,the ,graves                            
of the ,fallen                          
,illustration                           
,imperial ,war ,graves ,commission      
,,note4           ,this ,descriptive    
,account of the work of the ,imperial   
,war ,graves       ,commission was      
written by ,mr4 ,rudyard ,kipling at the
 ,commission's       request4 ,the      
,illustrations showing the cemeteries   
and memorials as       they will appear 
when completed are by ,mr4 ,douglas     
,macpherson4                            
,what the ,commission is4      ,the     
,commission consists of3--         ,the 
,secretary of ,state for ,war4          
,the ,secretary of ,state for the       
,colonies4         ,the ,secretary of   
,state for ,india4         ,the ,first  
,commissioner of ,works4         ,the   
,hon4 ,sir ,george ,perley1 ,k4,c4,m4,g4
 7appointed by the ,government       of 
,canada74         ,the ,right ,hon4     
,andrew ,fisher1 ,p4,c4 7appointed by   
the ,government of       ,australia74   

,the ,hon4 ,sir ,thomas ,mackenzie1     
,k4,c4,m4,g4 7appointed by the          
,government of ,new ,zealand74          
,the ,right ,hon4 ,w4 ,p4 ,schreiner1   
,p4,c41 ,k4,c41 ,c4,m4,g4 7appointed by 
the ,government of the ,union of ,south 
,africa74         ,the ,hon4 ,sir ,edgar
 ,bowring 7appointed by the ,government 
of       ,newfoundland74    and the     
following members who accepted the      
invitation to help in this  work1 and   
were appointed by ,royal ,warrant3--    
,sir ,william ,garstin1 ,g4,c4,m4,g41   
,g4,b4,e4         ,mr4 ,harry ,gosling1 
,c4,h41 ,j4,p4         ,mr4 ,rudyard    
,kipling4         ,general ,sir ,c4 ,f4 
,n4 ,macready1 ,g4,c4,m4,g41 ,k4,c4,b4  
,general ,sir ,herbert ,c4 ,o4 ,plumer1 
,g4,c4,b41 ,g4,c4,m4,g41 ,g4,c4,v4,o4   
,admiral ,sir ,edmund ,s4 ,po1          
,g4,c4,v4,o41 ,k4,c4,b4                 
,major-,general ,fabian ,ware1 ,c4,b41  
,c4,m4,g4    ,all letters should be     
addressed to the ,secretary1 ,imperial  
,war ,graves  ,commission1 ,winchester  

,house1 ,st4 ,james's ,square1 ,s4,w4   
#a2 and not to any  individual member of
 the ,commission4      ,its ,history4   
,the origin and development of the      
,imperial ,war ,graves ,commission is   
very  simple4 ,in the first days of the 
war the different armies engaged        
created organisations1 under the        
direction of the ,war ,office1 to       
register1 mark1 and tend the graves of  
,british soldiers1 as well as to  answer
 inquiries from relatives1 and1 where   
possible1 to send them  photographs of  
the graves4 ,later1 a ,national         
,committee was constituted1  which1 on  
the suggestion of the ,prince of ,wales1
 who took a keen  personal interest in  
the work1 was expanded into an ,imperial
 ,commission1  representing the         
,dominions1 ,india1 the ,colonies1 the  
fighting ,services1  ,labour1 the great 
public departments interested1 and the  
,british ,red  ,cross1 which latter had 
supplied1 as it still does to a         
considerable  extent1 the funds for     

photographing and planting the graves4  
,its ,finance4    ,the finance of the   
,commission is ,imperial4 ,all parts of 
the ,empire have  generously and        
unreservedly promised to bear their     
share of the  expenses4 ,the ,imperial  
,war ,conference1 having considered the 
proposals  of the ,commission1 passed   
the following resolution on ,june #ag1  
#aiah3  8,the ,conference desires to    
place on record its appreciation of the 
,labours of the ,imperial ,war ,graves  
,commission1 and is in favour of the    
cost of carrying out the decisions of   
the ,commission being borne by the      
respective ,governments in proportion to
 the numbers of the graves of  their    
dead40    ,illustration3 ,a ,,war       
,,cemetery ,,with ,,permanent           
,,memorials ,,as ,,designed4            
,,the ,,cemeteries4      ,with the      
growth of the war the ,commission's work
 naturally covered every  part of the   
world where the men of the ,empire had  
served and died--from  the vast and     

