The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC)

It became clear early in the war that the large numbers of casualties would need to be recorded consistently. The Imperial (later Commonwealth) War Graves Commission led by Sir Fabian Ware was set up to keep track of burials, build up records and look after the war dead.

Many decades after the end of the World War 1, the CWGC looks after the 1.7 million war casualties who died in the service of Commonwealth forces throughout the world, in both World Wars.

The Somme has over 410 cemeteries with the graves of Commonwealth soldiers. Dates of deaths recorded on the headstones relate to each year of the war, with a peak for the summer and autumn months of 1916. As with all Commonwealth War Graves Commission sites, each one is individually designed, although all follow the same basic design elements; and all are regularly maintained with great care and respect by teams of gardeners and stonework specialists. Their appearance often echoes the wish of their original designers that they should recall ‘an English garden’ set in the French landscape.

The individual headstones give the name (and often the age) of the man buried there, with his rank and number, military unit and regimental badge. Usually a cross, Star of David or other religious emblem is shown; and in very many cases a brief personal inscription is carved at the foot of the stone, chosen by the dead man’s family. All the victims are treated as equal in death, with no distinction made between the different military ranks.

British cemetery in Corbie

Each of the many men whose bodies could not be identified also has his own grave. They all have the same plain statement, a phrase chosen by the writer Rudyard Kipling (whose only son was killed in action and whose body was only identified decades later): ‘A Soldier of the Great War, Known Unto God’.

The cemeteries are remarkable places to visit, with a quiet but powerful atmosphere. Many visitors come to see the grave of a family forebear, or to see where men from a local unit remain ‘in perpetuity’. Modern technology has added to the number of visitors, as wider computer use and growing interest in researching family history has encouraged more people to seek out graves of family members or those identified on a local war memorial.

The burial plots with their matching rows of white headstones, with flowers or small shrubs planted along the rows, form a line across the landscape that reflects the battle lines of 1914-1918.

Apart from the smallest cemeteries, all have the same white stone cross designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield and white Stone of Remembrance carved with Rudyard Kipling’s choice of phrase: ‘Their name liveth for evermore’. Equally, except where there is no surrounding wall, each one has its own register of graves, description of the construction and planting, and a visitor’s book to sign. Signatures are deeply appreciated, both by those who maintain the cemeteries and by other visitors with personal links to the site; comments such as ‘A visit to my grandfather’s grave’ or ‘Remembering’, and frequently the identification of the grave sought out, show the strength of feeling encountered here.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission is a unique organisation, government funded but operating independently of any other institution. Many of its original gardeners and maintenance workers were Commonwealth soldiers who remained in France, or returned after the World War 1, to care for their comrades in death.

Visits: the Commonwealth military cemeteries are always open, and most have some parking space at the roadside. Each one is indicated from the nearest road with a dark green sign. Where the site lies away from the road, a grass path is kept clear of farm crops to allow access at all times.