Lovingly tended, immaculate cemeteries with beautiful
memorials – fitting tributes to our war dead – are something that we tend to
take for granted these days.
However, the concept of the War Graves Commission is owed to one man – Major General
Sir Fabian Arthur Goulstone Ware, KCVO, KBE, CB, CMG.
During the First World War, Ware was too old to fight
so instead he commanded a mobile Red Cross unit on the Western Front. He was appalled at the number of
casualties and his unit began to record all the graves they came across. In 1915, this initiative was
officially recognized by the British Government and was incorporated into the
British Army as the “Graves Registration Commission”.
Ware wanted his work to reflect the sacrifice of all
the nations that helped Britain during WW1 and, with the encouragement of the
Prince of Wales, who was himself a soldier on the Western Front during WW1, the
Imperial War Graves Commission was set up with a Royal Charter.
The Commission demanded
very high standards for its work. Three of the most famous architects of that
time - Sir Edwin Lutyens, Sir Herbert Baker and Sir Reginald Blomfield - were
chosen to design and build cemeteries and memorials. Rudyard Kipling was
given the task, as its literary advisor, to advise the Commission with regard
to inscriptions.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission has an
enormous task as there are official graves all over the world. If you want to find out details of
where a family member killed during a war is commemorated, all you have to do
is visit the Commission website - http://www.cwgc.org/
Thank you to all those who work at The Commonwealth
War Graves Commission – especially those who tend the graves and keep the
cemeteries in trim – you are doing a wonderful job.
