The blueprint for the design of cemeteries after the war was set out in the Kenyon Report ‘War Graves. How the cemeteries abroad will be designed’. The fundamental tenet of the approach was that of equality of treatment, hence the proposals around banning repatriation, the erection of private memorials in cemeteries (which had already been banned since 30 May 1916) and standardisation of headstones.
The report did recognise that relatives may wish to add some words and therefore, the report proposed that ‘a short inscription of no more than three lines’ would be permissible, at a cost to be borne by the applicant, with the Commission having the ultimate decision on any inscriptions proposed.
Above: the guidance provided to relatives regarding personal inscriptions.
The Kenyon Report was not universally acclaimed – in particular, the ban on repatriation and what was seen as the secularisation of headstones were common areas of dissent. The decision to charge relatives for a personal inscription – at the initial cost 3 ½ pence per letter, with a limit of 66 letters, including spaces, result in a potential cost of around £1 – led to accusations of hypocrisy, as many families might be unable to afford the cost, although the Commission’s records suggest that non-payment of the fee did not preclude the inscription being carried out. Australia and Canada bore the cost of any personal inscriptions for their dead, whilst New Zealand banned them altogether, on the basis of equality of treatment. According to the Commission, more than 229,000 personal inscriptions were carried out [1].
The subject of this article is the small number of war graves where the inscriptions are substantially longer than that suggested by the Imperial War Graves Commission in 1918.
The examples of long inscriptions cited may not be exhaustive and some may be better known than others. Whilst the CWGC e-files contain many examples of correspondence with relatives regarding war graves, there are only two files relating to cases of a special inscription. In most, but not all instances, the CWGC headstone records include a schedule with the non-standard layout and inscription.
The longest non standard headstone inscription [2] found thus far, with a total of 395characters, is that for Private Edward Rust. He is also one of only two non-commissioned soldiers found thus far to have a non-standard inscription on his headstone – at a cost annotated on the schedule in the CWGC files of £4/13s – a not inconsiderable sum of money in the post war era. The full inscription reads:
SERIOUSLY WOUNDED WHILE ADVANCING WITH HIS REGIMENT IN THE FIGHTING NEAR ST. JULIEN SAT. APRIL 24. 1915 HE WAS TAKEN TO THE FIELD HOSPITAL BUT WAS SO EAGER TO UPHOLD THE HONOUR OF HIS REGIMENT AND TO SERVE HIS COUNTRY THAT HE RETURNED NEXT DAY TO THE FIRING LINE AND REMAINED WITH HIS COMRADES UNTIL THEY WERE RELIEVED AND DIED ON APRIL 30TH COURAGEOUS TO THE END AND BELOVED BY ALL WHO KNEW HIM
Above: the headstone of Pte Edward Rust in Hazebrouck Communal Cemetery.
Edward Rust’s parents – the Reverend Edward Rust and his wife, Sarah– also paid for an entry to be made in De Ruvigny’s Roll of Honour.Edward had joined the Territorials whilst still at school and volunteered for foreign service in 1914. He had been at the front line for only oneweek before he was wounded. He died, aged 19 years.
Above: Edward Rust. Photo – Ancestry
Lt. Alfred James Lawrence Evans, who is buried in Bailleul Communal Cemetery Extension has a non standard inscription of 318 characters.
Alfred served in the CEF and presumably, as the Canadian Government was bearing the cost of all personal inscriptions for Canadian servicemen, the CWGC records do not show the detail of the special inscription or the cost on a schedule document. In this case, the cost would have worked out at just over £3. The full inscription reads:
BORN AT QUEBEC DIED OF WOUNDS RECEIVED ON 23RD NOVEMBER 1915 WHILE IN COMMAND OF 1ST BDE. MINING SEC. 3RD BTN. FRONT LINE TRENCHES BELGIUM MENTIONED IN DESPATCHES FOR GALLANT AND DISTINGUISHED CONDUCT IN THE FIELD "THE BRAVE DIE NEVER BEING DEATHLESS THEY BUT CHANGE THEIR COUNTRY'S ARMS FOR MORE THEIR COUNTRY'S HEART"
Above: the headstone for Lt. Alfred James Lawrence Evans
Alfred Evans was born in Quebec, the son of Lorenzo and Elizabeth Evans. After graduation from McGill University, he became a mining engineer in British Columbia. He left Canada in the First Contingent as a Sapper, and later was promoted to Corporal. In July 1915, he was commissioned as Lieutenant, serving in the 1st Field Company, Canadian Engineers. He died of wounds in No. 2 Casualty Clearing Station on 7 December 1915.
