Triple CWGC headstones

[Skipman]

This unusual triple gravestone is in Bodelwyddan (St. Margarety) Churchyard, Denbighshire. There may be more but the three soldiers on this one are Pte TR/4/20017 W Budd of 62nd TrB date of death 20/12/1917; Pte 78005 G Owen, 4th Res R.W.F., date of death 13/4/1918;  and Pte 87205 D G Prosser, 4th Res R.W.F., date of death 25/6/1918. Why triple stones and how unusal are they?

Mike

[clive_hughes]

Hi Mike,

Not an answer, but the CWGC records show three sets of triple grave references and a double at St.Margarets.  They refer to "brass plate" as identification on one record, and "wooden cross" as marker on another - possibly the plates were affixed to the cross/crosses.  It's not impossible that graves were dug deep enough for 2-3 burials, though why these particular ones were multiples when the vast majority of WW1 graves at the site aren't, I can't explain.  It's not as though they were a series of deaths close together in time. 

In passing, I once met G.Owen's  brother when I was a lad.  He'd called at our house to discuss antiques with my father, and on learning of my military interests told us that his brother died of pneumonia at the Kinmel Park Camp aged just 18, and was buried at the "Marble Church" as it's known.  

[PhilB]

I`ve been in lots of cemeteries but never seen a double or a triple! I think I may have seen three men in a grave with a single stone.

[Moonraker]

Previously discussed

here

and

here

and briefly elsewhere.

[Skipman]

Thank you all. Thanks Moonraker, I thought it must have been discussed before but was searching for 'triple'

So is Glen1916's answer the correct one?

"It is because the burials were made before the standard design headstone was agreed. Local authorities particularly in the UK often did not know how much space they would need to allocate to war dead. After the war when headstones were being placed over the width of the grave, it made more sense to make custom made triple headstones. "

Mike