known cities of our dead in ,flanders   
and ,france to hidden  and outlying     
burial-grounds of a few score at the    
ends of the earth4  ,these              
resting-places are situated on every    
conceivable site--on bare  hills flayed 
by years of battle1 in orchards and     
meadows1 beside  populous towns or      
little villages1 in jungle-glades1 at   
coast ports1 in  far-away islands1 among
 desert sands1 and desolate ravines4 ,it
 would be  as impossible as undesirable 
to reduce them all to any uniformity of 
aspect by planting or by architecture4  
,in a war where the full strength of    
nations was used without respect of     
persons1 no difference could be made    
between the graves of officers or  men4 
,yet some sort of central idea was      
needed that should symbolise our  common
 sacrifice wherever our dead might be   
laid2 and it was realised1  above all1  
that each cemetery and individual grave 
should be made as  permanent as man's   
art could devise4      ,their ,design   

and ,care4    ,the ,commission          
instructed ,sir ,frederic ,kenyon1      
,k4,c4,b41 to report how  these aims    
could best be realised1 and he1 after   
consulting very fully  with the         
relatives1 representatives of the       
,services1 religion and art1  and       
knowing the practical limitations1      
particularly in obtaining labour1  for  
carrying out such a vast undertaking1   
recommended that in each  cemetery there
 should stand a ,cross of ,sacrifice1   
and an altarlike ,stone  of             
,remembrance1 and that the headstones of
 the graves should be of  uniform shape 
and size4 ,stone crosses to succeed the 
temporary wooden  crosses were at first 
suggested1 but crosses of the small size
  necessitated by the nearness of the   
graves to each other do not allow       
sufficient space for the men's names and
 the inscriptions1 and are also  by     
their shape too fragile and too subject 
to the action of frost and  weather for 
enduring use4 ,plain headstones1        

measuring #b ft4 #f in4 by #a  ft4 #c   
in41 were therefore chosen1 upon which  
the ,cross or other  religious symbol of
 the dead man's faith could be carved   
and his  ,regimental badge fully        
displayed4 ,the ,regiments have been    
consulted as  to the designs of these   
badges1 some of which have now been     
approved and  are ready for engraving as
 soon as experiments which are being    
carried  on have shown how to overcome  
the difficulties of dealing with such   
numbers4 ,in due time1 then1 wherever a 
man may be buried1 from ,east  ,africa  
to ,north ,russia1 his headstone will   
carry his ,regimental badge1            
identifiable the world over4    ,besides
 the fighting forces1 provision must be 
made for the graves of  the             
merchant-seamen and discharged men whose
 deaths were due to enemy  action1 for  
,sisters and ,nurses killed or died of  
wounds or disease1 for  ,labour units of
 all races1 and1 indeed1 for all who    
have served in any  capacity in the war4

 ,the distinctive badges of these       
headstones are not  yet all decided     
upon4    ,illustration3 ,,another ,,war 
,,cemetery ,,as ,,designed4             
,illustration3 ,,the ,,cross ,,of       
,,sacrifice4    ,illustration3 ,,the    
,,stone ,,of ,,remembrance4             
,illustration3 ,,specimen ,,of ,a       
,,regimental ,,headstone4               
,inscriptions1 ,registers1 and          
,planning4    ,in addition to the name  
and rank upon the headstone1 the        
,commission feel  that relatives should1
 if they wish1 add a short inscription  
of their  own choice as an expression of
 personal feeling and affection4 ,these 
inscriptions will be at the relatives'  
expense1 and1 to avoid unduly  crowding 
the stones with very small lettering1   
which1 besides being  difficult to read1
 does not weather well1 it has been     
found necessary to  restrict the length 
of the inscription to sixty-six         
letters4,a     ,a ,in counting the      
sixty-six letters1 the space between any

