Commonwealth War Graves Commission

a guide to
Brookwood Military Cemetery

a guide to Brookwood Military

Cemetery

n May 1917, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission was established by Royal Charter. That same year, the need for a cemetery for servicemen and women who died in the London area was recognised and Brookwood Military Cemetery was established. The men and women buried in Brookwood died in hospitals in the London area from wounds received on the Western Front, of sickness or in training accidents. The cemetery was extended for the burial of Second World War casualties. Brookwood Military Cemetery is split into sections according to nationality and the war in which the casualty died. It is unique among Commonwealth war cemeteries in containing two Stones of Remembrance and two Crosses of Sacrifice.
The Canadian Section viewed from the Brookwood Memorial

The Canadian Records Building and Canadian Section

The Canadian Records building stands at the entrance to the cemetery. Designed by Edward Maufe, the building was a gift to the Commission from the Canadian government and was erected by the Royal Canadian Engineers. Over the entrance is the sculpted figure of a Canadian beaver (right) which was carved by one of the engineers. The building houses the cemetery registers, offices and a reception area for visitors. The walls of the reception room are painted with the coats of arms of Canada and the Canadian armed forces, their battle honours and divisional badges. Members of the Canadian Expeditionary Force were based in the United Kingdom during both world wars. Brookwood Military Cemetery contains 326 First World War and 2,405 Second World War Canadian burials. The vast majority of these burials are in the Canadian section. Maple trees line the avenue to the Cross of Sacrifice and Stone of Remembrance. Near the road are a small number of Polish and British post-war burials. Behind the Cross of Sacrifice is a small plot of Canadian post-war burials.

The Dieppe Raid

On 19 August 1942, a mostly Canadian assault force raided the French port of Dieppe. It was the first significant Allied action on the continent since the withdrawal of the British Expeditionary Force in 1940. As the troops landed they were spotted by a German convoy and lost the vital element of surprise. Casualties were heavy but the lessons learnt would prove vital in ensuring the success of the D-Day landings in 1944. Some of the wounded of the Dieppe Raid were evacuated and those who died of their injuries in the UK were buried in Plot 38 of the Canadian section of Brookwood Military Cemetery

The Brookwood Memorial

The Brookwood Memorial was designed by Ralph Hobday. It commemorates 3,438 men and women of the Commonwealth land forces who died during the Second World War and have no known grave. They died in raids, at sea or on service outside the main theatres of war. Among those honoured on the memorial are personnel who died during the 1940 campaign in Norway, in raids on occupied Europe such as the Dieppe Raid and as special agents.

Building the Brookwood Memorial

Brookwood American Cemetery

Brookwood American Cemetery and Memorial are owned and maintained by the American Battle Monuments Commission. The headstones are arranged in four groups around a flagpole. The plot contains a chapel and a reception building. The walls within the chapel are inscribed with the names of American service personnel who died at sea and have no known grave. For more information visit www.abmc.gov

Set Europe Ablaze Winston Churchill on the formation of the Special Operations Executive (SOE), 1940
During the Second World War the SOE sent hundreds of agents into occupied Europe. Their task was to co-ordinate, inspire, control and assist resistance movements. Many were captured, interrogated and executed. The majority of SOE dead have no known graves and the Brookwood Memorial alone bears the names of 81 of them. Among them are six female agents, including one of only four women ever to receive a George Cross, Violette Szabo

Main Commonwealth Section

This section contains the graves of all Commonwealth nationalities from both World Wars. The graves are grouped in plots by nationality and the war in which they died. This section also contains a small Second World War German plot. In the centre of the plot is the Stone of Remembrance. The Cross of Sacrifice stands to the north-west. A small plot of British post-war service burials lies just off this section.
left: Brookwood Canadian Section

right: Brookwood American Cemetery

The French Memorial

Boy Soldier
In Plot 7 lies the grave of a 15 year old, Thomas Andrew Knowles, who died of influenza in 1918. Thomas was one of an estimated 70 million people throughout the world who died in the influenza pandemic. Those who died in service are commemorated by the Commission

Brookwood United Kingdom 1914-1918 Memorial

This memorial (right) was created in 2004. It commemorates 217 Commonwealth casualties who died in the United Kingdom during the First World War but for whom no graves could be found.
Brookwood Memorial

Brookwood American Cemetery

Air Forces Section and RAF Shelter Building

The Air forces section contains graves of members of the Royal Air Force who died during the Second World War. Including Americans who served with Eagle Squadron of the Royal Air Force and some Dutch casualties. Nearby is the RAF Shelter Building which was designed by Edward Maufe, the Commissions principal architect for the United Kingdom after the Second World War. Among the non-Commonwealth sections are the graves of Czechs who served in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve.

Non-Commonwealth Graves
With the exception of the American Cemetery, all graves in Brookwood Military Cemetery are maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. There are plots of graves of French (244 burials), Polish (83 burials), Belgians (47 burials), Italians (346 burials), Germans (53 burials) and Serbs (3 burials).

The RAF Plot

The Chelsea Pensioners Plot

This plot contains the graves of over a thousand Chelsea Pensioners who died while in residence at the Royal Hospital, Chelsea. The graves are maintained by the Commission on behalf of the Royal Hospital. The Royal Hospital
The Royal Hospital, Chelsea was founded by King Charles II in 1682 as a retreat for veterans of the army. For more information visit www.chelsea-pensioners.co.uk

Brookwood Cemetery
Brookwood Cemetery was opened in 1854 by a private company as a burial ground for Londoners as space for burials was running out in the capital. It is now the largest cemetery in the United Kingdom. The graves of 12 nursing service casualties of the First World War lie in a small plot in Brookwood Cemetery and are maintained as war graves. A small plot of 28 Indian First World War graves and another of 14 Turkish Air Force burials of the Second World War lie just off the main Commonwealth section, outside the boundaries of Brookwood Military Cemetery.

Wartime service burials in the United Kingdom were not regulated and families often chose the final resting place. There are war graves in almost 12,500 burial grounds in the United Kingdom. Brookwood Military Cemetery is no exception and contains scattered burials, often with private memorials. As well as the plots mentioned above there are 98 First World War and 50 Second World War graves in Brookwood Cemetery.

Headstones in Brookwood Military Cemetery

Location
Brookwood Military Cemetery is located 3 miles west of Woking on the A324 towards Pirbright. (See map overleaf) Opening hours: Gates are unlocked and locked at the following times. Summer (1 April to 30 September) Weekends/Bank holidays 8am to 7.30pm, or dusk if earlier. Winter (1 October to 31 March) Weekends/Bank holidays 8am to 4pm, or dusk if earlier. Brookwood Military Cemetery is closed on Christmas Day and New Years Day.
Czech Plot HM The Queen at the unveiling of the Brookwood Memorial, 1958

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission is responsible for marking and maintaining the graves of those members of the Commonwealth forces who died during the two world wars, for building and maintaining memorials to the dead whose graves are unknown and for providing records and registers of these 1.7 million burials and commemorations which are found in most countries throughout the world. Enquiries about the location of individual burials and commemorations may be directed to the office below or the search by surname database on the Commissions website at www.cwgc.org For further information contact: Commonwealth War Graves Commission 2 Marlow Road Maidenhead Berkshire SL6 7DX Tel: +44 (0) 1628 507200 Fax: +44 (0) 1628 771208 Email: casualty.enq@cwgc.org

Cover image courtesy Natalie Salat. Other images Brian Harris and CWGC archive