20 September 2023
COMMONWEALTH WAR GRAVES COMMISSION (CWGC) “DELIGHTED” BY UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE STATUS INSCRIPTION
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) today expressed its delight at the decision of the UNESCO World Heritage Council in Riyadh to inscribe 51 Commonwealth war cemeteries and memorials with World Heritage Status.
The inscription is part of a wider initiative to inscribe Funeral & Memorial Sites of the First World War (Western Front) with UNESCO World Heritage Status.
The proposal was sponsored by the Belgian (Flanders and Wallonia) and French states, and in total includes 139 locations connected with WW1.
Director General of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Claire Horton CBE, said: “We are thrilled that a significant number of our iconic cemeteries and memorials along the former Western Front have been awarded World Heritage Status.
“In recognising the Outstanding Universal Value of these places of memory – places that commemorate the sacrifice of those of many nations, faiths, and ethnicities – the proposal acknowledges CWGC’s century plus stewardship of all the cemeteries and memorials to a standard of excellence. World Heritage Status also recognises the global importance of these Silent Cities to ongoing commemoration of the war dead and brings with it significant and tangible benefits – not least the opportunity to engage wider and more diverse audiences.
“We are grateful to both the Belgian and French delegations for their sponsorship of the proposal and for their consultation and engagement with us throughout the process, and we look forward to working with all our partners to give “those silent witnesses to the desolation of war” the voice they deserve.”
The full list of sites inscribed are: | ||
1st D.C.L.I. Cemetery, The Bluff | French National Necropolis of La Fontenelle | Louverval Military Cemetery & Cambrai Memorial |
Aisne-Marne American Cemetery and Memorial | French National Necropolis of La Forestière | Menin Gate Memorial |
Apremont German War Cemetery | French National Necropolis of La Harazée | Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery and Memorial |
Australian National Memorial Villers-Bretonneux Memorial & Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery | French National Necropolis of Lagarde | Military cemetery & Russian chapel of Saint-Hilaire-le-Grand |
Bayonet trench | French National Necropolis of Le Sourd & German Military Cemetery of Le Sourd | Military squares of Robermont |
Beaumont Hamel (Newfoundland) Memorial & 29th Division Memorial, Commonwealth Memorial Park Beaumont Hamel (Newfoundland) Memorial Park & Hunter's Cemetery | French National Necropolis of Les Tiges | Mill Road Cemetery |
Bedford House Cemetery | French National Necropolis of Maize | Monument irlandais Island of Ireland Peace Tower |
Belgian Military Cemetery in Oeren | French National Necropolis of Moosch | Monument national canadien The Brooding Soldier |
Belgian Military Cemetery of Houthulst | French National Necropolis of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette | Mud Corner Cemetery |
Berks Cemetery Extension and Ploegsteert Memorial to the Missing | French National Necropolis of Pierrepont | Neuville-Saint-Vaast Czechoslovak War Cemetery |
Braine Danish Military Cemetery | French National Necropolis of Prisoners of Effry | Nieuport Memorial |
Buff's Road Cemetery | French National Necropolis of Riche | No Man's Cot Cemetery |
Buttes New British Cemetery | French National Necropolis of Saint-Thomas en Argonne and French National Necropolis of the Gruerie Ossuary Monument | Noyelles-sur-mer Chinese Cemetery & Chinese Memorial |
Canadian Cemetery No. 2 | French National Necropolis of Silberloch, French National Monument & Hartmannswillerkopf Crypt | Orée de la Forêt French Military Cemetery |
Canadian National Vimy Memorial | French National Necropolis of the 28th Brigade La ferme des Wacques | Pierrepont German War Cemetery |
Chestres German Military Cemetery and Chestres French National Necropolis | French National Necropolis of the Foreign Legion Monument-Ossuary (Henri Fansworth) | Plateau French Military Cemetery |
