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Welcome to our July Newsletter June has been another busy month with activities all around the world. We do hope you enjoy this month's newsletter which continues to give us an opportunity to show how far our work reaches around the world. <Please click here for a PDF version of the newsletter> Queen's Birthday Honours for Commission staff We are delighted to announce that two members of Commission staff were awarded in the Queen's Birthday Honours List.
Fromelles Commemorative Events, 19 July 2011 Following the identification by name of a further 14 Australian soldiers earlier this year, a commemorative event will be held at Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery on 19 July to dedicate the new headstones. Services of remembrance, organised by the town of Fromelles, will take place on 19 July during the day at VC Corner Cemetery and the Cobbers Memorial, with the dedicatory event starting at 19:00 hours in Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery. For further information please visit our website which will be updated as information becomes available.
Help for Heroes European Rally 2011
The distinctive cars, with their ‘Help for Heroes’ European Rally decals stoped near the memorial in Portsmouth for a special photo opportunity. Further information can be found on our website CWGC Commissioners visit Belgium 
From 6-8 June, Commissioners and senior staff visited cemeteries in Belgium to gain a broader understanding into the work of the Commission, and the challenges faced. During the visit Commissioners visited several cemeteries around the Ieper Salient and participated in two remembrance ceremonies, at the Menin Gate and Ploegsteert Memorial, laying wreaths in remembrance of those commemorated. The visit was also an opportunity to meet with local and governmental representatives from Belgium and other Commonwealth countries. Commission trials new technology 
Visitors to Brandhoek New Military and Hyde Park Corner Cemeteries in Belgium will be able to scan a QR Code on new information panels at each location. The QR code is a means of giving visitors access to layers of information not previously available at our cemeteries, including information on some of the casualties at the cemetery, the architect and other relevant information. A QR Code (short for Quick Response) is a two-dimensional barcode readable by camera phones. To read a QR Code your mobile device must have a QR Code reader installed. These are available over the internet
We would welcome your feedback on the trials which can be emailed to Feedback. We are particularly interesting in hearing from anyone who has viewed the new information boards at the cemeteries and trialled the new codes, but any comments are welcome. Commission welcomes new Vice Chairman We are pleased to announce that from 1 July Lieutenant General Sir Alistair Irwin KCB CBE will take up the position of Vice Chairman of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Sir Alistair has been a member of the Commission since 2005 and was former Adjutant-General to the Forces in the United Kingdom. He is also currently President of Royal British Legion Scotland. Sir Alistair replaces Admiral Sir Ian Garnett KCB, who has held the position of Vice Chairman since 2008. The Underground War: La Boisselle, France The Underground War – La Boisselle, France Archaeologists have begun one of the most detailed studies ever of a Western Front battlefield, at the village of La Boisselle on the Somme in France. The area, known as the 'Glory Hole' by British troops, was the scene of fierce fighting during 1915 and 1916 – with extensive trench works and mining and counter mining activity by both sides. The excavation, which is only the second First World War archaeological dig in the Somme region to be officially sanctioned by the French authorities, may take up to fifteen years to complete. In addition to learning more about the Great War and the conditions under which men fought and died, the team, alongside their French and German partners, aim to preserve the area as a permanent memorial to the fallen. Digging does not start until next year, but the first practical steps of mapping the tunnels and trenches using ground-penetrating radar, and geophysics are under way. Should human remains be found during the excavations, they will be reburied in one of the Commission’s many cemeteries in the area, in accordance with the well established procedures laid down by the French state and the Commission’s member governments. For more information about the project please click here to visit the La Boisselle Study Group website. 
