A war grave is a burial place for members of the armed forces or civilians who died during military campaigns or operations. The term does not only apply to graves: ships sunk during wartime are often considered to be war graves, as are military aircraft that crash into water. Classification of a war grave is not limited to the occupier's death in combat, but includes soldiers who die while in active service: for example, during the Crimean War, more soldiers died of disease than as a result of enemy action.
A common difference between cemeteries of war graves and those of civilian peacetime graves is the uniformity of those interred. They generally died during a relatively short period, in a small geographic area and consist of service members from the few military units involved.
In the United Kingdom, 67 ship wrecks and all underwater military aircraft are protected as war graves under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 which imposes restrictions on their exploration and marine salvage.
Rupert Brooke's poem, The Soldier - "If I should die, think only this of me: / That there's some corner of a foreign field / That is for ever England", is a patriotic poem about the possibility of dying abroad during a war. Brooke is himself buried in a war grave on Skyros in the Aegean Sea, having died whilst en route to fight in the Gallipoli Campaign.
The War Graves Photographic Project, founded in 2008, aims to create an archive of names and photographs of all Commonwealth military graves and memorials from 1914 to the present day.
Famous quotes containing the words war and/or grave:
“We only know war lasts, rain soaks, and clouds sag stormy.”
—Wilfred Owen (1893–1918)
““Promise me solemnly,” I said to her as she lay on what I believed to be her death bed, “if you find in the world beyond the grave that you can communicate with me—that there is some way in which you can make me aware of your continued existence—promise me solemnly that you will never, never avail yourself of it.” She recovered and never, never forgave me.”
—Samuel Butler (1835–1902)