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 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 Fabian Ware and constituted through Royal Charter in 1917 as the Imperial War Graves Commission. The Imperial War Graves Commission amended its name to its present name in 1960.

The Commission, as part of its mandate, is responsible for commemorating all Commonwealth war dead individually and equally. To this effect, the war dead are commemorated by name on either a headstone, at an identified site of a burial, or on a memorial. War dead are commemorated in a uniform and equal fashion, irrespective of military or civil rank, race or creed.

The Commission is currently responsible for the continued commemoration of 1.69 million deceased Commonwealth military service members in 150 countries. Since its inception, the Commission has constructed approximately 2,500 war cemeteries and numerous memorials. The Commission 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 the continued financial support of the member states: United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India and South Africa. The current President of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission is Prince Edward, Duke of Kent.

First World War


On the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, Fabian Ware, a director of the Rio Tinto Company, found that at 45 he was too old 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 the organisation within 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 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 the understanding that these would be maintained by the French authorities. Ware eventually concluded that it was not prudent to leave the maintenance responsibilities solely to the French and subsequently arranged for the French to purchase of the land and leave the management and maintenance responsibilities to the British. The French agreed under 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 are started with the Belgians.

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, and by 1917 seventeen-thousand photographs had been dispatched to relatives. In March 1915, the commission, with the support of the Red Cross, began to dispatch photographic prints and useful locational 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 was also extended beyond the Western Front and into other theatres of war, with units deployed in Greece, Egypt and Mesopotamia.

Formal establishment


As the war continued, Ware and others became concerned about the fate of the graves in the post-war period. Upon the suggestion by the British Army, the National Committee for the Care of Soldiers Graves was appointed by the British government in January 1916, with Edward, Prince of Wales agreeing to serve as president. The National Committee for 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 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 under Royal Charter. The suggestion was accepted and on 21 May 1917 the Imperial War Graves Commission was established by Royal Charter, with Edward, 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 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. 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 was felt that repatriation would conflict with the feeling of brotherhood that had developed between all serving ranks.

The commission's proposal was brought to a wider audience through a 17 February 1919 The Times of London article by Rudyard Kipling, who had himself lost a son during the war, in which he described what the graves would look like. The article titled War Graves: Work of Imperial Commission: Mr. Kipling’s Survey was quickly republished as an illustrated booklet, Graves of 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 immediate public outcry following the publications of the reports, particularly with regards to the decision to not repatriate corpses. The reports generated considerable discussion in 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. The debate was closed by Winston Churchill who asked that the issue not proceed to a vote. Remnant withdrew his amendment, allowing the Commission to carry out its work assured of support for its principles.

First cemeteries and memorials to the missing
Three of the most eminent architects of their day, Sir Herbert Baker, Sir Reginald Blomfield, and Sir Edwin Lutyens were commissioned to design the cemeteries and memorials. 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 the principles outlined in the Frederic Kenyon report. Of these, the Forceville Communal Cemetery and Extension was agreed to be the most successful. Having consulted with garden designer Gertrude Jekyl, 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 the template for the Commission's building program. Adjustments were required because all three experimental cemeteries went over budget. To ensure future cemeteries remained within their budget the commission decided to withhold placing shelters within cemeteries that contained less than a 200 graves, withhold placing a Stone of Remembrance in any cemetery with less than 400 graves and limit the height of cemetery walls to one meter.

At 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 CWGC had established 1,000 cemeteries which were ready to receive bodies. Between 1920 and 1923, the CWGC was shipping 4,000 headstones a week to France. In many cases small cemeteries were closed and the graves concentrated in 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 that 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 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 and in some cases built memorials to the missing in existing cemeteries.

Reginald Blomfield's Menin Gate was the first memorial to the missing to the memorial located in Europe to be completed, and was unveiled 24 July 1927. On completion the Menin Gate was discovered to be too small to contain all the names as originally planned and 34,984 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 Burnet; the Thiepval Memorial on the Somme and the Arras Memorial designed by Edwin Lutyens; and the Basra Memorial in Iraq designed by Edward 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 the Beaumont-Hamel Memorial by Newfoundland.

The programme of commemorating the Empire 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. An 'exceptional delay' was the unveiling of the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial in 1938, the year before the outbreak of the Second World War.