Cimetière militaire du Commonwealth Larch Wood Cemetery | French National Necropolis of the Opera | Ploegsteert Wood Military Cemetery |
Neuve-Chapelle Memorial | French National Necropolis of the Targette & La Targette British Cemetery | Polygon Wood Cemetery |
Consenvoye German Military Cemetery | French National Necropolis of the Trottoir | Portuguese Military Cemetery of Richebourg-l'Avoué |
Crypt of the Yser Tower | French National Necropolis of Thiescourt & Thiescourt German Military Cemetery | Pozières British Cemetery & Pozières Memorial |
Dud Corner Cemetery and Loos Memorial | French National Necropolis of Wettstein | Prowse Point Military Cemetery |
Enclosure of the executed in Tamines | French National Necropolis, German Military Cemetery & Polish Military Cemetery of Bois du Puits | Rancourt German War Cemetery |
Essex farm cemetery | French National Prisoner-of-War Cemetery in Sarrebourg | Rancourt Military Cemetery |
Etaples Military Cemetery | French ossuary monument of Haute-Chevauchée | Rifle House Cemetery |
Faubourg D'Amiens Cemetery, Arras Memorial and Arras Flying Services Memorial | French Ossuary of Mount Kemmel | Romanian Military Cemetery in Soultzmatt |
Fort du Loncin | French Ossuary of Navarin: monument to the dead of the Armies of Champagne | Saint-Quentin German War Cemetery & Saint-Quentin Franco-German Monument |
Fort of Douaumont | French ossuary, French national necropolis, Israelite monument and Muslim monument of Douaumont | Saint-Symphorien German and Commonwealth Military Cemetery |
Franco-German military cemetery of Radan | French square of civilian victims of Gerbeviller | Set of stelae and ancient German and French individual tombs of Petit Donon |
French communal cemetery & French chapel of Mondement-Montgivroux | French stele of the executed of Fleury-devant-Douaumont | Solesmes Road German Military Cemetery & Cambrai East Military Cemetery |
French Memorial Ghosts | Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery | South Africa (Delville Wood) National Memorial and Delville Wood Cemetery |
French Memorial of the Battles of the Marne | German monument in St. Charles Cemetery | Spanbroekmolen British Cemetery |
French Military Cemetery Germania | Givenchy Road Canadian Cemetery | St. Mihiel American Cemetery and Memorial |
French Military Cemetery Saint-Charles de Potyze | Gobessart German War Cemetery | Strand Military Cemetery |
French military square of the dead of 11 November 1918 of Vrigne-Meuse | Hedge Row Trench Cemetery | Thiepval Memorial & Thiepval Anglo-French Cemetery |
French National Necropolis & French Memorial Chapel of Rancourt | Hellenwald German War Cemetery | Toronto Avenue Cemetery |
French National Necropolis & German Military Cemetery of Crouée | Hohrod-Bärenstall German War Cemetery | Track X Cemetery |
French National Necropolis Duchesne | Hyde Park Corner Cemetery | Tyne Cot Cemetery and Memorial |
French National Necropolis La Grande Tombe de Villeroy | Italian Military Cemetery de Bligny | Uhlans German Military Cemetery |
French National Necropolis of Assevent & German Military Cemetery of Assevent | Kahm German War Cemetery | V.C. Corner Australian Cemetery and Memorial |
French National Necropolis of Cerny-en-Laonnois, German Military Cemetery of Cerny-en-Laonnois and Memorial Chapel of the Chemin des Dames | La Belle Motte French Military Cemetery | Veslud German War Cemetery |
French National Necropolis of Chambière | Lagarde German War Cemetery | Vladslo German War Cemetery |
French National Necropolis of Compiègne (Royallieu) | Langemark German War Cemetery | Welsh Cemetery (Caesar's Nose) |
French National Necropolis of Craonnelle | Le Quesnoy communal Cemetery extension | White House German Military Cemetery |
French National Necropolis of Cuts | Lichfield Crater | Wimereux communal cemetery |
French National Necropolis of Faubourg Pavé | Lijssenthoek military cemetery | Woods Cemetery |
French National Necropolis of Hope | Lone Tree Cemetery | |
French National Necropolis of La Chipotte | Louvencourt Military Cemetery |