Aftermath - The Incredible Story of the CWGC's Role after the First World War

This Commonwealth Day (11 March) the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is urging people to pay tribute to those servicemen and women who are buried far from home.

The nationwide tribute, Far From Home, Not Forgotten, is aimed at encouraging communities to discover and remember the stories of Commonwealth casualties whose war graves may be found in local cemeteries and churchyards

Liz Woodfield, CWGC’s Director of Information and Communications, explained; “Thousands of Commonwealth servicemen and women who died during and after the First World War were buried far from home – their graves a lasting legacy of the extraordinary displacement caused by the war and the unified effort, service and sacrifice of our Commonwealth of Nations. No matter where they died, or how they died, CWGC remember them.

“This Commonwealth Day we are encouraging people to seek out their local Commonwealth war graves and say a simple thank you to those who came from so far and gave so much.

“We believe the remarkable stories of these men and women illustrate the diversity of the Allied war effort, and that this simple tribute, which we want people to share on their social media channels using the hashtags #FarFromHome #CommonwealthDay will show that we, as a grateful nation, have not forgotten their service or their sacrifice.”

For some, the Armistice on 11 November 1918 was not the end of their fight. Tens of thousands of Commonwealth servicemen and women continued to serve – from the Arctic wastes of northern Russia to the deserts of modern day Iraq.

Members of the public can discover more about their remarkable stories on a specially created website at www.cwgc.org/aftermath and share the stories of their own Commonwealth Day tributes via the CWGC’s social media channels using @CWGC

Far From Home, Not Forgotten is part of wider CWGC initiative to encourage the public to engage with the stories of the war dead in their hometowns.

Unlike on the European continent, there are very few dedicated war cemeteries in the CWGC home countries. Instead, the vast majority of war graves will be found in ones and twos in churchyards, burials grounds and private cemeteries.

In a new social media campaign CWGC is asking for the public’s help to remember these men and women.

To take part people, people can find their nearest war grave simply by entering their postcode on the CWGC website at: https://www.cwgc.org/find/find-nearby-cemeteries Then visit the grave, take a photo and post them onto Facebook, Twitter or Instagram