Commonwealth war graves

DH and I visited a number of war graves in various areas a long time ago and felt overwhelmed by their numbers. We too visited the Menin Gate and I couldn't stop the tears.

A Verdun visitor here, along with the children, graves as far as you could see, so very sad and poignant. One thing I did notice it was so silent,not even a bird singing.

We went on a coach tour of France and Belgium and visited lots of cemeteries, seeing all the white head stones line up up after another broke my heart. We also visited Menin Gate. The Flanders Field poem is one of my favourites. Below is a photo of Flanders Field.

We have visited the Allied war cemeteries on the River Kwai in Thailand and the one at Souda Bay on Crete. Both absolutely stunning, so peaceful and so beautifully kept, I certainly had a tear in my eye. The cemetery in Souda looks out over the most beautiful bay and is on land donated by the Greek government as a gesture of thanks and they contribute towards its upkeep. As there is a NATO base on the island there is a special service of thanksgiving in the Souda cemetery every year on Remembrance Sunday.

I too have been to the cemetery at Cassino. My father fought in that terrible battle but survived. He once told me that he could never go back there. I was on holiday in Sorrento when I saw the trip to Cassino advertised. I didn’t realise that I was that close and I’m so glad that I went. It was some years after my father had died so sadly I couldn’t tell him about it. I cried silently in the coach all the way back to our hotel even though I had no grave to visit there.

We were touring France some years ago when we came across the cemetery at Etaples and went in. It was so moving. It was immaculate, beautifully kept. Such young men. There were brothers buried side by side.

My husbands hobby is military history.
He takes small tailored tours to the WW1 and WW2 battlefields.

Since being small our children have visited many famous sites and cemeteries across the Somme and Normandy.
We still go and visit my husband’s Uncle who died just after D Day, he is in a small cemetery near Caen.

Tyne Cott is the cemetery that always sends shivers down my spine, we have however sat in some lesser known more remote places and had a picnic, said a quiet prayer and it’s felt the right thing to do.
We once sat at the Butte de Warlencourt earring our picnic it is a famous battlefield that was a German stronghold.
A group of British A level students arrived with their teachers, the proceeded to take it in turns to stand and read out different war poems.
It was a very poignant time, not a dry eye in the house.

Until you have seen the many hundreds of acres of France covered in the pristine white headstones that mark the resting place of so many brave men and boys ( the youngest being Reginald Earnshaw, 14 ) then you will never fully understand the sacrifices made.

We have attended the Menin gate ceremony many times, it never fails to bring a tear.

Here’s my granddaughter laying a poppy on the grave of her great Uncle.

My village in Norfolk has a Commonwealth War Grave - there are several German airmen buried alongside our own servicemen, all respectfully cared for. It's a thought provoking spot.

My daughter and family have just returned from the Netherlands where they visited the grave of my long dead father. He was in Bomber Command and and was shot down over Oosterhout just before Christmas 1942. All the family have visited and all of us have found it a humbling experience. There were 7 crew members, the youngest, the rear gunner, just 18 years old. I also have a paternal ??cousin from WW1 whose name is on the Menin Gate at Ypres. Also a second cousin who died of wounds in 1945, received in North Africa in 1943. War is so dreadful and yet still we seem incapable of avoiding it.

Kim19 This is because, whereever they are, these cemeteries are looked after by the War Graves Commission.

Whereever you go you will find british gardeners tending these graves.

When we went down to Marseilles to visit my grandfather's grave, the cemetery there was pristine, even though it is now ina pretty rough area of that city, the peace and beauty had a special silence that seemed to stop the noise of a busy city making it over the walls.

The cemetery truly represents the commonwealtth. most of the burials are of Indian soldiers, some with one name only. Then there is a substaantial number from the Royaal West Indies regiment, aircrew from WW2, nurses and chaplains to alls ervices.

Large and small graveyards and memorials are all around us here in Normandy, including our village where the fighting in the campaign took place in August, near to the end. The dead are honoured twice a year on November 11th and May 8th in ceremonies led by the Maire and people of the village; we will have special ceremonies in August this year.

A corner of our local cemetery is laid out with war graves, so many of them without a name, so sad. I exist because my mum's fiancé was killed in WW2 and my mum went on to marry my dad.

