List of Commonwealth War Graves Commission World War II memorials to the missing

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The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) aims to commemorate the UK and Commonwealth dead of the World Wars, either by maintaining a war grave in a cemetery, or where there is no known grave, by listing the dead on a memorial to the missing. This is a listing of those memorials maintained solely or jointly by the CWGC that commemorate by name the British and Commonwealth dead from World War II whose bodies were not recovered, or whose remains could not be identified. [1] Also included here are memorials to those who were cremated, and the Rolls of Honour that commemorate land and naval losses of undivided India during the Second World War. This listing is of the CWGC memorials with over 4000 names commemorated. The total number of names inscribed on the memorials or rolls of honour listed here, according to the CWGC figures given in the table below, is 188,971.

Contents

List of memorials

Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) World War II memorials
Article and referencePictureCountryLocationCo-ordinatesNumber listedDescription of those listedDates coveredMajor battlesDate unveiledMemorial designerMemorial unveiled by
Rangoon Memorial

CWGC

Taukkyan.jpg Myanmar Taukkyan 17°02′08″N96°07′54″E / 17.0356°N 96.1317°E / 17.0356; 96.1317 (Rangoon Memorial) 26,851Commonwealth nationsJanuary 1942 to July 1945 Burma Campaign 9 February 1958Henry J. Brown Francis Festing
Delhi/Karachi 1939-1945 War Memorial

CWGC

picture India and Pakistan Delhi and Karachi 28°36′58″N77°08′43″E / 28.6162°N 77.1452°E / 28.6162; 77.1452 (Delhi 1939-1945 War Memorial) 24°53′42″N67°05′27″E / 24.8949°N 67.0909°E / 24.8949; 67.0909 (Karachi 1939-1945 War Memorial) 25,866Servicemen of British Indiaentire warnon-operational zonesn/an/an/a
Singapore Memorial

CWGC

Kranji War Memorial 03.jpg Singapore Kranji 1°25′07″N103°45′29″E / 1.4185°N 103.7580°E / 1.4185; 103.7580 (Singapore Memorial) 24,303Commonwealth nationsmostly December 1941 and January 1942 Malayan and Indonesian campaigns2 March 1957 Colin St Clair Oakes Robert Black
Tower Hill Memorial (extension)

CWGC

Tower Hill Memorial 2.jpg United Kingdom London 51°30′35″N0°04′40″W / 51.5097°N 0.0778°W / 51.5097; -0.0778 (Tower Hill Memorial) 23,831Mercantile Marineentire warnaval transport and convoys5 November 1955 Edward Maufe (extension) Queen Elizabeth II
Runnymede Memorial

CWGC

AirForcesMemorial.JPG United Kingdom Runnymede 51°26′16″N0°33′54″W / 51.4378°N 0.5650°W / 51.4378; -0.5650 (Runnymede Memorial) 20,291Royal Air Forceentire waraerial missions17 October 1953 Edward Maufe Queen Elizabeth II
Plymouth Naval Memorial (extension)

CWGC

War memorial, Plymouth.jpg United Kingdom Plymouth 50°21′52″N4°08′32″W / 50.3644°N 4.1422°W / 50.3644; -4.1422 (Plymouth Naval Memorial) 15,933Royal Navyentire warnaval campaigns20 May 1954 Edward Maufe (extension) Princess Margaret [2]
Portsmouth Naval Memorial (extension)

CWGC

Portsmouth Naval Memorial.jpg United Kingdom Portsmouth 50°46′57″N1°05′45″W / 50.7824°N 1.0958°W / 50.7824; -1.0958 (Portsmouth Naval Memorial) 14,918Royal Navyentire warnaval campaigns29 April 1953 Edward Maufe (extension) Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother
Alamein Memorial

CWGC

picture Egypt El Alamein 30°50′14″N28°56′49″E / 30.8372°N 28.9469°E / 30.8372; 28.9469 (Alamein Memorial) 11,864Commonwealth nationsup to 19 February 1943Battles of El Alamein (First; Second)24 October 1954 Hubert Worthington Bernard Montgomery
Chatham Naval Memorial (extension)