 two words   must be reckoned as one    
letter4    ,every cemetery will keep    
registers of the dead buried there1 and 
in  these registers it is hoped that it 
will be possible1 with the  assistance  
of his kin1 to enter the age1 parentage1
 and birthplace of  each known man4     
,the planning and planting of the       
cemeteries must depend largely on their 
site and the climate of the country1 but
 it is proposed that1 as a  general     
rule1 the cemeteries should have        
buildings designed for  services1       
ceremonies1 and shelter1 where the      
register of that cemetery  will be kept 
under permanent safeguard4 ,to          
recapitulate3--         #a4 ,for each   
,cemetery its ,cross of ,sacrifice and  
,stone of       ,remembrance1 the latter
 bearing the quotation 7,ecclesiasticus 
#dd1       v4 #ad7 8,,their ,,name      
,,liveth ,,for ,,evermore02         #b4 
,for each grave its enduring headstone1 
carved with the symbol of       the dead
 man's faith1 his name and rank1 his    

,regimental badge1 and       whatever   
text or inscription his relatives may   
add2         #c4 ,in the ,cemetery      
building the register in which the man's
       birthplace1 age1 and parentage   
can be recorded and referred to4        
,memorials to the ,missing4    ,this    
matter is naturally of the deepest      
concern to the relatives of  those whose
 bodies have never been recovered or    
identified1 or whose  graves1 once made1
 have been destroyed by later battles4  
,their number is  not small1 and ,sir   
,frederic ,kenyon has suggested that the
 best way to  record their memory would 
be to place a tablet on the walls or    
cloisters  at the cemetery nearest to   
the spot where it is presumed they have 
lost  their lives4 ,in the case of      
officers and men in the ,flying ,corps1 
the  place of whose death could not be  
known within many miles1 the tablet     
might be placed in the cemetery nearest 
to the camp from which they had  started
 on their last flight4 ,but in any case 

relatives may be assured  that the dead 
who have no known resting-place will be 
made equal with  the others1 and that   
each case will be dealt with upon full  
consideration of its merits as regards  
the site and the place of the  memorial4
      ,graves of ,indian ,troops4       
,the symbols of their faith will also be
 carved on the headstones of the        
soldiers of the ,indian ,armies who     
fought beside their comrades from       
,england and throughout the ,empire in  
,france and ,belgium in #aiad-af2 and   
of the ,indian ,labour ,corps who have  
since worked and taken the risks of     
life behind the lines4 ,a committee of  
the ,commission has decided upon  the   
form that these symbols should take1 and
 has further recommended  that a        
,mohammedan mosque and ,hindu temple    
should be erected in ,france  for       
remembrance of the sacrifice made by    
,hindus and ,mohammedans alike in  the  
war4 ,the designs for these buildings   
have been submitted for  approval in    

,india4 ,in all such matters the        
treatment of the bodies of  these       
soldiers will be in strict conformity   
with the practice of their  religions1  
and will be carried out under the       
supervision of native  officers4        
,illustration3 ,,specimen ,,of ,a       
,,regimental ,,headstone4               
,illustration3 ,,specimen ,,of ,a       
,,jewish ,,headstone4      ,treatment of
 ,isolated ,graves4    ,after so many   
years of fighting over densely populated
 and civilised  countries like ,france  
and ,belgium1 it is inevitable that     
there must be  single graves and groups 
in positions where1 when the life of the
 land  goes forward again1 they cannot  
be reached or tended4 ,some lie in what 
were once town or village thoroughfares1
 and will be so again2 others by  the   
side of railway stations and goods      
yards1 houses or factories1 in  arable  
or pasture fields1 parks1 gardens and   
the like4 ,the objections to  leaving   
these graves where they are need not be 

