Complete Works of Rudyard Kipling (Illustrated) (1159 page)

Their Design and Care

The Commission instructed Sir Frederic Kenyon, K.C.B., to report! how these aims could best I be realised, and he, after consulting very fully with the relatives, representatives of the Services, religion and art, and knowing the practical limitations, particularly in obtaining labour, for carrying out such a vast undertaking, recommended that in each cemetery there should stand a Cross of Sacrifice, and an altarlike Stone of Remembrance, and that the headstones or the graves should be of uniform shape and size. Stone crosses to succeed the temporary wooden crosses were at first suggested, 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 inscriptions, and are also by their shape too fragile and too subject to the action of frost and weather for enduring use. Plain headstones, measuring 2 ft. 6 in. by I ft. 3 in., were therefore chosen, upon which the Cross or other religious symbol of the dead man’s faith could be carved and his Regimental badge fully displayed. The Regiments have been consulted as to the designs of these badges, 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 numbers. In due time, then, wherever a man may be buried, from East Africa to North Russia, his headstone will carry his Regimental badge, identifiable the world over.

Besides the fighting forces, provision’ must be made for the graves of the merchant-seamen and discharged men whose deaths were due to enemy action, for Sisters and Nurses killed or died of wounds or disease, for Labour units of all races, and, indeed, for all who have served in any capacity in the war. The distinctive badges of these headstones are not yet all decided upon.

Inscriptions, Registers, and Planning

In addition to the name and rank upon the headstone, the Commission feel that relatives should, if they wish, add a short inscription of their own choice as an expression of personal feeling and affection. These inscriptions will be at the relatives’ expense, and, to avoid unduly crowding the stones with very small lettering, which, besides being difficult to read, does not weather well, it has been

found necessary to restrict the length of the inscription to sixty-six letters.*

Every cemetery will keep registers of the dead buried there, and in these registers it is hoped that it will be possible, with the assistance of his kin, to enter the age, parentage, and birthplace of each known man.

The planning and planting of the cemeteries must depend largely on their site and the climate of the country, but it is proposed that, as a general rule, the cemeteries should have buildings designed for services, ceremonies, and shelter, I where the register of that cemetery will be kept under permanent safeguard. To recapitulate : —

1.    For each Cemetery its Cross of Sacrifice and Stone of Remembrance, the latter bearing the

quotation (Ecclesiasticus 44, v. 14) “THEIR NAME LIVETH FOR EVERMORE”;

2.    For each grave its enduring headstone, Starved ‘with the symbol of the dead mans faith, his

name and rank, his Regimental badge, and whatever text or inscription his relatives

may add ;

3.    In the Cemetery building the register in which the man’s birthplace, age, and parentage can

be recorded and referred to.

* In counting the sixty-six letters, the space between any two words most be reckoned as one letter.

Memorials to the Missing

THIS matter is naturally of the deepest concern to the relatives of those whose bodies have never been recovered or identified, or whose graves, once made, have been destroyed by later battles. Their number is not small, 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 lives. In the case of officers and men in the Flying Corps, the place of whose death could not be known within many miles, the tablet might be placed in the cemetery nearest to the camp from which they had; started on their last flight. But in any case relatives may be| assured that! the dead; who have no known resting-place will be made equal with the others, and that each case will be dealt with upon full consideration of its’ merits as regards the site and the place of the memorial.

Graves of Indian Troops

THE symbols ofj 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 1914-16; and of the Indian Labour Corps who have since worked and taken the risks of life behind the lines. A committee of the Commission has decided upon the form that these symbols should take, 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 war. The designs for these buildings have been submitted for approval in India. In all such matters the treatment of the bodies of “these soldiers will be in strict conformity with the practice of their religions, and will be carried out under the supervision of native officers.

Treatment of Isolated Graves

AFTER so many years of fighting over densely populated and civilised countries like France and Belgium, it is inevitable that there must be single graves and groups in positions where, when the life of the land goes forward again, they cannot be reached or tended. Some lie in what were once town or village thoroughfares, and will be so again ; others by the side ot railway stations and goods yards, houses or factories, in arable or pasture fields, parks, gardens and the like. The objections to leaving these graves where they are need not be dwelt upon. No precautions save them from being encroached upon or obliterated in the course of time. There is, moreover, a strong sentiment among all ranks that such scattered graves look lonely, 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 companions. That is what the Commission, with all due care and reverence, proposes to do.

Removal of Bodies

In view of the enormous number (over half a million) of our dead in France alone, the removal of bodies to England would be impossible, even were there a general desire for it. But the overwhelming majority of relatives are content that their kin should lie — officers and men together — in the countries that they have redeemed. The Allied nations, too, have freely given their land to our dead for ever, and that offer has been accepted by the Governments. To allow exhumation and removal in the few cases where it has been suggested would, it seemed to the Commission, be undesirable, if only on the principle of equality, and, judging from what many gallant fighters have said and written before they in their turn fell, a violation, in all but a few special cases, of the desire of the dead themselves.