01 November 2017

New names of the fallen engraved onto the CWGC’s First World War memorial

The CWGC has added 19 new names to its 1914-1918 War Memorial at Brookwood Military Cemetery in Surrey, this week.

The majority of the names of the fallen service personnel were inscribed on panels at the CWGC’s workshop in France, in time for Remembrance Sunday, with one name for a nurse, inscribed onsite.

The Brookwood 1914-1918 Memorial is a memorial to the missing and commemorates casualties with no known grave. The majority of casualties commemorated are servicemen and women from the land forces of the UK.

The names of those added this year were not previously commemorated as war dead most likely because they came home and died of injuries or illnesses they received during active service, and the CWGC was not informed at the time. Now they can be remembered for their incredible sacrifice.

The youngest of the names is that of Lance Corporal George Crew, of the Machine Gun Corps, who was just 18 years old when he died on 16 March 1920. The eldest is Private William Yates, of the Manchester Regiment, who died aged 45 on 29 February 1916.

Two nurses are also commemorated: Nurse Anna Maud Grene Barry, of the Voluntary Aid Detachment, who died aged 26 on 10 October 1918 and Sister May Grant, of the Territorial Force Nursing Service, who died aged 39 on 2 November 1918.

Unfortunately, little is known of the 19 casualties, despite a family appeal by the CWGC.

They were not commemorated by the Commission at the time but, through the efforts of relatives and research groups, including the “In from the Cold” Project, these casualties have since been found. There are still many cases to be resolved and the memorial, therefore, allows for further names to be added.

Andrew Stillman, Operations Manager for UK Area at the Commission, said: “Every year we discover new names to add to our memorials or to erect new headstones thanks to family members or volunteer groups throughout the world.

“It just shows that more than 100 years on from the start of the Great War, remembering those who gave their lives is still incredibly important to people and they should not be forgotten.

“This Remembrance Sunday will now include and rightfully remember 19 men and women who died for their country.”

In addition to the Commonwealth plots at Brookwood, the cemetery also contains French, Polish, Czech, Belgian and Italian sections, and a number of war graves of other nationalities all cared for by the Commission. The American Military Cemetery is the responsibility of the American Battle Monuments Commission.

Brookwood Military Cemetery now contains 1,601 Commonwealth burials of the First World War and 3,476 from the Second World War and is the largest CWGC War Cemetery in the UK.

The 19 names on the memorial are:

Seaforth Highlanders

Died 22/04/1918, Aged 22

 

Voluntary Aid Detachment

Died 10/10/1918, Aged 26

 

H.M. COASTGUARD

Died 27/07/1921, Aged 42

 

Grenadier Guards

Died 26/02/1920, Aged 28

 

Royal Engineers

Died 19/10/1918, Aged 37

 

Royal Engineers

Died 27/04/1919, Aged 28

 

Grenadier Guards

Died 04/06/1917, Aged 21

 

The Black Watch

Died 13/12/1917, Aged 32

 

Royal Garrison Artillery

Died 08/03/1918, Aged 34

 

Inniskilling Dragoons

Died 02/07/1918, Aged 21

 

West India Regiment

Died 01/12/1918, Aged 30

 

Nottingham & Derby Regiment

Died 27/02/1919, Aged 19

 

Royal Field Artillery

Died 15/03/1918, Aged 21

 

Artists' Rifles

Died 20/12/1918, Aged 18

 

Arg. & Suth'd Highrs.

Died 14/03/1919, Aged 25

 

Cameron Highlanders

Died 07/08/1916, Aged 21

 

Territorial Force Nursing Service

Died 02/11/1918, Aged 39

 

Machine Gun Corps (Cav.)

Died 16/03/1920, Aged 18

 

Manchester Regiment

Died 29/02/1916, Aged 45