Second World War
From the start of the Second World War in 1939, the Commission had a graves registration unit. 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 a record of Commonwealth civilian war deaths. This book, containing the names of nearly 67,000 men, women and children, has been kept in Westminster Abbey since 1956. When the war began turning toward the Allies favour, the Commission was able to begin restoring its 1914–1918 cemeteries and memorials to their pre-war standard. So too, it began the task of commemorating the 600,000 Commonwealth casualties from the Second World War. In 1949, the commission completed Dieppe Canadian War Cemetery, the first of 559 new cemeteries and 36 new memorials. Eventually, over 350,000 new headstones were erected. Many were made from Hopton Wood stone. The wider scale of the Second World War, coupled with manpower shortages and unrest in some countries, meant that the construction and restoration programs took much longer. Following the Second World War, the CWGC implemented a five-year horticultural renovation programme. The horticultural neglect was largely addressed by 1950 but there were necessary structural repairs to be made. These, together with the backlog of maintenance tasks from before the war, took a further 10 years to complete and the programme was not completed until the 1960s.

Burial sites and memorials
The Commission is currently responsible for the continued commemoration of 1.69 million deceased Commonwealth military service members in 150 countries and approximately 67,000 civilians who died as a result of enemy action during 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 cemeteries located in 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.

Qualifications for inclusion
The Commission only commemorates those who have died during the designated war years, while in Commonwealth military service or of causes attributable to service. 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 World War I is official end of the war, while for World War II the Commission selected a date approximately the same period after VE Day as the official end of 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 than 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.

Architects and sculptors
As well as 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 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 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, the other Principal Architects appointed during and after World War II were Hubert Worthington, Louis de Soissons, Philip Hepworth and Colin St Clair Oakes.

Leading sculptors that worked on the memorials and cemeteries after World War I included Eric Henri Kennington, Charles Thomas Wheeler, Gilbert Ledward, and Charles Sargeant Jagger. Other sculptors, both in the inter-war period and after World War II, 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.

Common architectural design features
Structural design has always played an important part in the Commission's cemeteries. A typical cemetery is surrounded by a low wall or hedge and with a wrought-iron gate entrance. For cemeteries in France and Belgium, a land tablet near the entrance or along a wall identifies the cemetery grounds as having been provided by the French or Belgian governments. In all but the smallest cemeteries, a register containing 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 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.

Cross of Sacrifice and Stone of Remembrance


Typically, cemeteries of more than 40 graves contain a Cross of Sacrifice designed by architect Reginald Blomfield. This cross was designed to imitate medieval crosses found in cemeteries 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. A bronze broadsword, blade down, is embedded on the face of the cross. This cross represents the faith of 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", developed by Rudyard Kipling to commemorate those of all faiths and none. The geometry of the structure was based on studies of the Parthenon. Each stone is 3.5 metres long and 1.5 metres high. The shape of the stone has been compared both to that of a sarcophagus and an altar.

Headstones
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 designed by MacDonald Gill. Individual graves are arranged, where possible, in straight rows and marked by uniform headstones, the vast majority of which are made of Portland stone. The original headstone dimensions were 76 cm tall, 38 cm wide, and 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 recipients, the regimental badge is replaced by the Victoria Cross emblem. Sometimes a soldier employed a pseudonym because they were too young to serve or were sought by law enforcement; in such cases their second name is shown along with the notation "served as". 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 is "A Soldier of the Great War known unto God". Some headstones contain the text "believed to be buried in this cemetery" when they are believed to be buried in the cemetery but the exact location of the grave within the cemetery is not known. In some cases soldiers were buried not in individual graves but collective graves and distinguishing one body from another was not possible and thus one headstone covers more than one grave.

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 Struma Military Cemetery, in Greece, to avoid risk of earthquake damage, small headstones are laid flat on the ground. The smaller size of the markers mean that they lack unit insignia.

Horticulture
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 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 was not unfamiliar to 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 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 the simplicity of the cemetery designs. Lawn paths add to the garden ambiance, 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 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.

