Ethos of IWGC/CWGC

[michaeldr]

Can someone please point me in the direction (pref online) of a document which describes the 'ethos' of the IWGC/CWGC

 

I am particularly looking for confirmation of the idea of 'equality of sacrifice' by which I mean equality between, races, religions and ranks

 

I have a copy of the Report to the Imperial War Graves Commission by Lieut.-Colonel Sir FREDERIC KENYON, K.C.B., Director of the British Museum. ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED BY HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE. 1918.

However I am unsure of its legal status and whether or not it obliges the IWGC/CWGC to observe the 'equality of sacrifice'

 

The report was set up per terms of reference;

Page 3

"Sir Frederic Kenyon's duties will be to decide between the various proposals submitted to him as to the architectural treatment and laying out of cemeteries, and to report his recommendations to the Commission at the earliest possible date -

1. He will consult the representatives of the various churches and religious bodies on any religious questions involved.

2. He will report as to the desirability of forming an advisory Committee from among those who have been consulted, for the purpose of carrying out the proposals agreed upon.

The Commissioners are of opinion that no distinction should be made between officers and men lying in the same cemeteries in the form or nature of the memorials."

 

And the report includes the following refs (no doubt, there are others)

 

Page 7:

“The Commission, on the other hand, felt that where the sacrifice had been common, the memorial should be common also; and they desired that the cemeteries should be the symbol of a great Army and an united Empire.

It was therefore ordained that what was done for one should be done for all, and that all, whatever their military rank or position in civil life, should have equal treatment in their graves.”

 

Page 8:

“The principle of equality and uniformity of treatment having been adopted, ...”

 

The use of the word 'ordained' suggests to me that this principle is enshrined in some document or charter somewhere - Any pointers welcomed

 

Thanks for your interest

Michael

Edited 13 December , 2018 by michaeldr

[Scalyback]

Suggest you read The Unending Vigil  and Empires of the Dead. 

 All the document references are there. 

[michaeldr]

Thanks for the prompt reply

I think that I'll wait until after the Christmas postal rush before ordering [experience proves that o/seas delivery is tricky at the best of times ] 

In the meantime, do you know of anything online

Thanks again

Michael

[kenf48]

I don't know if you have access to the Times Archive but as you probably know the Imperial War Graves Commission was created by Royal Charter in 1917.  The Charter did not presume to inform the Commission how to carry out its work but what it needed to do to perform its 'sacred duty'.

 

 A resolution was passed at the first meeting that there should be no distinction between officers and men.  An account of the meeting the previous Tuesday was reported in the Times on Saturday 24 November 1917.  This resolution of equality  probably expanded to include other issues but equality was a founding principle recognised by those appointed to the Commission.

 

Attached is the relevant paragraph

 

 

[Scalyback]

46 minutes ago, michaeldr said:

Thanks for the prompt reply

I think that I'll wait until after the Christmas postal rush before ordering [experience proves that o/seas delivery is tricky at the best of times ] 

In the meantime, do you know of anything online

Thanks again

Michael

 

The CWGC has a searchable database but not everything is online. 

[Keith_history_buff]

I was putting together an e-mail about commemoration to a friend, and I sourced the following. Admittedly, it was regarding the IWM being inclusive of everyone in Britain and the Commonwealth, but I saw the CWGC had a similar philosophy too, so I included this.

 

Going back to 1917, there were some ideas behind the National War Museum that have a lot of validity 100+ years later. In December 1917 the name was changed to the Imperial War Museum after a resolution from the India and Dominions Committee of the museum.

 

The idea was that  'It is hoped to make [the museum] so complete that every individual, man or woman, sailor, soldier, airman or civilian who contributed, however obscurely, to the final result, may be able to find in these galleries an example or illustration of the sacrifice he made or the work he did, and in the archives some record of it.' The museum 'was not a monument of military glory, but a record of toil and sacrifice,..and to the people of the Empire, as a record of their toil and sacrifice through these fateful years.' 

 

There was a similar philosophy with the forerunner to the CWGC, '…all, from General to Private, of whatever race or creed, should receive equal honour under a memorial which should be the common symbol of their comradeship and of the cause for which they died.' After all, when war broke out, King George V called for 'men of every class, creed and colour' to join the fight against Germany. 

[Keith_history_buff]

It was sourced via the IWM, but the primary source was Sir Frederic Kenyon

https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/their-name-liveth-for-evermore

 

[kenf48]

 Kenyon's report post dates the meeting cited above and in fact he was appointed at that meeting on the 20th November as stated in the introduction by Fabian Ware:-

 

"This Report was submitted in pursuance of instructions from the Imperial War Graves Commission, which, at a meeting held on the 20th November, 19I7, resolved to appoint Lieut.- Colonel Sir Frederic Kenyon, Director of the British Museum, as Adviser to the Commission."

 

Kenyon's report was adopted by the Commission in November 1918.

 

In his report, under the heading of Equality of Treatment Kenyon begins by writing,

"The Commission has already laid down one principle,(i.e. as reported above, a year earlier) which goes far towards determining the disposition of the cemeteries; the principle, namely, of equality of treatment; but since this report may be read by some who are not acquainted with the reasons which led the Commissioners to this conclusion, it may be as well to say a few words about it."

 

In other words it was a founding principle set out at the inaugural meeting of the Commission and accepted by all present.  No doubt it's minuted in the records but such things as 'mission statements' and 'objectives' were a long way off.  

 

Ken

 

[phil andrade]

Wasn’t Kipling a proponent of emphasising the theme of equality ?

 

Does memory serve me when I associate his work with the IWGC, which inspired his little verse :

 

A .  I was a have.

 

B. I was a have - not.

 

Together : What hast  thou given, which I gave not ?

 

This was actually titled “ Equality of Sacrifice”.

 

Phil

 

 

Edited 13 December , 2018 by phil andrade

[kenf48]

16 hours ago, phil andrade said:

Wasn’t Kipling a proponent of emphasising the theme of equality ?

 

Does memory serve me when I associate his work with the IWGC, which inspired his little verse :

 

A .  I was a have.

 

B. I was a have - not.

 

Together : What hast  thou given, which I gave not ?

 

This was actually titled “ Equality of Sacrifice”.

 

Phil

 

 

 

It was a short poem published as one of the 'Epitaphs of the War' first published in 'The Years Between' in 1919.  The epitaphs are based on the Greek epigrams.

 

Full text is here

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/57409/epitaphs-of-the-war

 no doubt many will be very familiar, though not always attributed.

 

 Kipling noted the Epitaphs were works of imagination and had no 'personal or geographical bias' and not part of his work for, and the epitaphs written for, the Commission.

 

Ken

 

 

Edited 14 December , 2018 by kenf48

[seaJane]

9 minutes ago, kenf48 said:

Full text is here no doubt many will be very familiar, though not always attributed.

Sorry to bother you, Ken, but the link leads back to the top of this thread.

sJ

[kenf48]

5 minutes ago, seaJane said:

Sorry to bother you, Ken, but the link leads back to the top of this thread.

sJ

Jane, 

 

Here you go, thank you for the correction

 

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/57409/epitaphs-of-the-war

 

(Teach me to try to be clever at least it didn't go to some of the other Facebook groups )

I've amended the original.

 

Ken

Edited 14 December , 2018 by kenf48

[seaJane]

Thank you 

[Keith_history_buff]

A thread worthy of revisiting at this moment in time.