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Welcome to our June Newsletter May has been another busy month with activities all around the world. We do hope you enjoy this month's newsletter which highlights some of these events. We are delighted to have over 6,500 regular readers of our newsletters, so do keep in touch, especially if you have story you would like us to feature. <Please click here for a PDF version of the newsletter> 
Lottery winner fulfils dream This is a story you may have seen in the news recently. Neil Baker, from Bridgwater, Somerset, won £1.5 million on the UK national lottery this spring. One of his long held ambitions was to play his late father’s bugle at his great-grandfather’s grave; however, he never had the time or money to be able to do this. Obviously, having his lucky numbers come up changed all this and as soon as he could he kept his promise. Last month, the former chef played ‘The Last Post’ at the grave of his great-grandfather, Private Sydney Carver, which is situated in Tournai Communal Cemetery Allied Extension in Belgium. For further information about this heart warming story, please view the video on our website. Canadian sacrifice honoured by Dutch In late 1944 and early 1945, the people of The Netherlands witnessed a bloody struggle to liberate their country, as occupying Nazi forces fought desperate rearguard actions to stall the Allied advance into Germany. Leading the fight to free The Netherlands were Canadian forces. Today, the Dutch continue to honour those Canadians who made the ultimate sacrifice. On 4 May 2011, at The Commonwealth War Graves Commission's Holten Canadian War Cemetery, a service was held to remember those who fought and died to free The Netherlands To find out more please view the video on our website Winner May photograph of the month 
Entry title - PLANTS. Thank you to all those who entered last month's competition. The entries covered cemeteries all around the world and it was extremely difficult chosing the winner. This month's winner is Steve Morse, who took this photograph whilst on a visit to Tyne Cot Cemetery last October. Thank you Steve for letting us use your photograph. There are now 11,956 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War buried or commemorated in Tyne Cot Cemetery, 8,369 of these are unidentified. Tyne Cot Memorial is also based within the cemetery and now bears the names of almost 35,000 officers and men whose graves are not known. Commonwealth French Joint Committee Meet in France 
On 16 and 17 May, members of the Commonwealth French Joint Committee met in France, to jointly remember those who died as a result of the two World Wars and to view demonstrations of the Commission's work. On 16 May, Ministre Christian Piotre, Secrétaire général pour l’administration, Ministry of Defence hosted a dinner at the Cercle National des Armées. The next day, wreath laying ceremonies took place both at Serre Héburterne French Cemetery and Serre Road Cemetery No 2 followed by demonstrations by Commission staff at this cemetery and also Thiepval Memorial . Following the day's events, His Excellency Sir Peter Westmacott, British Ambassador to France, then kindly hosted a dinner at his residence for members of the Committee. Further information about the role of the Committee and this event can be found on our website 
“We Will Remember Them” Members of the Linazay Poitou-Charentes Branch of the Royal British Legion have organised a sponsored cycle ride for 8 May to 18 June around the Poitou-Charentes Region and Vendèe Department. The cycle ride has been organised to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Royal British Legion and combines their two functions, the first in its mission to safeguard the welfare and interests of those who are serving or have served in the Armed Forces, and the second in its work to remember all those who have given their lives. The work of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission will also be highlighted and a poppy cross will be placed on each one of the 439 Commonwealth War Graves visited (both named and unknown) and at any additional plaques and memorials visited en route. Cemeteries to be visited include:
For further information on the cemeteries and cycle ride, please visit the following websites: Linazay Poitou-Charentes Branch and The Royal British Legion As the cricket season has arrived and following on from ‘Rugby Remembers’ we thought it would be fitting to have an article regarding cricketers in the World Wars. This particular story is about Lieutenant Arthur Edward Collins RE. In June 1899, when aged 13, Arthur scored a remarkable 628 not out in a house cricket match whilst a pupil at Clifton College, Bristol. This remains the highest individual score ever recorded anywhere in the world. In that match he also took 11 wickets. He later played for the Royal Engineers.[Read more about this story on our website...] Thank you to Martin Stoneham MInstRE, Secretary, Friends of the Royal Engineers Museum for this story. For more information about other courageous cricketers please follow the link below to our ‘Playing the Game – Cricket and the Two World Wars leaflet. Do you have a club or sportsman you would like included? If so, please let us know. 
