Welcome to our May newsletter!

Welcome to the Commission's newsletter. 

Thank you for subscribing to our monthly newsletter, which I hope you find of interest.  We hope  it gives you a wider insight into the work of the Commission, both past and present!

Please feel free to forward our newsletter to any friends you think it may interest. 

Don't forget to let us know how we are doing and if there is something specific you would like to see included.

New Cemetery at Fromelles

In May 2008, after many years of research, five burial pits dating from the First World War were identified at Pheasant Wood, near Fromelles in northern France. The pits, have lain undisturbed for more than 90 years, are believed to contain the remains of between 250 and 400 British and Australian soldiers, buried behind German lines after the Battle of Fromelles in July 1916.

The British and Australian governments have asked the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to oversee the operation to recover the remains and to create a new military cemetery at Fromelles for their reburial. The work begins in May 2009 and will be completed by July 2010.

Next Tuesday, 5 May a short ceremony will take place, at which representatives from the Australian and British Governments and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission will be present.  Work will then begin recovering the remains with work starting on the new cemetery later in the month.

Why not have a look at the separate website ? www.cwgc.org/fromelles  which will enable you to keep up to date with the progress on the new cemetery and ongoing news. You can even sign up to the newsletter

Forthcoming Events

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission takes part in a range of exhibitions and events throughout the year giving people a chance to meet our staff face to face and find out more about our work. 

Why not have a look at the events page on our website, which is regularly updated and details some forthcoming events, including details about the Commission's exhibitions in Normandy during the commemorations.

Further information about the 65th Anniversary of D-Day can be found on the Normandie Memoire website

Early cemeteries

Have you ever wondered what the cemeteries were like before the headstones you know today were installed?

This picture shows King George V visiting Tyne Cot accompanied by Major General Sir Fabian Ware, our first Chairman.

If you follow this link there are a variety of photographs from our Archives and in some cases, what they look like today!

This follows a request from one of our readers - is there anything you would like to see?

A-Z of countries!

Did you know that the Commission has a commitment in 150 countries out of the 192 around the world?

As a feature in our newsletter, each month we will be working our way through the alphabet, focussing on some of the more unusual places where we have a commitment, sometimes little - others not so little.

This month : A for Albania [Read more...]

Out of interest other As are : Algeria, Antigua, Argentina, Australia, Austria,  Azerbaijan, Azores

Your thoughts on our website?

What do you think of our website? How could we improve this to help you?

We are currently running a review of our website, its style and facilities.

Would you like to take part in this review which will take place later in the month?

If so, please register your details on this page.  Your details will not be usef for any other purposes

May 2009 Newsletter

In this Issue

Useful links

D-Day 2009: Normandie Memoire - Commemorative Events

CWGC Fromelles website

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