Above: Lt Alfred James Lawrence Evans. Photo – McGill Honor Roll
The inscription on Captain Guy Charles Boileau Willock’s headstone totalled 257 characters, at a cost to relatives of £2/19s/6d.
SHOT WHILE LEADING HIS MEN OVER THE TOP "HE WAS LOVED BY ALL WHO KNEW HIM A BRAVE SOLDIER AND A GALLANT GENTLEMAN OF NEVER FAILING CHEERFULNESS & CONTEMPTUOUS OF DANGER" "PEACE, PEACE, HE IS NOT DEAD HE DOTH NOT SLEEP HE HATH AWAKENED FROM THE DREAM OF LIFE"
Above: the headstone for Guy Willock. His grave was concentrated into Dud Corner Cemetery, near Loos. Photo – IWM.
Guy Willock was the son of Charles Johnston Willock and his wife, Eleanor. He was also a great grandson of Sir Henry Willock of the Indian Army and later of the East India Company. After attending Cambridge, Guy was a barrister in London. Commissioned in the 18th London Regiment, he had gone to France with his regiment in May 1915. Their attack on the first day of the Battle of Loos was one in which a football was dribbled over No Man’s Land.
Above: a press cutting published after Guy Willock’s death
Lt. Robert William Sterling’s headstone in Dickebusch New Military Cemetery has 233 characters inscribed at the request of relatives:
SCHOLAR OF PEMBROKE COLLEGE OXFORD AUTHOR OF NEWDIGATE PRIZE POEM 1914 KILLED IN ACTION AT YPRES AND IN MEMORY OF HIS BROTHER SECOND LIEUTENANT JOHN LOCKHART STERLING ROYAL SCOTS FUSILIERS KILLED IN ACTION AT LOOS 28TH SEPTEMBER 1915
Above: Robert Sterling’s headstone in Dickebusch New Military Cemetery.
Robert Sterling had been educated at Glasgow Academy and Sedbergh before going to Pembroke College in 1912. On the outbreak of war in 1914, he sought and received a commission and later trained in Scotland before going to France in February 1915. He was killed on 23 April 1915 at Ypres. After his death, a book of his poems was published in February 1916.
Above: Robert William Sterling. Photo: warpoets.org.uk
Lt. Frank Eliot Burt’s remains were concentrated into Busigny Communal Cemetery Extension in 1921. The concentration report indicates that a cross had been erected on the original grave.
The inscription requested by relatives totalled 233 characters at a cost of £2/14s/6d.
HE WAS AN INSPIRATION OF RADIANT BRIGHTNESS AND GREATLY BELOVED IN PROUD MEMORY OF THE ABOVE AND ALSO OF A. GORDON BURT PASSED AWAY AT SEA 4TH SEPT. 1919 AFTER MUCH SUFFERING FROM WOUNDS RECEIVED WHILE SERVING IN FRANCE NOW GLORIFIED
Above: the headstone for Lt. Frank Eliot Burt. Photo: IWM
Frank was educated at King Edward VI school and then became a bank clerk. He enlisted in late 1915 in the North Staffordshire Regiment but did not go to France until April 1917 – by that time he had been commissioned as 2/Lt. Within a month, he was severely wounded in the leg and returned to England. He would not return to France until April 1918, by which time he had been given two Belgian awards – the first of these was Chevalier de l’Ordre de la Couronne. The second was the Croix de Guerre. Frank was killed on 3 October 1918. His grave was concentrated into Busigny Communal Cemetery Extension after the war. His brother, who is remembered on the personal inscription, served with the Australian Forces. C
In the following example of a long inscription, there is a large file held by the CWGC [3] as, after the war, Captain Pulteney Malcolm’s father had a long running correspondence with the IWGC regarding his son’s grave which was then located in L’Homme Mort Cemetery No. 1 alongside 12 graves of his son’s men, all killed on 25 August 1918.
