National cemeteries, British -- Belgium; National cemeteries, British -- France; Soldiers' monuments
The Commission instructed Sir Frederic Kenyon, K.C.B., to report how
these aims could best be realised, and he, after consulting very fully
with the relatives, representatives of the Services, religion and art,
and knowing the practical limitations, particularly in obtaining labour,
for carrying out such a vast undertaking, recommended that in each
cemetery there should stand a Cross of Sacrifice, and an altarlike Stone
of Remembrance, and that the headstones of the graves should be of
uniform shape and size. Stone crosses to succeed the temporary wooden
crosses were at first suggested, but crosses of the small size
necessitated by the nearness of the graves to each other do not allow
sufficient space for the men’s names and the inscriptions, and are also
by their shape too fragile and too subject to the action of frost and
weather for enduring use. Plain headstones, measuring 2 ft. 6 in. by 1
ft. 3 in., were therefore chosen, upon which the Cross or other
religious symbol of the dead man’s faith could be carved and his
Regimental badge fully displayed. The Regiments have been consulted as
to the designs of these badges, some of which have now been approved and
are ready for engraving as soon as experiments which are being carried
on have shown how to overcome the difficulties of dealing with such
numbers. In due time, then, wherever a man may be buried, from East
Africa to North Russia, his headstone will carry his Regimental badge,
identifiable the world over.
Besides the fighting forces, provision must be made for the graves of
the merchant-seamen and discharged men whose deaths were due to enemy
action, for Sisters and Nurses killed or died of wounds or disease, for
Labour units of all races, and, indeed, for all who have served in any
capacity in the war. The distinctive badges of these headstones are not
yet all decided upon.
[Illustration: ANOTHER WAR CEMETERY AS DESIGNED.]
[Illustration: THE CROSS OF SACRIFICE.]
[Illustration: THE STONE OF REMEMBRANCE.]
[Illustration: SPECIMEN OF A REGIMENTAL HEADSTONE.]
_Inscriptions, Registers, and Planning._
In addition to the name and rank upon the headstone, the Commission feel
that relatives should, if they wish, add a short inscription of their
own choice as an expression of personal feeling and affection. These
inscriptions will be at the relatives’ expense, and, to avoid unduly
crowding the stones with very small lettering, which, besides being
difficult to read, does not weather well, it has been found necessary to
restrict the length of the inscription to sixty-six letters.[A]
[A] In counting the sixty-six letters, the space between any two words
must be reckoned as one letter.
Every cemetery will keep registers of the dead buried there, and in
these registers it is hoped that it will be possible, with the
assistance of his kin, to enter the age, parentage, and birthplace of
each known man.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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