Absent bodies and broken hearts: the IWGC and the repatriation debate
In March 1915 the British government issued a ban on the exhumation and repatriation of soldiers back to the United Kingdom. Despite this some attempts were made by relatives to have their loved ones brought back 'home'.
Whilst military cemeteries were the most appropriate to commemorate the dead, when the project of military cemeteries was announced and the ban on repatriation was made permanent, the news created a lot of uproar in the UK.
Soon after the publication of the plans, certain newspapers ran campaigns to try to fight the decision made by the Imperial War Graves Commission and the issue of repatriation was brought up in Parliament. Many influential British figures became involved.
This presentation - at the WFA's 2023 AGM - by Prof Mark Connelly describes the controversy and the campaign to try to overturn the ban on the repatriation of British soldiers bodies after the First World War.
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