More courageous cricketers..... We are delighted to feature two further courageous cricketers this month, sent in by Robert Fletcher. Robert Fletcher's local cemetery is Ingatestone and Fryerning Cemetery at Fryerning in Essex. Buried in this cemetery is Squadron Leader Claude Thesiger Ashton who was killed in a mid-air collision whilst on a training flight in North Wales in October 1942. His exploits as both cricketer (representing Cambridge, Essex and Robert Fletcher's local club, Ingatestone & Fryerning CC) and as footballer (Corinthians and England) were numerous. He is one of few to have played only one game for England at football, as centre forward and captain! Squadron Leader Roger de-Winton Kelsall Winlaw also died as a result of the same mid-air collision. Roger Winlaw played 52 games for Cambridge University and Surrey, and also played football for Corinthian, making five appearances between 1934 and 1937 . RWK Winlaw is commemorated at Liverpool (Anfield) Crematorium. A Model Attack: The Battle of Le Hamel – 4 July 1918 This month we feature the Battle of Le Hamel which took place in July 1918. For the complete article and further information about this campaign please click here. Thank you once again to the Western Front Association for their assistance with this article This month we once again visit countries around the world, focussing on some of the more unusual places where we have a commitment This month we focus on Venezuela, where the Commission maintains only one grave. Don't forget..... The Commission publishes a series of information sheets illustrating aspects of its work and major cemeteries and memorials. These can be downloaded from our website, or copies are available from our Enquiries Section 
Jonty Wild from Pirton writes: Commission readers may be interested to hear how visits to CWGC memorials and cemeteries in Belgium and France inspired three villagers from Pirton, Hertfordshire to remember the men from the village who served and died in the Great War. Pirton is still a small village, but in 1914 its population was only about 800. By the time the village’s First World War memorial was finished 30 names had been recorded. In 2004 a battlefield visit was planned, under the guidance of Tony French who was already a veteran of many visits to Commission memorials and cemeteries. The aim was to visit as many as possible of the Pirton men who fell and to photograph their names or headstones. I accompanied him, having never visited any war graves before. I was so moved by the respectful way that the cemeteries were maintained and the men were remembered, that we began to discuss how we could also help preserve the memories of ‘our’ men. That discussion led to the idea for a small book and in that project we were joined by a third villager, Chris Ryan. Many visits later, on trips to Commission sites in Belgium, France the Netherlands and Egypt, we have visited all 30 men recorded on the memorial and seven out of eight names of other Pirton related men who are recorded by the CWGC, but who are not as yet on the village memorial. The ‘small’ book became ‘The Pride of Pirton’: a full-colour, 210 page book with over 300 images and photographs, which was published last year. It remembers and documents not only the 38 men mentioned above, but also 192 men that served and survived. I think I can honestly say that without the Commission and their dedication this would never have happened. Also, as a result of raised awareness in the village, the condition of our village memorial has been vastly improved and by association the Commission could fairly claim some responsibility for that to. Further information and details of or the Pirton men can be found here 
Durnbach Cemetery visit inspires artist A visitor to one of our German cemeteries got in touch, having made a photographic collage of her trip to Durnbach War Cemetery, which lies 45 kms south of Munich, Germany. Sabine Rusted’s Grandfather - Wilhelm Röhrl - was conscripted into the German Army and was killed in Romania in 1944. She says her visit to the Commonwealth cemetery at Durnbach reminds her of the sadness of losing her Grandfather. Sabine also sent us a collage of pictures, showing her local church in Hohenpeißenberg, Upper Bavaria. The plaque on the wall lists those local men who were killed during the Second World War. The great majority of those buried at Durnbach War Cemetery are airmen who were shot down over Bavaria, Wurtemberg, Austria, Hessen and Thuringia. They were brought from their scattered graves by the Army Graves Service. The remainder are men who were killed while escaping from prisoner of war camps in the same areas, or who died towards the end of the War on forced marches from the camps to more remote areas. Durnbach War Cemetery contains 2,934 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War, 93 of which are unidentified. |
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July 2011 NewsletterIn this Issue Social Media 
Partners: *The Commission is not responsible for the content of these external sites Photograph of the Month Competition We did not hold a competition in June as we had many excellent entries in May, one of which is featured here. Kanchanaburi War Cemetery, Thailand by Nora De Bievre. Click on photograph to enlarge 
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