CWGC:Observation

Discussion in 'War Cemeteries & War Memorial Research' started by CL1, Apr 4, 2017.

  1. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    For info
    Having visited a number of UK cemeteries over the years,a few I noticed have screen walls in place of headstones commemorating the casualties.The most recent Hammersmith Old (which is not overgrown at all and is very well maintained and still has a number of headstones in place which are in good condition) and East Ham (which is now fully overgrown and has been turned over as a wild life sanctuary,again there are a number of headstones still in place).
    This led me to enquire with CWGC if their way forward on UK cemeteries is to erect screen walls in place of ageing headstones both CWGC and private and have a central point of commemoration within the cemetery.

    I have come across a number of headstone issues and they are still in the same state a few years after I first reported them.To quantify the condition of the headstones reported vary from broken,weather worn,trees grown through grave,hidden by undergrowth.letters missing.Examples can be found in this thread CWGC Headstone/Memorial Error Reports and results.
    I realise that in the UK due to the large number of cemeteries and graveyards covered ( 13000 locations) the condition of the headstones vary greatly and that CWGC resources are limited to enable a quick fix.


    CWGC reply below

    "Thank you for your e-mail and I'll do my best to help. In short, no.


    To explain and clarify, screen walls are used where we - for whatever reason - are unable to individually mark a casualty's grave with a CWGC headstone. This could be because local cemetery regulations prohibit us from doing so or, as is sometimes the case, war casualties are buried en masse, making it impossible for us to erect an individual grave."
    I hope that this information is helpful.
     
    BereniceUK, Buteman and Recce_Mitch like this.

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