25 September 2020
Five things you didn’t know about CWGC
You might think you know everything there is to know about the CWGC but as Peter Francis, Media and PR Executive, discovers there might be a couple of things you hadn’t realised about the work of the Commission across the globe.
It has often been said that the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is unique. Having worked here for many years I can confirm that – not least because there are some unusual things about our much-loved organisation which you may not know.
Even after all this time, I’m still learning, and that’s just one of the things that makes working for CWGC such a rewarding and fascinating job.
Here are my five surprising things about CWGC that you may not know. I hope you enjoy them.
We were the first. #WeWereFirst
The Imperial (now Commonwealth) War Graves Commission was the very first of the war grave organisations.
It is difficult for those of us who have become familiar with the cemeteries and memorials that commemorate our war dead to appreciate what a revolutionary idea remembrance (as we now know it) and therefore the Commission was in 1918. What the Commission was doing during and in the immediate aftermath of the First World War was extraordinary. No template existed for the task of commemorating the dead on such a mammoth scale. Everything we now take for granted, every facet of remembrance, had to be worked out, debated, costed and delivered.
And so, the Commission, founded by Royal Charter in 1917 thanks to the vision of Fabian Ware, became the very first of the war grave organisations. Today, there are many others but nearly all were modelled on the CWGC.
Within our archive, for example, exists fascinating correspondence between Ware and the American General, John Pershing, which enabled our sister organisation, The American Battle Monuments Commission, to come into being.
We speak many languages. #WeAreCWGC
The CWGC is a truly global organisation – working to care for war graves at 23,000 locations in more than 150 countries and territories. And looking after that global estate is a multinational and multilingual workforce numbering approximately 1,300.
Although English is the dominant business language of CWGC, you may be surprised at the sheer number of languages spoken by our teams.
In our Africa and Asia Pacific Area, our colleagues encompass 21 different nationalities and 31 languages. In our Mediterranean Area there are another 16 nationalities and eight languages. Needless to say, communicating with everyone poses a few logistical issues, but nothing that cannot be overcome.
And despite our many languages and individual national identities, working for CWGC does feel a little like working for one global family.
No matter where we are, what accent we have, or what language we speak, we are all dedicated to the task of commemoration.
We have graves in Timbuktu. #ToTheFourCorners
One of the remotest war grave sites in our care must be Timbuktu (Tombouctou) Cemetery in Mali – and not just remote but, at first glance, rather confusing too. Within this small cemetery are two war graves to Merchant Seamen, even though Timbuktu is thousands of kilometres away from the sea!
Able Seamen John Turnbull Graham (died on 2 May 1942, age 23) and Chief Engineer William Soutter (died on 28 May 1942, age 60) were part of the crew of the S.S. Allende – a merchant vessel that sank off the coast of West Africa in March 1942. The crew were first sent to Freetown in Sierra Leone and then on to Timbuktu – where they were held as prisoners of war
The day we broke the internet! #WarGravesOnline
Well, perhaps not entirely, but almost.
It was 1998 and the superfast broadband and whizzy website designs of today were the things of dreams. But increasing computerisation and the spread of reliable home internet prompted a decision which would change the way we work. To launch our casualty war records online.
In a blaze of publicity, with First World War veterans as our guests of honour, we flicked the switch at Canada House in London. The world’s press reported the momentous occasion and for the next four days, you couldn’t get an outside line from our Head Office in Maidenhead as the public jammed our switchboard to either enquire of our website address or to register their appreciation!
Not only that, but our poor bit of the world wide web just couldn’t cope. As our traffic figures knocked the BBC and Royal websites off the number one and two slots, our website, and indeed our entire hosting centre, fell over!
But not for long, and ever since, the public has welcomed the improved accessibility of our war records.
Some of our best gardeners are sheep! #OurWorkContinues
Well, they are not really CWGC gardeners, or on the payroll (and my two legged horticultural colleagues are the real stars of our gardening operation) but since 2001, a herd of up to 400 sheep have been used to maintain large areas of the terrain surrounding the Canadian National Vimy Memorial in France.
These woolly wonders gently graze this historic site – keeping the grass short without damaging the landscape. They are also perfectly suited to the undulating nature of the battlefield, with its preserved shell holes and trenches. Where a human, pushing a lawnmower would struggle, they just munch away with barely a care in the world.
If you particularly liked one (or more) of these facts, why not share your favourite with us on social media?