CWGC

GillinghamNavalWarMem2711.JPG United Kingdom Chatham 51°23′01″N0°31′56″E / 51.3836°N 0.5322°E / 51.3836; 0.5322 (Chatham Naval Memorial) 10,098Royal Navyentire warnaval campaigns15 October 1952 Edward Maufe (extension) Prince Philip
Bombay/Chittagong 1939-1945 War Memorial

CWGC

picture India and Bangladesh Mumbai and Chittagong 18°57′18″N72°50′24″E / 18.9549°N 72.8400°E / 18.9549; 72.8400 (Bombay 1939-1945 War Memorial) 22°21′27″N91°49′42″E / 22.3574°N 91.8282°E / 22.3574; 91.8282 (Chittagong 1939-1945 War Memorial) 6,467Sailors and merchant seamen of British Indiaentire warnaval campaigns and transportn/an/an/a
Dunkirk Memorial

CWGC

Dunkirk Town Cem. 14.JPG France Dunkirk 51°01′47″N2°23′19″E / 51.029741°N 2.388475°E / 51.029741; 2.388475 (Dunkirk Memorial) 4,505 British Expeditionary Force mostly 1939 and 1940 Battle of Dunkirk 29 June 1957 Philip Hepworth Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother [3]
Cassino Memorial

CWGC

picture Italy Cassino 41°28′39″N13°49′38″E / 41.4776°N 13.8271°E / 41.4776; 13.8271 (Cassino Memorial) 4,044Commonwealth nations10 July 1943 to 2 May 1945 Italian Campaign 30 September 1956 Louis de Soissons Harold Alexander

See also

Related Research Articles

Commonwealth War Graves Commission Commonwealth organisation responsible for war graves

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations military service members who died in the two World Wars. The commission is also responsible for commemorating Commonwealth civilians who died as a result of enemy action during the Second World War. The commission was founded by Sir Fabian Ware and constituted through Royal Charter in 1917 as the Imperial War Graves Commission. The change to the present name took place in 1960.

Menin Gate World War I memorial in Ypres, Belgium

The Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing is a war memorial in Ypres, Belgium, dedicated to the British and Commonwealth soldiers who were killed in the Ypres Salient of World War I and whose graves are unknown. The memorial is located at the eastern exit of the town and marks the starting point for one of the main roads out of the town that led Allied soldiers to the front line. Designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield and built by the Imperial War Graves Commission, the Menin Gate Memorial was unveiled on 24 July 1927.

Tower Hill Memorial War memorial in Trinity Square Gardens, in London, England

The Tower Hill Memorial is a pair of Commonwealth War Graves Commission memorials in Trinity Square Gardens, on Tower Hill in London, England. The memorials, one for the First World War and one for the Second, commemorate civilian merchant sailors and fishermen who were killed as a result of enemy action and have no known grave. The first, the Mercantile Marine War Memorial, was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and unveiled in 1928; the second, the Merchant Seamen's Memorial, was designed by Sir Edward Maufe and unveiled in 1955. A third memorial, commemorating merchant sailors who were killed in the 1982 Falklands War, was added to the site in 2005.

Thiepval Memorial Memorial located in Somme, in France

The Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme is a war memorial to 72,337 missing British and South African servicemen who died in the Battles of the Somme of the First World War between 1915 and 1918, with no known grave. It is near the village of Thiepval, Picardy in France. A visitors' centre opened in 2004. Designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, Thiepval has been described as "the greatest executed British work of monumental architecture of the twentieth century".

Brussels Cemetery Cemetery in Belgium

Brussels Cemetery is a cemetery situated in Evere, Brussels, Belgium. Located in the neighbouring municipality of Evere, rather than in the City of Brussels proper, it is adjacent to Schaerbeek Cemetery and Evere Cemetery, but should not be confused with either.

Kranji War Cemetery Cemetery in Singapore

The Kranji War Cemetery is located in Kranji, Singapore, and is the final resting place for Allied soldiers who perished during the Battle of Singapore and the subsequent Japanese occupation of the island from 1942 to 1945 and in other parts of Southeast Asia during World War II.

