Your guide to Brookwood Military Cemetery: Commonwealth War Graves’ largest UK site

How well do you know Brookwood Military Cemetery? Discover the history and future of our largest UK cemetery, and the service personnel commemorated here today.

Brookwood Military Cemetery

What is Brookwood Military Cemetery?

Image: The myriad headstones at CWGC's Brookwood Military Cemetery

Brookwood Military Cemetery is the largest Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery in the United Kingdom.

The cemetery was established during the First World War and later expanded to include burials from the Second World War.

Brookwood holds many instantly recognisable CWGC cemetery features, not least the rows of identical headstones, marking the Commonwealth casualties buried here. 

You’ll also spot Sir Reginald Blomfeld’s Cross of Sacrifice and Sir Edwin Lutyen’s Stone of Remembrance amidst the war graves. In fact, Brookwood Military Cemetery features two of each feature; one for each of the World Wars.

Within the grounds of Brookwood Military Cemetery lie two memorials: The Brookwood 1914-1917 Memorial and the Brookwood 1939-1945 Memorial.

The former commemorates those who died in Military service in the UK during the First World War but whose bodies were never recovered. The 1914-1918 Memorial is on the cusp of a major overhaul, thanks to ongoing recovery and identification work, which promises an exciting, sustainable new future.

The Brookwood 1939-1945 Memorial commemorates those who died at sea, in raids on occupied Europe, or while on service outside the main theatres of war. Among those honoured on this memorial are special agents who lost their lives while operating in enemy territory.

Where is Brookwood Military Cemetery?

Image: The Brookwood 1939-1945 Memorial 

Brookwood Military Cemetery is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery located in Surrey, England, United Kingdom.

It is roughly 30 miles or so outside of London but is easily accessible by road and rail (M3 to Bagshot and then A322).

In fact, in the cemetery’s early days, special trains used to carry casualties for burial directly out of London to Brookwood. There is a direct train service from Waterloo to Brookwood Station, from which there is an entrance to the cemetery.

Brookwood Cemetery is open from 08.00–19.30 on weekdays, 09.00–19.30 on weekends.

Who is commemorated at Brookwood Military Cemetery?

Image: The Czechoslovakian plot, just one of the many commemorating non-Commonwealth servicemen at Brookwood.

With over 5,000 Commonwealth burials, Brookwood Military Cemetery is the United Kingdom’s largest CWGC cemetery. Roughly 1,600 date from the First World War, with just over 3,400 coming from the Second World War.

All branches of the armed forces are represented among the headstones and war graves at Brookwood.

War dead from all six of our member governments (the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, India, South Africa, and New Zealand) are commemorated here, acting as powerful reminders of the human cost incurred by all nations during the World Wars.

But did you know there are many other non-Commonwealth nationalities buried here, too? 

Around 800 personnel from France, Italy, Germany, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Poland, and other nationalities are buried here. 

Look out for their unique headstones. Each nation has its own design, making them easily identifiable.

Some 460 American soldiers lie within Brookwood American Cemetery. Started following the First World War, the American Cemetery at Brookwood was one of eight such sites established by US authorities in Europe and remains an important point of remembrance for American service personnel. Today, it is cared for by the American Battlefield Monuments Commission.

A further 560 or so American servicemen are commemorated on the walls of the small chapel within the American cemetery.

If you follow a small footpath past the maple trees standing sentinel over the Canadian plot, you’ll emerge into a small, quiet space revealing one of Brookwood’s secrets. Here, Chelsea Pensioners, veterans of the Royal Hospital, lie peacefully beneath the trees. 

Chelsea Pensioners were buried in the old Brookwood cemetery in the late 1800s, and burials continued well into the 20th Century. Over 1,000 Chelsea Pensioners lie in this little-known plot.

Brookwood Military Cemetery: The History

Image: Crowds gather for the unveiling of the Brookwood 1939-1945 Memorial, October 1958

London’s rapid expansion in the early-to-mid-19th Century led to insufficient burial space for those who had died. A series of citywide cholera outbreaks turned the problem into a crisis. 

It was decided in the 1850s to create a cemetery large enough to hold all of London’s foreseeable future dead. More than 2,000 acres of land were acquired near Woking, Surrey, some 30 miles outside of London, and Brookwood Cemetery was begun.

A portion of the original civilian cemetery was given over for military use in 1917.

Soldiers who succumbed to their wounds in London’s military hospitals were often buried in local burial grounds, cemeteries, or churchyards. In 1916, the Governments of the Dominions instructed their Military Administrative Headquarters to halt this practice.

