The term "war grave" 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; this is particularly true if crewmen perished inside the vehicle. Classification of a war grave is not limited to the occupier's death in combat but includes military personnel who die while in active service: for example, during the Crimean War, more military personnel 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. When it comes to the two World Wars, the large number of casualties means that the war graves can take up very large areas. For example, the Brookwood Military Cemetery in the UK is the largest of its kind in the country, with graves for more than 1,600 servicemen from the First World War and over 3,400 from the Second World War and covers an area of 15 hectares (37 acres). By contrast, Finnish war graves are generally small because the Finnish government decided following the Second World War that every dead soldier or service person would be returned to their home parish, meaning that virtually all Finnish churchyards contain a war grave.[1]
Jurisdictionedit
Australiaedit
In Australia, the Office of Australian War Graves controls the maintenance of war cemeteries, plots, individual graves, post-war commemorations and battle exploit memorials.
Commonwealthedit
In the Commonwealth of Nations, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission is responsible for the commemoration of 1.7 million deceased Commonwealth military service members at over 23,000 separate burial sites in 153 countries.[2] It operates through the financial support of six member states (United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India and South Africa).
United Kingdomedit
In the United Kingdom, 67 ship wrecks and all underwater military aircraft are "protected places" under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 which imposes restrictions on their exploration and marine salvage.
Spainedit
In Spain, war graves are protected by the Law 60/1962.
In Germany the state is responsible for the war graves. In addition to soldiers, victims of National Socialism and the GDR also fall under the definition of "war grave". Abroad, the German War Graves Commission (Volksbund deutscher Kriegsgräberfürsorge) takes over the care of German war dead. War graves are under legal protection and have permanent resting rights. The war grave sites are mostly integrated in civil cemeteries and can be found on almost all graveyards.
In popular cultureedit
Rupert Brooke's 1914 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 while 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 military graves and memorials from 1914 to the present day from any nationality, although focus on Commonwealth soldiers.[3]
^Major and Mrs Holt's battlefield guide to the Ypres SalientISBN0850525519
External linksedit
Wikimedia Commons has media related to War graves.
SI 2009/3380 The Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 Order no 2009/3380
January 10, 2024
grave, confused, with, wargrave, grave, burial, place, members, armed, forces, civilians, died, during, military, campaigns, operations, normandy, american, cemetery, 2003, graves, mordechai, kibutz, israel, mary, church, turku, finland, contents, definition, . Not to be confused with Wargrave A war grave is a burial place for members of the armed forces or civilians who died during military campaigns or operations Normandy American Cemetery in 2003 War Graves in Yad Mordechai Kibutz Israel War graves at the St Mary s Church in Turku Finland Contents 1 Definition 2 Jurisdiction 2 1 Australia 2 2 Commonwealth 2 3 United Kingdom 2 4 Spain 2 5 United States 2 6 Germany 3 In popular culture 4 Gallery 5 See also 6 References 7 External linksDefinition editThe term war grave 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 this is particularly true if crewmen perished inside the vehicle Classification of a war grave is not limited to the occupier s death in combat but includes military personnel who die while in active service for example during the Crimean War more military personnel 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 When it comes to the two World Wars the large number of casualties means that the war graves can take up very large areas For example the Brookwood Military Cemetery in the UK is the largest of its kind in the country with graves for more than 1 600 servicemen from the First World War and over 3 400 from the Second World War and covers an area of 15 hectares 37 acres By contrast Finnish war graves are generally small because the Finnish government decided following the Second World War that every dead soldier or service person would be returned to their home parish meaning that virtually all Finnish churchyards contain a war grave 1 Jurisdiction editAustralia edit In Australia the Office of Australian War Graves controls the maintenance of war cemeteries plots individual graves post war commemorations and battle exploit memorials Commonwealth edit In the Commonwealth of Nations the Commonwealth War Graves Commission is responsible for the commemoration of 1 7 million deceased Commonwealth military service members at over 23 000 separate burial sites in 153 countries 2 It operates through the financial support of six member states United Kingdom Canada Australia New Zealand India and South Africa United Kingdom edit In the United Kingdom 67 ship wrecks and all underwater military aircraft are protected places under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 which imposes restrictions on their exploration and marine salvage Spain edit In Spain war graves are protected by the Law 60 1962 United States edit In the United States war graves are managed within the United States National Cemetery System and American Battle Monuments Commission Germany edit In Germany the state is responsible for the war graves In addition to soldiers victims of National Socialism and the GDR also fall under the definition of war grave Abroad the German War Graves Commission Volksbund deutscher Kriegsgraberfursorge takes over the care of German war dead War graves are under legal protection and have permanent resting rights The war grave sites are mostly integrated in civil cemeteries and can be found on almost all graveyards In popular culture editRupert Brooke s 1914 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 while 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 military graves and memorials from 1914 to the present day from any nationality although focus on Commonwealth soldiers 3 Gallery edit nbsp American Civil War graves Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery nbsp A CWGC cemetery from the First World War Tyne Cot in the Ypres Salient nbsp Moorseele Military Cemetery from the First world War in Moorsele Belgium nbsp His last message No more wars for me A headstone in the Jerusalem British World War I Cemetery on Mount Scopus nbsp German World War I war grave on the eastern front nbsp Soviet World War II graves Tehumardi Saaremaa Estonia nbsp German World War II graves Sologubovka Russia nbsp Allentsteig War Cemetery Austria nbsp Shared war graves of British and American soldiers killed in the American Revolution located in the churchyard of St Peter s Church in the Great Valley Chester County Pennsylvania nbsp Graves of Chinese soldiers killed in the Second Sino Japanese War and Chinese Communist Revolution Shijiazhuang ChinaSee also editAmerican Battle Monuments Commission Burial at sea Canadian war cemeteries Commonwealth War Graves Commission Missing in action Mortuary Affairs National cemetery The Unknown Warrior Tomb of the Unknown Soldier United Nations Memorial Cemetery War memorial Klaus Schafer Picture gallery of the European War GravesReferences edit Mikko Laaksonen Architect Erik Bryggman Works Helsinki Rakennustieto Publishing 2016 pp 125 32 ISBN 978 952 267 163 9 Commonwealth War Graves Commission Annual Report 2013 p 2 sfn error no target CITEREFCommonwealth War Graves Commission Annual Report2013 help Major and Mrs Holt s battlefield guide to the Ypres Salient ISBN 0850525519External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to War graves SI 2009 3380 The Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 Order no 2009 3380 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title War grave amp oldid 1174891110, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