Tyne Cot

Tyne Cot Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery and Memorial to the Missing is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) burial ground for the dead of the First World War in the Ypres Salient on the Western Front. It is the largest cemetery for Commonwealth forces in the world, for any war. The cemetery and its surrounding memorial are located outside Passendale, near Zonnebeke in Belgium.

Sai Wan War Cemetery

Sai Wan War Cemetery is a military cemetery located in Chai Wan, Hong Kong which was built in 1946. The cemetery was created to commemorate soldiers of Hong Kong Garrison who perished during the Second World War. The cemetery also contains 12 World War I burials. A total of 1,528 soldiers, mainly from the Commonwealth, are commemorated here. Most of the remaining burials are located at the Stanley Military Cemetery.

Ploegsteert Memorial to the Missing War memorial in Belgium

The Ploegsteert Memorial to the Missing is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) memorial in Belgium for missing soldiers of World War I. It commemorates men from the Allied Powers who fought on the northern Western Front outside the Ypres Salient and whose graves are unknown. The memorial is located in the village of Ploegsteert and stands in the middle of Berks Cemetery Extension.

La Ferté-sous-Jouarre memorial

The La Ferté-sous-Jouarre memorial is a World War I memorial in France, located on the south bank of the river Marne, on the outskirts of the commune of La Ferté-sous-Jouarre, 66 kilometres east of Paris, in the department of Seine-et-Marne. Also known as the Memorial to the Missing of the Marne, it commemorates over 3,700 British and Irish soldiers with no known grave, who fell in battle in this area in August, September and early October 1914. The soldiers were part of the British Expeditionary Force, and are listed on the memorial by regiment, rank and then alphabetically.

Cannock Chase German Military Cemetery

The Cannock Chase German Military Cemetery is on Cannock Chase, Staffordshire, England. The cemetery contains nearly 5,000 burials from both the First and Second World War. The burials are mainly German and Austrian nationals with a very small number of Ukrainians.

Plymouth Naval Memorial

The Plymouth Naval Memorial is a war memorial in Plymouth, Devon, England which is dedicated to British and Commonwealth sailors who were lost in World War I and World War II with no known grave.

Jerusalem British War Cemetery is a British cemetery in Jerusalem for fallen servicemen of the British Commonwealth in the World War I in Palestine.

Dunkirk Memorial

The Dunkirk Memorial is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission memorial to the missing that commemorates 4,505 missing dead of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), most of whom fell prior to and during the Battle of Dunkirk in 1939 and 1940, in the fall of France during the Second World War.

Doiran Memorial

The Doiran Memorial is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission war memorial that is both a battlefield memorial and a memorial to the missing. It honours the dead of the British Salonika Force as well as commemorating by name the 2171 missing dead of that force who fell in fighting on the Macedonian front during the First World War in the period 1915–1918.

Kirkee War Cemetery

The Kirkee War Cemetery is a cemetery in Khadki, a town near Pune in Maharashtra, India. The cemetery was created to provide graves for the fallen from central and western India in the Second World War, where there could not be certainty about their graves elsewhere being permanently maintained.

Known unto God

Known unto God is a phrase used on the gravestones of unknown soldiers in Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) cemeteries. The phrase was selected by British poet Rudyard Kipling who worked for what was then the Imperial War Graves Commission during the First World War. The origin of the phrase is unknown but it has been linked to sections of the King James Bible. The phrase was re-used for those killed during the Second World War and appears on more than 212,000 gravestones across the world. In 2013 there was controversy when it was proposed that the phrase be removed from the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Australian War Memorial.

Delhi War Cemetery

The Delhi War Cemetery, in the Delhi Cantonment, Delhi, India, is the site of the graves of 1,154 service personnel who served the British Empire during the First and Second World Wars. The cemetery was established in 1951 to ensure the permanent preservation of the remains of soldiers across various cemeteries in northern India.

References

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  1. Some of those named on memorials to the missing will have been buried as "unknowns", with a gravestone marked "Known Unto God", but the bodies of many of those commemorated on these memorials were never recovered, could not be recovered, or no remains were left to be recovered.
  2. A further unveiling was made on 11 November 1956 by Admiral Sir Mark Pizey.
  3. "Unveiling of Dunkirk Memorial by HM Queen Mother, 1957". The National Archives. Retrieved 23 July 2016.