The silent cities

The Origins of the War Cemeteries of France and Belgium

The war cemeteries that lie scattered across the fields of Northern France and Belgium owe their existance to the determination and hard work of one man, Sir Fabian Ware.

Deemed too old for military service, Ware worked commanding a unit of the Red Cross, and was deeply concerned that the dead should have their resting places properly marked and indexed to enable relatives after the War to be able to find the resting places of their dead.

From humble beginnings, Ware used his phenomenal skills of diplomacy and influence to ensure the full cooperation of the Governments of the Commonwealth, and enabled the Imperial War Graves Commission to be created. By the end of 1916 his motley band had catalogued and recorded the resting places of over 50,000 graves throughout France and Belgium. Ware had very clear ideas about how he wanted the cemeteries to be laid out. In company with his team, three cemeteries were created to a specific design, and following consultation with his team of architects and horticulturalists the final design for the war cemeteries was agreed.

The Imperial War Graves Commission produced a charter in 1917, which laid down the following principles for all war cemeteries:

Each of the dead shall be commemorated by a name on a headstone or on a memorial

Headstones and Memorials should be permenant

Headstones should all be of uniform design

There should be no distinction between rank, race or creed

The cemeteries:

As has been mentioned previously all headstones are of uniform size and shape with no distinction between rank, so a Brigadier would be commemorated with an identical headstone to a private.

In general the headstones are made of Portland stone, and all measure 2'8" tall, 1'6" wide and 3" deep. In some cemeteries where the ground is unstable , headstones are laid flat on the ground, and in Gallipoli heastones consist of a small plinth laid on an angled base. There are some cemeteries in France and Belgium, where underground tunnelling has made the ground unstable, requiring headstones to be laid flat.

Cemeteries containing more than 40 graves have a "Cross of Sacrifice", designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield. This cross standing on an octagonal plinth carries a downward pointing bronze sword and stand between 18 and 32 feet high.

Cemeteries containing more than 1000 graves contain a "Stone of Remembrance" which is a two tonne block of stone standing atop two steps bearing an insciption taken from the Book of Ecclesiastes "Their name liveth for evermore". This inscription was chosen by Rudyard Kipling.

The inscriptions:

Each headstones bears engraved onto it as much detail as was known about the person buried beneath. Generally this included a regimental badge, number, rank, name, date of death, and any decorations the man might have won.

Beneath this is a stylised cross, and at the bottom is an epitaph of no more than 60 characters, chosen by the family.

Winners of the Victoria Cross have an engraving of the medal on the headstone. Jewish headstones have a Star of David engraved on them. Families had the right to request that no religous symbols be placed onto headstones so it is not uncommon to see headstones without a cross on.

The unknown dead

The unknown dead found on the battlefields were also given headstones bearing the simple words "A soldier of the Great War, Known Unto God". If there was any identification found with the body (for example nationality or regiment) this is also recorded for example "A Canadian Soldier of the Great War"

I have photographed over 500 variations on "A ******* of the Great War"

It is not uncommon to find numerous unknown soldiers buried in a single grave. The most I have seen in one grave is 22 unknown soldiers.