BOOK REVIEWS

The Unending Vigil The History of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Philip Longworth

This is a very welcome reprint of Philip Longworth's excellent book, which has been out of print for some years now. It records the history of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission from its very beginning.

No first-time visitor to any of the battlefield sites of France and Belgium (not to mention elsewhere in the world) could fail to be moved by the sight of the cemeteries and Memorials to the Missing to be found there.  The sense of gratitude is not diminished by the familiarity of further visits.

If servicemen and women must die in wars, then they must be remembered.  The cemeteries and memorials are probably as near to perfection as you can get in terms of respect, remembrance and gratitude for a debt which can never be repaid. The concept behind them seems so perfect too, and while we may be able to appreciate the technical and physical difficulties of providing us with the cemeteries we see today, we may not always realise the "hearts and minds" battle which the Commission had to fight in its early days in gaining public acceptance for the style of remembrance which we now take for granted.

Philip Longworth tells the whole story, starting from the very beginnings when a group of voluntary  Red Cross workers found to their amazement that while the army had procedures in place for the burial of the dead, there were no proper system for recording where soldiers had been buried. They began to remedy this, unofficially at first, but with more and more support and official recognition as time went on, largely thanks to the efforts of the unstoppable Fabian Ware, who was to become the Commission's founder.  It was Ware who laid down the precepts which still govern the Commission's work today, precepts which were not always well received.  The basic concept of equality of commemoration regardless of rank or fortune, for example, was very unpopular at the time.

Philip Longworth, in a very readable style, describes all these early moves and decisions and he also illuminates much of the background work which had to be done. Many people know that Rudyard Kipling was invited to advise the commission on inscriptions of various kinds but there were other things to be considered; the choice of architects, the constraints under which they were to work, the acquisition of the land on which the proposed cemeteries stood, the budgetary requirements, plans for future maintenance, how to commemorate the Missing for whom there were no grave-places and so on.

Then, just as the work appeared to have been finished apart from the horticultural and architectural maintenance, another war began, resulting in some neglect of the Great War cemeteries and, of course, the problems of another whole generation of dead and missing to be commemorated. And not all the commemorations were required to be made in France or Belgium, or even in Europe.  The CWGC's role is a truly worldwide one.

I think that anyone who has ever seen a CWGC war cemetery or Memorial to the Missing will find this book of great interest. We all know what CWGC cemeteries and memorials look like - they are immediately recognisable for what they are.  This book tells us why they are as they are. Essential reading, I think, and now available to a whole new audience.

The Unending Vigil

is published by:

Pen and Sword Books

Soft Covers

269 pages, 84 photographs

ISBN: 1-84415-004-6

Return to the Bookshelf Page

Return to the Hellfire Corner Contents Section