Headstones

[johnboy]

I have come across 3 headstones attached on Findagrave. Is there any reasons why?

[Doc2]

You haven't attached any photos. However, this is not surprising-- Findagrave is a great resource, much like Wikipedia in its operation. Anyone can add any gravestones they want to provide information on. In and of itself, findagrade does not imply anything about the individuals commemorated, other than the facts that are attached to their listings.

[Phil Evans]

Johnboy,

This one I take it?

Often, as in this case (Grave ref:C.93), they are buried in a common grave.

Phil

[johnboy]

That's the one.

Why would they use a communal grave for soldiers who died 2 1/2 months apart?

[CGM]

Common graves are used until they are full. This could take some time.

[CGM]

There are actually 4 CWGC burials in C 93. Charles Frederick Cole died 13/02/1917.

Edited to add I'm sorry, I've just looked at the photograph again and Cole is commemorated below Parsons.

The dates of death across the three stones are from February 1917 to June 1917.

I suspect this is a case of insufficient space available to space out 4 stones.

CGM

[johnboy]

Thanks. Is there a fourth headstone?

I have been reading that common graves in council cemetaries cannot have headstones. Was it the same for ww1?

[Phil Evans]

I have spent many hours researching SE London cemeteries and some graves hold 15+ and were in use for many months. As CGM says, “until they were full”. One question I still have not got to the bottom of is who purchased them? Around my way, they are often associated with military hospitals, but don't know if they were purchased by the hospital, the War Office, or the local authority, including those in private cemeteries such as Nunhead (All Saints).

There are certainly headstones on some of the common graves of WW1 era in Greenwich Cemetery, a few of which remain today. This photo is of an Australian grave marker, but also with another headstone in front, from which the Australian authorities appear to have attempted to obliterate the details on the negative.