Commonwealth War Graves Commission - Burial Sites and Memorials

Burial Sites and Memorials

See also: List of total Commonwealth War Graves Commission burials by country and List of Commonwealth War Graves Commission World War I memorials to the missing in Belgium and France

The Commission is currently responsible for the continued commemoration of 1.69 million deceased Commonwealth military service members in 150 countries and approximately 67,000 civilians who died as a result of enemy action during the Second World War. Commonwealth military service members are commemorated by name on either a headstone, at an identified site of a burial, or on a memorial. As a result, the Commission is currently responsible for the care of war dead at over 23,000 separate burial sites and maintenance of more than 200 memorials worldwide. The vast majority of burial sites are pre-existing communal cemeteries located in the United Kingdom, however the Commission has itself constructed approximately 2,500 war cemeteries worldwide. The Commission has also constructed or commissioned memorials to commemorate the dead who have no known grave; the largest of these is the Thiepval Memorial.

The Commission only commemorates those who have died during the designated war years, while in Commonwealth military service or of causes attributable to service. The applicable periods of consideration are 4 August 1914 to 31 August 1921 for the First World War and 3 September 1939 to 31 December 1947 for Second World War. Civilians who died as a result of enemy action during the Second World War are commemorated differently than those that died as a result of military service. They are commemorated by name through the Civilian War Dead Roll of Honour located in St George’s Chapel in Westminster Abbey. In addition to its mandated duties, the Commission maintains, under arrangement with applicable governments, over 40,000 non-Commonwealth war graves and over 25,000 non-war military and civilian graves.