In an effort to commemorate the 155,000 fallen veterans who are listed as missing in France and Belgium, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission works tirelessly to recover and rebury the heroes who lost their lives.

Each year, the true cost of the conflict is uncovered by CWGC’s dedicated exhumation officers who rush to the site of remain discoveries in a bid to preserve and record every detail about each case.

After a detailed investigation by the CWGC’s member governments, each person is given a full burial with full honours in the most appropriate CWGC cemetery.

Soldiers who lived, served and died together, are buried and remembered together.

“the remains of one soldier was found in Fromelles, France with a return ticket on his possession. When we found out, there wasn’t a dry eye in the room”

Peter Francis

“For example, exhumation officer, Steve Arnold, was on scene at a site in Lens, France. A company is building a new hospital there and before they built the new hospital, they surveyed the ground and found six sets of remains.

“Remains are often found with all sorts of artefacts, some military related, some not, all which help us to identify the person. A while ago the remains of one soldier was found in Fromelles, France with a return ticket on his possession. When we found out, there wasn’t a dry eye in the room. It really brought home why we are doing this, that soldier never got the chance to use his return ticket back home but he will be laid to rest in the manner he deserves.

“All of those found are buried with full military honours, if our team manage to find their family through an extensive identification process, they are invited to the burial and although many wouldn’t have known the person, you can see families connect with them.

“These were real people, who served for our country and we treat them as such.”

The CWGC currently care for the graves of the 1.7 million Commonwealth servicemen and women who died during the two World Wars at more than 23,000 locations in more than 150 countries on every continent except Antarctica.

The remarkable work of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission will be highlighted in a new visitor centre to be opened by Princess Anne.

A key element of the new centre is the extraordinary role staff play in recovery and reburial of the war dead.

Peter said: “We turned what is essentially a working office into a visitor centre. You won’t see anything fake, all of the people working behind the glass windows are real people working in real time. On arrival you will get given an audio headset which will take you through the centre, the voices you hear aren’t actors, they’re people who work at the centre too.”

“Visitors will see how our Headstone Production Team use the latest technology to carve the iconic headstones, creating regimental badges and personal inscriptions to ensure all the names of the men who died remain legible.” (closed quote mark)

Victoria Wallace, CWGC’s Director General, said: “For over 100 years, the CWGC has worked to care for our war dead. I am delighted that we can now share with the public the skills, the dedication and the craftsmanship of our fantastic team, working on the Western Front and around the world. We hope young people in particular will gain inspiration from this extraordinary legacy of care.”

The CWGC Experience will open to the public on June 26, 2019, at The Commonwealth War Graves, 5-7 Rue Angele Richard CS10109, 62217 Beaurains, France.

• Armed Forces Day
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