Instead, land was acquired at Brookwood to hold London’s war dead.  The Dominions selected adjoining plots and arranged for Dominion soldiers dying in hospitals within 25 miles of Trafalgar Square to be sent for burial in Brookwood.

On 11 July 1917, an agreement was made between the London Necropolis Company and the Chief Engineer of the London District, for British soldiers dying in the London area to also be buried at Brookwood, and ground adjoining the Dominion plots was chosen.

When the Commission was created in 1917, it was originally tasked with marking and maintaining war graves overseas only. We had no responsibility or funding for war graves within the UK. 

Brookwood Military changed all that. 

At the 3rd Commission Meeting in July 1918, it was reported that the Brookwood Cemetery Committee had recommended that uniform headstones should be used to mark the graves of all soldiers buried in the cemetery. 

Because of this, the Commission appointed a second Committee to investigate the marking of war graves in the UK as a whole. Commission literary advisor and one of the most famous authors of his era, Rudyard Kipling, was appointed as one of the Commissioners.

A little under a year later, this Committee reported back its findings, recommending that the Commission take on the responsibility for war graves in the UK, including Brookwood. 

At that time, the Commission was exceptionally busy. Work to locate and identify the fallen on battlefields around the world was in full swing. Handling war graves in the UK caused misgivings among some senior Commission staff, not least Founder and Vice Chairman Sir Fabian War, who commented:

“I do not want it. We are overwhelmed with work, and I do not know how we are going to do it, but we have to do it”

The CWGC officially assumed responsibility for marking and maintaining war graves in the UK at their 12th meeting in May 1919.

While it is often said that all roads lead to Rome, in this case, all CWGC cemeteries in the UK lead to Brookwood.

Brookwood Military Cemetery today

Image: One of our gardeners hard at work, ensuring Brookwood remains a peaceful burial place for the fallen of the World Wars

Today, Brookwood remains our largest and probably best-known site in the UK. It has become a focal point for commemoration, particularly around Remembrance. We hold many events and ceremonies there, including our recent "An Evening at Brookwood" concert series.

Our teams lovingly care for the war graves here, ensuring the cemetery remains a peaceful, beautiful garden of serenity. However, we are also facing some big challenges and changes, not least the effects of global warming and climate change. 

Sustainability and eco-friendly features are being worked into our care and maintenance plans. Our staff use environmentally-friendly techniques and equipment to ensure the cemetery is kept spick and span all year round.

Brookwood 1914-1918 Memorial: A memorial reimagined

Image: The new Brookwood 1914-1918 Memorial 

A fresh phase of commemoration is happening at Brookwood Military Cemetery. We are building a brand-new memorial commemorating those who died in the United Kingdom and Ireland during the First World War and currently have no known final resting place.

The original Brookwood 1914-1918 Memorial honoured some of these individuals. However, as ongoing research has revealed more names to commemorate, and the final resting places of others commemorated on the previous memorial were identified, it became clear that a new memorial was needed.

400 service personnel will be commemorated on the new memorial at first. As research progresses, additional names will be added, with space available for up to 1,200 names. 

At the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, we know our work is never truly done. We remain committed to ensuring that every individual we commemorate is remembered.

Visit the Brookwood 1914-1918 Memorial page for more information and updates as the project progresses.

Stories from Brookwood Military Cemetery

Here is a small selection of stories of those who rest in Brookwood Military Cemetery.

Captain Erskine Robert Eaton

Image: Captain Erskine Robert Eaton

Erskine Robert Eaton was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, as the fourth of five children to Robert and Hazel Eaton.

The Eatons were a military family. Robert was an Honorary Colonel in the Governor-General’s Body Guard, for example. Two of his brothers served; John was a major with the 5th Canadian Armoured Division, while his younger brother was a Lieutenant in the 3rd Reserve Armoured Regiment. Sister Margaret was a Major in the Canadian Women’s Army Corps.

Erskine attended the University of Toronto Schools as well as the Royal Military College of Canada. He was a well-known horseman and obtained a commission in the Governor-General’s Body Guard. Such was Erskine’s prowess on horseback, he was selected as a member of the Canadian Army team competing in the 1938 Dublin Horse Show.

At the outbreak of the Second World War, Erskine was working at the Montreal branch of the T. Eaton Co. He immediately volunteered for active service, joining the 1st Battalion, Les Fusiliers de Mont-Royal.