Commissioners
The affairs of the CWGC are overseen by a Board of Commissioners. The president of the board is Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, The chairman is United Kingdom Secretary of State for Defence Philip Hammond and the vice-chairman Air Chief Marshal Joe French. The members are: the High Commissioner for New Zealand to the United Kingdom Lockwood Smith, the High Commissioners of Australia to the United Kingdom Mike Rann, the High Commissioner of the Republic of South Africa to the United Kingdom Zola Skweyiya, the High Commissioner for India to the United Kingdom Jaimini Bhagwati, the High Commissioner for Canada to the United Kingdom Gordon Campbell, Hew Strachan, Keith Simpson, Kevan Jones, Vice-Admiral Tim Laurence, Edward Chaplin, Ros Kelly and Lieutenant General Bill Rollo. Alan Patman-Jones is the Director-General of the CWGC and serves as secretary. The board also has an Honorary Artistic Adviser, Peter Inskip.

Functional structure
The CWGC is headquartered in Maidenhead, England. The worldwide affairs of the organisation are managed by offices or agencies which are each responsible for a specific geographical area. They are:


 * 1) France Area is headed by a director and is responsible for France (including the island of Corsica). Monaco and Switzerland.
 * 2) Northern Europe Area, headed by a director and responsible for Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Sweden.
 * 3) United Kingdom Area, headed by a director and responsible for Channel Islands, Faroe Islands, Iceland, Ireland, Isle of Man and the United Kingdom
 * 4) Mediterranean Area headed by a director and responsible for Albania, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Azores, Bahrain, Canary Islands, Croatia, Gibraltar, Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, Israel and Palestine, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Macedonia, Madeira, Malta, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Portugal, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Spain, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Yemen
 * 5) Canadian Agency is headed by a secretary-general and responsible for Canada, the entire Americas (including the Caribbean)
 * 6) Australia, managed by the Office of Australian War Graves in the Australian Department of Veterans Affairs on behalf of the CWGC, is responsible Australia, Norfolk Island, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands
 * 7) New Zealand, managed by the New Zealand Ministry of Culture and Heritage on behalf of the CWGC, is responsible for New Zealand, New Caledonia, Samoa, Society Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu
 * 8) South Africa Agency is headed by a secretary and is responsible for South Africa and Namibia
 * 9) Outer Areas is headed by a director and is responsible for areas not covered by any of the other bodies.

Financing
The CWGC's work is funded predominantly by grants from the governments of the six member states. In the fiscal year 2011/12, these grants amounted to £57 million of the organisation's £64 million of incoming resources. This equates to an approximate cost of US$Canada per commemorated war dead. The contribution from each country 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 78.4%, Canada 10.1%, Australia 6.1%, New Zealand 2.1%, South Africa 2.1% and India 1.2%.

Vandalism
Accusations of vandalism of Commission war graves were levelled at Nazi Germany after their victory in the Battle of France. On 2 June 1940, Adolf Hitler visited the Vimy Memorial to show that it had not been vandalised or destroyed by German troops.

Vandals defaced the central memorial of the Etaples Military Cemetery in northern France with anti-British and anti-American graffiti on 20 March 2003 immediately after the beginning of the Iraq War, leading to condemnation by Timothy Reeves, then CWGC Director of France Area. The many war graves that the Commission looked after in Iraq were left to fall into disrepair after Saddam Hussein banned the Commission from visiting the graveyards after the first Gulf War. On 9 May 2004 thirty-three headstones were demolished in the Gaza cemetery, which contains 3,691 graves, allegedly in retaliation for the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal. In November 2008, nineteen headstones at the Wagga Wagga War Cemetery were desecrated by vandals. On 1 April 2009 the nineteen headstones were restored at a cost of A$7,500, with A$10,000 reward on offer for information leading to the conviction of those responsible for the attack. In late March 2009, vandals desecrated eight headstones at the Albury War Cemetery, in Albury, New South Wales. On 24 February 2012, an Islamist militia rampaged through the Benghazi war cemetery and damaged over 200 headstones, as well as the central memorial.

Current projects
A project is underway to photograph the graves of and memorials to all service personnel from 1914 to the present day and make the images available to the public. The work is being carried out by The War Graves Photographic Project in conjunction with the CWGC. As of August 2013, the project has recorded 1.7 million photographs for posterity. Since 2005, the CWGC Agency in South Africa has maintained, on behalf of the Ministry of Defence in the United Kingdom, the cemeteries and graves of those who died during the Second Boer War.