Above: the original grave of Captain Pulteney Malcolm. Photo: CWGC file
Initially, Mr Malcolm sought the repatriation of his son’s body but when that was ruled out by the Commission, he then insisted on the retention of the grave in its original location when the Commission suggested that the graves in this location might be concentrated elsewhere. The family also erected a private memorial now located on the exterior wall of the cemetery. It was later decided by the Commission that L’Homme Mort Cemetery No. 1 would be retained, with further burials in the cemetery resulting from concentrations.
The inscription on Pulteney Malcolm’s headstone reads:
ONLY CHILD OF LIEUT. COL. & MRS. P. MALCOLM BORN 4TH AUGUST 1894. KILLED NEAR THIS SPOT "THINE EYES SHALL SEE" "THE KING IN HIS BEAUTY" "THEY SHALL BEHOLD" "THE LAND OF FAR DISTANCES" ISAIAH XXXIII VERSE 17
At 206 characters, the cost amounted to £2/10s/2d which his father paid.
Above: Captain Pulteney Malcolm
The inscription on Lt. John Philip Beningfield’s headstone in Divisional Cemetery, Dickebusch runs to 200 characters:
ALSO TO SECOND LIEUTENANT MAURICE VICTOR BENINGFIELD AGE 17 1ST WORCESTERSHIRE REGT. KILLED 10TH MARCH 1915 NEUVE CHAPELLE ONLY SONS OF THE LATE COLONEL J.W. BENINGFIELD ESSEX REGIMENT "EVER GLORIOUS"
Above: John Philip Beningfield’s headstone.
Above: The two brothers, killed within weeks of each other. Maurice has no known grave and is commemorated on the Le Touret Memorial. Photos –findagrave.com
At 186 characters, the inscription for 2/Lt. Geoffrey George Miers-Green was at a cost of £2/2s. His headstone is situated in Gommecourt No 2 Cemetery. It indicates that his grave could not be located after the war but is believed to be buried in the cemetery.
THE ONLY AND BELOVED SON OF GEORGE W. AND FANNIE GREEN OF ELM LODGE, HORBURY NR. WAKEFIELD, YORKS. HIS LIFE WAS LOVELY AND PLEASANT THE LIGHT OF OUR EYES AND THE JOY OF ALL WHO KNEW HIM.
Above: the headstone for Geoffrey Miers-Green and a newspaper cutting reporting his death. Photos: Great War Forum
In Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, the personal inscription on the headstone of Private William James Morton, of the South African Scottish Regiment has 170 characters:
FOR FREEDOM & JUSTICE HE HEARD THE CRY FOR HELP FROM HIS MOTHERLAND AND MADE THE SUPREME SACRIFICE GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN THIS BORN GLASGOW, SCOTLAND 1ST JULY 1894
Above: the headstone for William James Morton.
There are several examples of inscriptions well beyond 66 characters but falling short of the those identified above.
The inscription for 2/Lt. John Adshead Gemmill, buried in Lonsdale Cemetery totalled 160 characters, at a cost of £1/17s:
IN PROUD AND LOVING MEMORY ELDEST SON OF MR. & MRS. J. LEIPER GEMMILL 16 DARGARVEL AVENUE, GLASGOW KILLED IN ACTION NEAR THIEPVAL LOVED ONE DEATH IS NOT THE END
Above: Gemmill's headstone (find a grave.com)
As was the case in the inscription on Lt. John Philip Beningfield’s headstone, the personal inscription on the headstone of 2/Lt William McCall Johnstone in Erquinghem-Lys Churchyard Extension also commemorates his two brothers, one of whom died in 1922.
ALSO IN MEMORY OF MAJOR HENRY ARCHER JOHNSTONE KILLED NEAR BULLECOURT MARCH 21ST 1918. AGE 28 AND SERJEANT J.G.JOHNSTONE 28TH BATTN. CANADIANS MAY 1922. AGE 34
A similar personal inscription (referring to William McCall Johnstone) is included on the headstone of Major Henry Archer Johnstone, buried in Wancourt British Cemetery.