Erskine initially served as the regiment’s Transport Officer, before attending a company commander’s course in early 1940. He also served as an intelligence officer of the 5th Brigade. He was gazetted in the spring of 1942, becoming second in command of ‘D’ Company.

On 10 August 1942, the Les Fusiliers de Mont-Royal were part of the ill-fated Dieppe Raid. Erskine’s unit landed on the beach immediately below Dieppe and prepared to fight their way into town.

During the main assault, Captain Eaton was wounded. He was transported back to England, where he sadly succumbed to his wounds, aged 27.

Ensign Denise Madeleine Bloch

Image: Ensign Denise Madeleine Bloch

Denise Madeleine Bloch, a French citizen, served as an agent for the Special Operations Executive (SOE).

Born into a Jewish family in Paris in 1916, Bloch’s life took a perilous turn with the Nazi occupation of France in 1940. Evading persecution as Jews, Bloch and her family lived a clandestine existence, using false identities, until seeking refuge in Lyon.

In Lyon, Bloch worked with French Resistance and SOE agents as a courier. Despite being hunted by the Germans, Bloch crossed over the Pyrenees into Spain. She made her way to London and contacted SOE headquarters. 

After extensive training, Madeleine was dropped back into France, conducting sabotage and spying missions against the Nazi occupation force.

The net sadly closed in on Madeleine, and she was arrested in June 1944. Imprisoned and interrogated, Bloch endured transfer to various prison camps before meeting her fate in Ravensbrück concentration camp. Alongside fellow SOE agents Violette Szabo and Lilian Rolfe, Bloch faced execution in early 1945.

Bloch is commemorated on the Brookwood Memorial to the Missing. Her story stands as a poignant reminder of the courage displayed by those who served with the SOE.

Major Oliver Hogue

Image: Major Oliver Hogue (Australian War Memorial)

Oliver Hogue was born on 29 April 18880 in Sydney, Australia. He was the sixth of ten children. Following the outbreak of the Great War, Oliver enlisted as a Trooper in the 6th Australian Light Horse and by November had earned a commission. He was promoted to Second Lieutenant and became Aide-de-Camp to 2nd Light Horse Brigade HQ.

With the 2nd Light Horse, Hogue went to Gallipoli in May 1915. Rather than fight from their mounts, the Aussies dismounted, as utilising cavalry correctly would be near impossible in Gallipoli's plunging valleys and craggy buffs. He served as Orderly Officer to the Brigade Commander during the brutal campaign. 

Amid the hardship, Oliver started writing about his experiences as “Trooper Blugegum”, offering honest, eye-opening and often humorous insights into the soldier’s life.

In October 1915, Oliver fell ill with enteric fever and was evacuated to the United Kingdom. After several months of recovery, he returned to active service in May 1916, re-joining the 6th Light Horse. By this time, his unit had returned to Egypt, where it fought at the Battle of Romani, halting the Ottoman advance into Egypt.

In November 1916, Oliver was transferred to the Imperial Camel Corps. He was promoted to Captain in July 1917. He took part in several major engagements, including Madghaba, Rafa, Tel el Khuweilfe, and Musallabeh, and the first trans-Jordan raid to Amman.

In 1917, Oliver led the “Pilgrim’s Patrol”: a daring expedition of fifty cameleers and two machine-guns across the Sinai Desert to Jebel Musa to collect surrendered Ottoman rifles from Bedouin tribes. His leadership and resourcefulness earned Oliver many plaudits and respect among his men.

By Mid-1918, as camels were phased out of operations, the corps was converted into regular cavalry. Hogue was promoted again in July, reaching the rank of Major. He was given command of a squadron of the 14th Australian Light Horse Regiment.

At the capture of Damascus in September 1918, his unit played a critical role in cutting off the retreating Ottoman Army. His men occupied a small house at the edge of a gorge and poured fire into the retreating Ottomans.

In January 1919, following the Armistice, Oliver was granted leave and returned to the UK. Sadly, he contracted influenza, which developed into pneumonia. He was admitted hospital but passed away on 3 March 1919, aged 38.

Discover Brookwood Military Cemetery with the For Evermore App

Our new mobile app is now available!

The For Evermore app offers virtual and in-person tours for selected sites such as Brookwood Military Cemetery. We've put together several tours of Brookwood with specific themes for you to explore, either digitally or in person.

You can also read the stories of some of the brave men and women who fell in the World Wars, who are featured on our For Evermore platform.

Download the app today and explore these tours for yourself.