A few years ago when OH was due to go to Iraq on business I suggested he visit my grandfather’s grave in Baghdad. I rang the Commonwealth War Graves people and they told me which cemetery he was buried in and which section etc. OH contacted the British Embassy in Baghdad and someone accompanied him to the cemetery. He took photos of the grave which I showed to my aunts - my father and his mother had died years before. I still have copies of the handwritten letters which my grandfather’s commanding officer wrote to the family after his death.

A few of my ancestors served and one of them is also remembered at Thiepval and also listed at the war memorial in Canberra. My Dad was in the Air Force, Second World War and saw a lot of action. I mourn them and what they died for and sometimes think it has all been forgotten,the way things are today. There is a lot of anti British sentiment and it really upsets me.

What I found so moving (and still do) was the pristine state of these cemeteries that I visited in France irrespective of size. From the tiniest to the largest, each grave always looked as though it had been attended/manicured only minutes before. Somewhat overwhelming every time I think of it but oh.... such beautiful simplicity.

summerfly
this is the same small cemetery where my great uncle is buried who died in April 1918 aged 18. We have visited a couple of times. It was the last German push to try to take back control of a tiny area of land. We have taken flowers a couple of times here. Very moving.

About ten years ago my husband and I visited Ypres staying for a week before heading to Brussels where I had worked for a year in 1974.

Based in Ypres we visited many of the grave sites and a house where Allies were hidden underneath in tunnels. We stood at the Menin Gate where a trumpeter plays the Last Post every evening at 8pm. A great uncle of my husband has his name inscribed on the memorial at the Menin Gate.
So humbling. Everywhere is beautifully maintained. Such respect.

My uncle is buried in a Commonwealth war grave in a small village cemetery in Gascony which I visited a few years ago. He's the only one. He was washed up on the beach some months after his aircraft went down in the sea.

I went to a little cemetery just outside Ypres where my great uncle is buried. His story was never told in the family until my mum began revealing snippets and we found him. She was so happy and proud and so were we when we finally laid flowers on his grave. Next to him was a young Irish soldier 'known only to God.' I put a flower on his too, and we spoke to the gardener who had been caring for those graves for years.
Then we went to the Menin Gate and it made me think what a ridiculously crazy place that was- like a massive memorial to a kind of collective madness.
I have no desire to go back- it is just too much to try and understand why so many died...

Back in my camper van days we spent a week along the Normandy coast exploring all the war graves and memorials. I found it incredibly moving and sad at the loss of life.
If only we could stop all this from still happening.

Another Ypres visitor here. We visited Tyne Cot, where I knew my great uncle was buried (I have the govt letter to my great aunt telling her about giving them all proper graves and where his was. Dated 1929?), little graveyards with perhaps a dozen headstones and Langemark, the German cemetery. We visited a few war cemeteries every day we were there. I always got the book of names, addresses and next of kin out, and looked for a couple of soldiers from areas I knew, found their graves and left a stone.
Obviously any graveyard is a sad place, but the important thing was that those lads weren't forgotten.
I like the peace of a cemetery, and if I walk through one now, will always keep an eye open for a war grave. The CWGC do a great job keeping the graves looking loved.

When we were on holiday in Italy many years ago DH and I visited the cemetery at Monte Casino. It was beautiful but very sad.

I visited my Uncle’s grave in Ghent. It was very well kept, as are all CWGC graves. They do a wonderful job. Many people voluntarily clean local war graves too.

I’ve been to Bethune cemetery, in Pas de Calais. It’s small in comparison to other places. My ex husband’s grandfather is buried there. He served from 1914 right through until August 1918. Didn’t quite make it to the end. I sobbed reading all the headstones. Young lads their lives wasted.

We've been to many, some to pay respects to family members.

One relative contracted skin cancer while serving abroad in WW2. He died in London and has a CWG in the City of London cemetery.

There are many in our local cemetery, some from recent conflicts, as the area has had an army garrison for years as well as military hospital.

They are all atmospheric and poignant.

My favourite is in Malta where we have a great uncle buried. Simple but beautiful. The taxi driver refused payment and even found flowers for us to lay.