Yvette Cooper MP visits Pontefract Cemetery ahead of Volunteers’ Week to discover the human stories behind the headstones

The Rt Hon Yvette Cooper, MP for Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley and Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, visited the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s (CWGC) Pontefract Cemetery on Friday (29 May) on the eve of Volunteers’ Week (1-7 June 2026) to discover the hidden human stories behind the headstones and the volunteers who help care for them.

Pontefract Cemetery is the final resting place of 70 First and Second World War casualties. Across the site, extraordinary stories are hidden in plain sight – etched into headstones that many people pass every day. Behind each stone is a life, a family, and a story of service and sacrifice.

Interested in discovering some of these remarkable stories and meeting the people who care for the headstones, Yvette Cooper was given a private tour of the cemetery by Gareth Crossman and Elizabeth Smith from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Together they explored the personal histories behind several of the headstones, revealing moving local connections, and the important role volunteers play in preserving both the headstones and the human stories they represent.

One such story was that of Private Arthur Lewin, who served with the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (KOYLI).

Wounded during the Battle of the Somme, he was sent for hospital treatment but sadly died of his wounds on 12 October 1916. 

His loss came just months after the death of his older brother, Private Albert Edward Lewin of the York and Lancaster Regiment, who was killed on 3 July 1916 during the same battle and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial in northern France.

Another poignant story explored during the tour was that of Private Beatrice May Fowler, one of around 250,000 women who served in the Auxiliary Territorial Service during the Second World War. From Pontefract, she was just 22 years old when she died.

Her headstone bears the words: “She did not shun her country’s call. She was loved by us and respected by all.”

During the visit, Yvette Cooper met Laura Burbridge, a trained local CWGC volunteer. Laura, who cares for war graves as part of the Commission’s ‘Eyes On, Hands On’ volunteering programme, demonstrated the meticulous headstone cleaning process.

Commenting on the visit, Gareth Crossman, Head of Government Relations and Public Affairs at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, said: 

“We were honoured to welcome the Secretary of State to our Pontefract Cemetery and share some of the stories of courage, loss and resilience that are part of the community’s history yet often go unnoticed in everyday life. Our responsibility is not only to care for these places of remembrance, but to ensure the stories behind them continue to be discovered, understood and passed on for generations to come.

“Volunteers’ Week provides a great opportunity to highlight the valuable contribution our trained volunteers make to the Commission’s work. Through their dedication, they help us not only care for these sites but also bring these stories to light for local communities and future generations. Since launching our Eyes On, Hands On programme in 2019, we’ve recruited and trained more than 2,000 volunteers across the UK to support our work at over 12,500 locations.”

CWGC volunteers support with inspecting and cleaning scattered headstones, delivering inspiring talks and tours or supporting the Commission’s archives team. They play an important role in uncovering, caring for and sharing the stories behind the graves in their local communities. 

To find out more about volunteering with the CWGC, visit our Volunteering page.