Both William and Henry had attended Sedburgh School where William’s obituary in the Sedburgian School magazine stated:
“…A fragment of shrapnel struck him in the shoulder, and probably travelled down to his heart. He immediately collapsed into the arms of his senior officer. Then he smiled, closed his eyes, and it was all over in a few seconds. So ended the life of one of the sweetest characters that has ever died for his country…….”.
Above: William McCall Johnstone and his brother, Henry Archer Johnstone. Photos:rollofhonour.nottinghamshire.gov.uk
The eldest son of the family, John Gordon Johnstone, who served as a Sergeant in the C.E.F during the war, died of meningitis in 1922 and was buried in Nottingham General Cemetery.
Lt. Duncan Flowers Cunningham Reid’s original grave was located in Oostcamp Churchyard, with his name and that of Lt. N. G. Smith on the same cross which had been erected by the Germans. Duncan Flowers Cunningham Reid had transferred to the Royal Flying Corps in October 1915 and was killed on 19 December 1915.
The CWGC file [4] indicates that a visitor to the churchyard in 1922 noted that this grave was “out of the ordinary as it has for its monument the remains of the airship in which the deceased officers met their deaths’ but unfortunately the photograph submitted by the visitor is not included in the file. Headstones were erected in this cemetery in 1927 with the relatives agreeing the inscription totalling 156 characters earlier in 1926.
The inscription on his headstone was:
SENT 60 MILES TO PROTECT ANOTHER HE FOUGHT IN THE AIR FOR HALF AN HOUR SURROUNDED BY THE ENEMY ENABLING RECONNAISSANCE MACHINE TO RETURN SAFELY LOVED BY ALL
Above: the obituary which appeared in The Graphic on 10 February 1916.
In October 1980, the two graves in Oostcamp Cemetery were concentrated to Cement House Cemetery.
Above: Duncan Cunningham Reid’s headstone in Cement House Cemetery.
Lt. Jean Brillant VC, MC of the CEF, died of wounds on 10 August 1918, was originally buried in Dury Hospital Military Cemetery. His grave was later concentrated to Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery in 1927. The personal inscription running to some 144 characters, reads:
FILS DE JOSEPH BRILLANT ENROLE VOLONTAIREMENT A RIMOUSKI, PROVINCE DE QUEBEC TOMBE GLORIEUSEMENT SUR LE SOL DE SES AIEUX BON SANG NE PEUT MENTIR
Above: Lt. Jan Brillant VC,MC. Photo – cefrg.ca
Finally, the headstone for 2/Lt Iowerth Roland Owen in Ste. Catherine British Cemetery bears a personal inscription running to 138 characters.
KILLED IN ACTION SINGLE HANDED AGAINST FIVE ENEMY PLANES ABOVE THIS SPOT DEARLY LOVED SON OF DR. AND MRS. ROWLAND OWEN SEAFORTH, LIVERPOOL
Above: Ste Catherine British Cemetery. Photo: CWGC
So, can we now, some 100+ years after these deaths, cast any light on why some casualties have been thus remembered?
The stark answer is – probably not, for a number of reasons. The circumstances of the original burials differ – some were buried in existing cemeteries, whilst others have been concentrated into CWGC cemeteries from communal cemeteries or other locations. The erection of private memorials in France and Belgium had been banned since 1916 and therefore it is highly unlikely that these inscriptions simply mirrored inscriptions placed on private memorials during the war(a separate study of private memorials in France and Belgium is intended for publication in 2025). It is perhaps more likely, and more understandably, that for some families, the need to provide a uniquely personal contribution to their relative’s headstone was an essential part of their grieving process.
Article contributed by Jill Stewart
Acknowledgements
With thanks to David Tattersfield for a number of the photographs featured in this article.
Footnotes
[1] For a fascinating insight into a number of the personal inscriptions to be found on CWGC headstones, see ‘On Fame’s Eternal Camping Ground’ by Trefor Jones.
[2] For this article, the words provided by relatives have been used as detailed in Schedules on the CWGC website, where these are available.
[3] CWGC/8/1/4/1/4/21 (HLG 13376)
[4] CWGC/8/1/4/1/2/127 (CCM40071)