We have been asked by some of our readers to provide an update on our cemeteries in North Africa. Libya – Staff and War Graves Safe The Commission is pleased to report that despite the current situation in Libya our colleagues and cemeteries there have remained safe. Photo of Benghazi War Cemetery in 2009 Over 8,500 Commonwealth war dead from the Second World War are buried or commemorated by the Commission at four cemeteries in Libya. We also care for nearly 600 non-world war graves on behalf of the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence. To maintain the cemeteries we directly employ two Libyan members of staff at Knightsbridge War Cemetery, while Tripoli, Benghazi and Tobruk War Cemeteries are maintained by a contractor, with supervisory visits from our staff in Egypt (although these are not possible at present). We have been actively monitoring the situation since the start of fighting in Libya and have maintained regular contact with our contractor who has reported that everyone is well and that work continues in the cemeteries. Naturally, the Commission has instructed our staff to take all necessary precautions to ensure their ongoing safety. To all of you who have emailed, phoned or sent letters of support expressing your concerns and your good wishes for our colleagues, it is much appreciated. We will pass those comments on. We will continue to monitor the situation and keep you informed. Egypt – an update Readers will also be pleased to note that life is returning to normal for our colleagues in Egypt, where a recent visit confirmed that the cemeteries are in excellent order and the staff are in good spirits. British Prime Minister honours war dead 
On 26 May, David Cameron stopped to pay tribute to Britain's war dead as he arrived in France for the G8 summit.
210 Commonwealth soldiers from the First World War and 13 from the Second World War are commemorated at this cemetery as well as 90 German graves. 
If you are visiting Northern Europe at the beginning of July, you may wish to be aware of the following events organised by members of the Royal British Legion in France and Belgium and commemorating the 95th Anniversary of the Battle of the Somme and the 90th Anniversary of the Royal British Legion: Friday, 1 July 2011
Saturday 2 July 2011
Please visit the Last Post Association website for more information about the daily ceremonies held at the Menin Gate Memorial and their history. The Campaign in Mesopotamia Although the vast majority of First World War British and Empire casualties were incurred in France and Belgium (the ‘Western Front’), numerous other campaigns were fought in other parts of the world. Although each campaign was dangerous and unpleasant, amongst the most inhospitable conditions were those found in Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq). The campaign in Mesopotamia started at the outbreak of the war in 1914 and went on until October 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 United States of America, where th over 960 Commonwealth ar dead are commemorated by the Commission. Responsibility for the war graves in the United States rests with the Commission's Canadian Agency which is based in Ottawa, Canada. Don't forget..... The Commission publishes a series of free 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 
Thank you to all of you who took part in the customer service survey a couple of months ago. In the last newsletter we reported the excellent results from this survey. We are now also delighted to add that following benchmarking by the Leadership Factor against over 800 UK companies, the Commission achieved a rating of 89.9% in the Satisfaction Index, putting us in the top 8% of companies in the United Kingdom for excellence in customer service. Once again, we would like to thank all those who took the time to respond to this survey and for your continued support. 
Flying Lives If you are interested in aviation, ‘Flying Lives with a Norfolk Theme’, is a new book by Peter Gunn focussing on the true life stories of airmen set against a Norfolk background and includes
For more information on the book please click here |
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June 2011 NewsletterIn this Issue Social Media 
Partners: *The Commission is not responsible for the content of these external sites Photograph of the Month Competition May winner Tyne Cot Cemetery by Steve Morse Click on photograph to enlarge 
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