded, raising second and third line battalions and forming eight new divisions, which supplemented its peacetime strength of 14 divisions. The Third Army was formed in July 1915 and with the influx of troops from Kitchener's volunteers and further reorganisation, the Fourth Army and the Reserve Army , became the Fifth Army in 1916. The BEF grew from six divisions of British regular army and reserves in 1914, to encompass
17220-681: Was also extended beyond the Western Front and into other theatres of war, with units deployed in Greece, Egypt and Mesopotamia. As the war continued, Ware and others became concerned about the fate of the graves in the post-war period. Following a suggestion by the British Army, the government appointed the National Committee for the Care of Soldiers' Graves in January 1916, with Edward, Prince of Wales agreeing to serve as president. The National Committee for
17360-526: Was assigned to the 9th (Scottish) Division and took part in the Battle of the Somme in July 1916, and on 14 July the Battle of Delville Wood . Of the 3,153 men in the brigade only 750 were left when the brigade was relieved on 20 July. Later in 1917, the brigade took part in the Battle of Arras and in the Third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele). The brigade was destroyed in the 1918 German spring offensive and by
17500-562: Was closely tied to the AIF for much of the war. When the Gallipoli campaign began, the New Zealand contingent was insufficient to complete a division on their own so was combined with the 4th Australian Infantry Brigade to form the New Zealand and Australian Division . This division, along with the Australian 1st Division , formed the famous Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) under
17640-505: Was designed to imitate medieval crosses found in churchyards in England with proportions more commonly seen in the Celtic cross . The cross is normally a freestanding four-point limestone Latin cross , mounted on an octagonal base, and ranging in height from 14 to 32 feet (4.3 to 9.8 m). A bronze longsword , blade down, is embedded on the face of the cross. This cross represents the faith of
17780-531: Was divided into sectors and combed for bodies by 12-man exhumation units. Between the Armistice and September 1921, the exhumation units reburied 204,695 bodies. After 1921, no further comprehensive search for bodies was undertaken, and in February 1921 responsibility for the cemeteries was transferred to the commission. Nevertheless, despite the rigour of the searches, bodies continued to be discovered in large numbers. In
17920-487: Was felt that repatriation would conflict with the feeling of brotherhood that had developed between serving ranks. An article in The Times on 17 February 1919 by Rudyard Kipling carried the commission's proposal to a wider audience and described what the graves would look like. The article entitled War Graves: Work of Imperial Commission: Mr. Kipling's Survey was quickly republished as an illustrated booklet, Graves of
18060-565: Was formed in July 1915, the first commander being General Edmund Allenby promoted after commanding the Cavalry Corps and the V Corps . He was replaced after the battle of Arras in May 1917, by General Julian Byng . The Fourth Army was formed in February 1916, under the command of General Henry Rawlinson . Confusingly, when the Second Army was sent to Italy late in 1917, the Fourth Army
18200-546: Was identified in 2013 after a visitor to Marfaux British Cemetery discovered a headstone of an unknown sergeant with the Hampshire Regiment killed on 20 July 1918, and was subsequently able to show that only one sergeant from that regiment had been killed in France on that date. As of July 2022, the In From The Cold Project has so far identified 7,255 individuals with either unmarked graves or names missing from
18340-430: Was in more plentiful supply. In Struma Military Cemetery, in Greece, to avoid risk of earthquake damage, small headstones are laid flush to the ground. Due to their smaller size, the markers often lack unit insignia. Commission cemeteries are distinctive in treating floriculture as an integral part of the cemetery design. Originally, the horticultural concept was to create an environment where visitors could experience
18480-590: Was in turn succeeded in 1917, by the Canadian General Arthur Currie until the end of the war. They distinguished themselves in battle from the Second Battle of Ypres , through the Somme and particularly in the Battle of Arras at Vimy Ridge in April 1917. Since they were mostly untouched by the German offensive in the spring of 1918, the Canadians were ordered to help spearhead the last campaigns of
18620-458: Was no longer appropriate. In the spirit of strengthening national and regional feelings the organization changed its name to Commonwealth War Graves Commission in 1960. More recent conflicts have sometimes made it impossible for the commission to care for cemeteries in a given region or resulted in the destruction of sites altogether. Zehrensdorf Indian Cemetery in Germany was unkempt after the end of
18760-548: Was only awarded soldiers in the Territorial Force . To qualify, the recipient had to have been a member of the Territorial Force on or prior to 30 September 1914, and to have served in an operational theatre outside of the United Kingdom between 5 August 1914 and 11 November 1918. The Silver War Badge was issued in the United Kingdom to service personnel who had been honourably discharged due to wounds or sickness during
18900-603: Was practically wiped out on the first day of the Battle of the Somme , suffering over 90% casualties. After receiving reinforcements, the Newfoundland Regiment continued to serve on the Western Front until the war's end. In honour of the regiment's service the privilege of adding the prefix Royal to the regiment's name was granted in December 1917, and the regiment was known as the Royal Newfoundland Regiment from that point on. The British West Indies Regiment
19040-571: Was renumbered the Second Army whilst Rawlinson commanded the Ypres Salient. After Plumer's return from Italy Rawlinson spent a period as British Permanent Military Representative at the Supreme War Council at Versailles , but at the start of April he took over the remnants of Gough's Fifth Army after its recent defeat. It was renamed the Fourth Army. The Reserve Army was formed in May 1916, under command of General Hubert Gough . Beginning as
19180-517: Was succeeded by Lieutenant-General Herbert Lawrence . The first two Corps were commanded by Haig (I Corps) and Horace Smith-Dorrien (II Corps). As the Regular Army's strength declined, the numbers were made up, first by the Territorial Force, then by volunteers from Field Marshal Kitchener's New Army . By the end of August 1914, he had raised six new divisions and by March 1915, the number of divisions had increased to 29. The Territorial Force
19320-532: Was the first memorial to the missing located in Europe to be completed, and was unveiled on 24 July 1927. The Menin Gate (Menenpoort) was found to have insufficient space to contain all the names as originally planned and 34,984 names of the missing were instead inscribed on Herbert Baker's Tyne Cot Memorial to the Missing . Other memorials followed: the Helles Memorial in Gallipoli designed by John James Burnet ;
19460-404: Was the first new Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery in more than 50 years, the last such cemeteries having been built after the Second World War. The commission is currently responsible for the continued commemoration of 1.7 million deceased Commonwealth military service members in 153 countries and approximately 67,000 civilians who died as a result of enemy action during
19600-479: Was too old, at age 45, to join the British Army. He used the influence of Rio Tinto chairman, Viscount Milner , to become the commander of a mobile unit of the British Red Cross . He arrived in France in September 1914 and whilst there was struck by the lack of any official mechanism for documenting or marking the location of graves of those who had been killed and felt compelled to create an organisation within
#724275