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Remembered Today:

Books on the clearance of the European Battlefields


flers1916

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Could some kind person recommend a book/books on the clearance of the European Battlefields after World War One.   I have heard some stories about the use of Chinese labour, ex-troops, and the role local farmers.  All suggestions will be gratefully received.

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Hugh Clout, After The Ruins comes well recommend. 

 

Michelle

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Thank you all for your helpful replies.  I also heard that local people were paid for each body they recovered resulting in some cutting/breaking up a body to be paid twice?  No one is perfect and in hard times who knows what we would do if we came home to find our village and fields destroyed.

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'No Labour, No Battle - Military Labour During the First World War' John Starling and Ivor Lee, has 4 pages on exhumation and reburial in the appendices.

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  • 1 month later...

Hi

How about Burial and Reburial 1919 by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Regards

Andy

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Andy, is that a book? If so do you have the ISBN?

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Hi Keith

It was a booklet that was produced by the C W G C, Give them a call and ask if it is still available. I will see if i still have my copy. PM me with your address and i will send you a copy if you cannot get hold of a copy.

Regards

Andy

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Thanks. I’ll give them a ring and see. Let you know. 

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Challenge of the Dead by Stephen Graham might be an interesting read.  Graham an avowed socialist made his name as writer prior to the war with two books on pre-revolutionary Russia.  He joined the Scots Guards  and served from April 1918. He wrote Challenge of the Dead in 1921 after walking the length of the Western Front and in it describes his encounters with those living in the ex war zone and those working on the reconstruction including an encounter with burial parties.  A scanned copy is available on archive.org 

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