One in from the cold

[Andrew Hesketh]

I have just learned that the CWGC are going to 'adopt' a privately erected headstone to a Great War casualty in a home cemetery. As the man is one of those I am researching this is great news as the grave was untended and the lettering falling off the headstone. In these penny-pinching days I offer a round of applause to those good folks at the CWGC.

The man in question:

Name: SHOOTER, GEORGE HERBERT

Initials: G H

Rank: Private

Regiment: East Surrey Regiment

Unit Text: 7th Bn.

Date of Death: 23/04/1916

Service No: G7/751

Additional information: Son of Mr. and Mrs. George Shooter, of 5, Prospect Terrace, Tibshelf.

Cemetery: TIBSHELF (ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST) CHURCHYARD

The particularly pleasing part is that when he was buried, after dieing of wounds, the local units at Clipstone Camp, Notts, declined to render a military funeral after initially accepting the invitation to do so. The telegram of apology arrived on the morning of the funeral much to the deep disappointment of the family who regarded this as a very dishonourable thing to do.

The long awaited recognition of George Shooter is at least some comfort.

[john w.]

Good news and a pat on the back for the CWGC

Hope it gets sorted soon

John

[paul guthrie]

That is good news, CWGC makes mistakes but they also do a hell of a job. Who got them to do this? You deserve credit. You Andrew?

[Andrew Hesketh]

I did contact them about the state of this grave and another unconnected matter, but that was quite a long time ago. Maybe they are just slow?!

[Terry Denham]

They will not have been slow to act. These things can take months or even years. There are many hurdles to overcome when dealing with a private grave such as this one - remembering that they have no legal responsibility for or powers over private graves whatsoever.

The grave will have been inspected on a regular basis (once every three years or so) to see if the visiblity of the name was adequate (Note - 'adequate' - not necessarily in 'good' condition). Once it fell below this level then CWGC would try to do something.

The ground and grave are not CWGC's property and so various attempts have to be made to rectify a poor maintenance situation. Firstly attempts have to be made to locate the grave owner whose responsibility it is to care for the grave. If this leads to a brick wall, then the cemetery authority is often approached to see what they can do.

If at the end of the day none of this works, CWGC can seek permission to erect their own headstone (which is possibly what is meant by 'adopt' in this case). Again permission is needed from the grave owner and/or cemetery authorities for this. It is rare in the UK for a private headstone to be touched by CWGC. It is more usual for a CWGC headstone to be erected on the grave - usually at the foot if a private memorial still exists.

It would be interesting if Andrew could give us a bit more detail as to how he learned of this 'adoption' and what exactly he was told it means. It could simply mean that they have made a definite arrangement with the cemetery owner for maintenance.

I have to say that the picture shows a headstone in need of attention but it is in quite good shape compared to many hundreds of broken down private memorials I have seen elsewhere.

Anyone wanting to report damaged headstones etc in Britain should do so to CWGC's UK Area Office in Leamington Spa rather than to Maidenhead to speed up matters.

Well done, Andrew.

[salientpoints]

Anyone wanting to report damaged headstones etc in Britain should do so to CWGC's UK Area Office in Leamington Spa rather than to Maidenhead to speed up matters.

Slightly off-topic being WW2 and a different person but its a shame about this one Terry:

Name: SEWELL, HORACE ARTHUR WILLIAM

Initials: H A W

Nationality: United Kingdom

Rank: Sergeant (Air Gnr.)

Regiment: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

Unit Text: 214 Sqdn.

Age: 20

Date of Death: 28/06/1942

Service No: 1330947

Additional information: Son of Horace and Mary Ann Sewell, of Eastbourne.

Should I simply 'remind' the council here and let them try to contact any relevant family in Eastbourne?

Ryan

[Terry Denham]

Ryan

This is all too typical and the only person with any responsibility is the grave owner until it becomes 'unsafe' and then the cemetery owner will remove it entirely if the grave owner does not act! (Oddly enough, this would then give CWGC a chance to step in!).

The cemetery authority will not be interested unless it is unsafe.

All this is a consequence of the government's decision in the 1920s not to give CWGC any rights over private war graves in the UK.

I suggest you email UK Area Office with the photo so that the District Inspector has it on his list of 'endangered' headstones (though the name is still visible).

ukaoffice@cwgc.org

In large public cemeteries like Ocklynge, CWGC are starting to erect monolith blocks or screen walls upon which are engraved the names of all private war graves in the cemetery - forward planning for the day when they all fall into disrepair. This is a practice started in Australia and large UK cities many years ago.

Here is the one in Hastings Cemetery..

Hastings2

[Andrew Hesketh]

Terry,

Thanks for the detailed explanation of the process followed by CWGC. It would appear from what you say that my message was not the spur to act after all, but this does not matter - all that matters to me is that the grave does not further degenerate like the one shown by Ryan.

As I understand it, because I was not informed personally, the 'adoption' in this case is as Terry correctly guessed, i.e. an arrangement for maintenance. As to whether this will result in a new headstone I don't know. When / if I know more I will post an update.

Andrew

[salientpoints]

Thanks Terry,

I have emailed the area office. If I get more info I will of course share it.

I was interested in the bit you posted about monoliths. I assume this is not only a simple memorial to those buried in the cemeteries but also a cost factoring thing as it is cheaper to maintain one memorial than the many individual headstones.

As and when they do fall into unmanageable disrepair I am curious are they simply left to ruin? If so many headstones go to ruin surely this would be detrimental to the appearance of the cemetery so how would this be managed? are they cleared away and the plots possibly reused?

Thanks

Ryan

[Terry Denham]

Ryan

Yes, it is a cost reducing exercise but it also copes with the increasing desire of some local authorities to grass over plots for ease of maintenance and avoidance of so-called 'safety issues'.

It has been the practice for decades in some of our larger cemeteries to include names on a screen wall rather than use individual headstones for a number of different reasons.

In Australia each state has a Garden of Remembrance with an official wall bearing the names of all war graves in that state which have private headstones - ready for when they fall into disrepair. However, CWGC continue to list the names at their actual burial site until the grave is declared 'unmaintainable' and then the commemoration is transferred to the Garden of Remembrance.

In the case of Hastings Cemetery, Sussex there are about fifty graves with private memorials. All these names (from both wars) are inscribed on the block pictured irrespective of the state of the graves.

The majority are still in good or reasonable condition. Some are in a poor state but with the names just about visible. A half dozen or so have been cleared entirely and the plots grassed over - the apparent policy of the local council.

Anybody using the CWGC database to look for these fifty graves will only be aware of the block and will miss the fact that most of them still have a marked grave!

[salientpoints]

Kind of makes you wonder what state all our cemeteries will be in in 50 years or so...will they all just be grassed over plots? gardens of remembrance or something more sinister?

War graves or not cleared away unkept graves will no longer be remembered or visited by the few, especially if no one even knows they are there but for a plaque on a distant wall.

Ryan

[salientpoints]

News today on the broken 'Sewell' headstone I posted above.

A replacement headstone has been ordered by CWGC as the district inspector had spotted it.

Ryan

[Andrew Hesketh]

Excellent. Told you they were good people.

[Bob Coulson]

Yes, this is very good news.

Bob.