dwelt upon4 ,no  precautions save them  
from being encroached upon or           
obliterated in the  course of time4     
,there is1 moreover1 a strong sentiment 
among all ranks  that such scattered    
graves look lonely1 and the instinct of 
the ,services  demands that those who   
fell by the wayside should be gathered  
in to rest  with the nearest main body  
of their companions4 ,that is what the  
,commission1 with all due care and      
reverence1 proposes to do4      ,removal
 of ,bodies4    ,in view of the enormous
 number 7over half a million7 of our    
dead in  ,france alone1 the removal of  
bodies to ,england would be impossible1 
even  were there a general desire for   
it4 ,but the overwhelming majority of   
relatives are content that their kin    
should lie--officers and men            
together--in the countries that they    
have redeemed4 ,the ,allied nations1    
too1 have freely given their land to our
 dead for ever1 and that offer  has been
 accepted by the ,governments4 ,to allow

 exhumation and removal in  the few     
cases where it has been suggested would1
 it seemed to the  ,commission1 be      
undesirable1 if only on the principle of
 equality1 and1  judging from what many 
gallant fighters have said and written  
before  they in their turn fell1 a      
violation1 in all but a few special     
cases1 of  the desire of the dead       
themselves4      ,battle ,memorials4    
,memorials to commemorate the parts     
borne by particular armies1  divisions1 
or regiments in campaigns and battles1  
such as1 to name only  a few1 the       
,canadians at ,ypres1 the ,south        
,africans at ,delville ,wood1 the       
,australians at ,amiens1 the ,british at
 the breaking of the ,hindenburg  line1 
will be advised upon by a fully         
representative military committee1  and 
it is to be hoped that the best art of  
the ,empire will give its  services and 
advice in the designing of them4        
,suggestions from the ,public4    ,but  
the work so far has only been blocked   

out1 and there is room and  welcome for 
suggestions of every kind from the      
public throughout the  world1 whose     
servants the ,commission are4 ,for      
example1 it has been  suggested that the
 entrance to individual cemeteries      
should carry a text  or inscription1 and
 it has been decided that monuments     
should be erected  to the dead whose    
graves are unknown1 of a special form   
which has yet to  be settled4 ,these are
 points1 among others1 upon which the   
,commission  would be grateful for      
expressions of opinion4      ,the       
,progress of the ,work4    ,meantime1   
the long and difficult business of      
identification and  registration goes   
forward still on all fronts4 ,the       
various architects to  whose charge the 
cemeteries have been allotted are       
preparing their  designs for the        
planting and the building required in   
,france1 and steps  are being taken to  
prepare dignified and characteristic    
designs for our  cemeteries in the ,east

 and elsewhere4 ,all this can be        
effected in  reasonable time2 but there 
is no possibility of expediting the     
delivery  of the headstones4 ,more than 
half a million of these will be         
required1  and at present there is not  
labour enough in all the world to cut1  
carve  and letter them4 ,while they are 
being made the wooden crosses will      
stand1 and1 where necessary1 will be    
renewed2 the registers will be  filled  
and filed1 and the cemeteries will be   
faithfully and reverently  tended4      
,london3 ,,published ,,by ,,his         
,,majesty',s ,,stationery ,,office4 ,to 
be       purchased through any          
,bookseller or directly from ,h4,m4     
,stationery       ,office at the        
following addresses3 ,imperial ,house1  
,kingsway1       ,london1 ,w4,c4 #b1 and
 #bh1 ,abingdon ,street1 ,london1 ,s4,w4
 #a2 #cg1 ,peter       ,street1         
,manchester2 #a1 ,st4 ,andrew's         
,crescent1 ,cardiff2 #bc1 ,forth        
,street1 ,edinburgh2 or from ,e4        

,ponsonby1 ,ltd41 #aaf1 ,grafton        
,street1       ,dublin4                 
,price #f;d4 ,net4