Brookwood Military Cemetery Commonwealth War Graves Commission a guide to
Brookwood MilitaryCemetery
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
a guide to
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In May 1917, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission wasestablished by Royal Charter. That same year, the need for a cemeteryfor servicemen and women who died in the London area was
recognised and Brookwood Military Cemetery was established. The menand women buried in Brookwood died in hospitals in the London areafrom wounds received on the Western Front, of sickness or in trainingaccidents. The cemetery was extended for the burial of Second WorldWar casualties.
Brookwood Military Cemetery is split into sections according to nationalityand the war in which the casualty died. It is unique among Commonwealthwar cemeteries in containing two Stones of Remembrance and twoCrosses of Sacrifice.
a guide toBrookwood Military
Cemetery
The Canadian Section viewed from the Brookwood Memorial
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The Canadian Records Building and Canadian SectionThe Canadian Records building stands at theentrance to the cemetery. Designed byEdward Maufe, the building was a gift to theCommission from the Canadian governmentand was erected by the Royal CanadianEngineers. Over the entrance is the sculptedfigure of a Canadian beaver (right) which wascarved by one of the engineers. The building houses the cemeteryregisters, offices and a reception area for visitors. The walls of thereception room are painted with the coats of arms of Canada and theCanadian armed forces, their battle honours and divisional badges.
Members of the CanadianExpeditionary Force werebased in the UnitedKingdom during both worldwars. Brookwood MilitaryCemetery contains 326 FirstWorld War and 2,405Second World War Canadianburials. The vast majority ofthese burials are in theCanadian section. Mapletrees line the avenue to theCross of Sacrifice and Stoneof Remembrance. Near theroad are a small number ofPolish and British post-warburials. Behind the Cross ofSacrifice is a small plot ofCanadian post-war burials.
The Dieppe RaidOn 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
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The Brookwood MemorialThe Brookwood Memorial was designed byRalph Hobday. It commemorates 3,438 menand women of the Commonwealth landforces who died during the Second WorldWar and have no known grave. They died inraids, at sea or on service outside the maintheatres of war. Among those honoured onthe memorial are personnel who died duringthe 1940 campaign in Norway, in raids onoccupied Europe such as the Dieppe Raid andas special agents.
Brookwood American CemeteryBrookwood American Cemetery andMemorial are owned and maintained by theAmerican Battle Monuments Commission.The headstones are arranged in four groupsaround a flagpole. The plot contains a chapeland a reception building. The walls within thechapel are inscribed with the names ofAmerican service personnel who died at seaand have no known grave. For moreinformation visit www.abmc.gov
Building the Brookwood Memorial
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Main Commonwealth SectionThis section contains the graves of allCommonwealth nationalities from bothWorld Wars. The graves are grouped inplots by nationality and the war in whichthey died. This section also contains asmall Second World War German plot. Inthe centre of the plot is the Stone ofRemembrance. The Cross of Sacrificestands to the north-west. A small plot ofBritish post-war service burials lies just offthis section.
“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
left: Brookwood Canadian Section
right: Brookwood American Cemetery
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The French Memorial
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Brookwood United Kingdom1914-1918 MemorialThis memorial (right) was created in 2004.It commemorates 217 Commonwealthcasualties who died in the United Kingdomduring the First World War but for whomno graves could be found.
Boy SoldierIn 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 Memorial
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Air Forces Section and RAF Shelter BuildingThe Air forces section contains graves of members of theRoyal Air Force who died during the Second World War.Including Americans who served with Eagle Squadron of theRoyal Air Force and some Dutch casualties. Nearby is theRAF Shelter Building which was designed by Edward Maufe,the Commission’s principal architect for the United Kingdomafter the Second World War.
Among the non-Commonwealth sections are the graves of Czechs whoserved in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve.
Non-Commonwealth GravesWith the exception of the American Cemetery, all graves in BrookwoodMilitary Cemetery are maintained by the Commonwealth War GravesCommission. There are plots of graves of French (244 burials), Polish (83burials), Belgians (47 burials), Italians (346 burials), Germans (53 burials)and Serbs (3 burials).
Brookwood American Cemetery
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The Chelsea Pensioners PlotThis plot contains the graves ofover a thousand ChelseaPensioners who died while inresidence at the Royal Hospital,Chelsea. The graves aremaintained by the Commission onbehalf of the Royal Hospital.
Brookwood CemeteryBrookwood Cemetery was opened in 1854 by a private company as aburial ground for Londoners as space for burials was running out in thecapital. It is now the largest cemetery in the United Kingdom.
The graves of 12 nursing service casualties of the First World War lie ina small plot in Brookwood Cemetery and are maintained as wargraves. A small plot of 28 Indian First World War graves and anotherof 14 Turkish Air Force burials of the Second World War lie just off themain Commonwealth section, outside the boundaries of BrookwoodMilitary Cemetery.
The Royal HospitalThe 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
The RAF Plot
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Wartime service burials in the UnitedKingdom were not regulated andfamilies often chose the final restingplace. There are war graves in almost12,500 burial grounds in the UnitedKingdom. Brookwood MilitaryCemetery is no exception andcontains scattered burials, often withprivate memorials. As well as the plotsmentioned above there are 98 FirstWorld War and 50 Second World Wargraves in Brookwood Cemetery.
LocationBrookwood Military Cemetery islocated 3 miles west of Woking on theA324 towards Pirbright. (See mapoverleaf)
Opening hours: Gates are unlockedand locked at the following times.
Summer (1 April to 30 September)Weekends/Bank holidays 8am to7.30pm, or dusk if earlier.
Winter (1 October to 31 March)Weekends/Bank holidays 8am to 4pm,or dusk if earlier.
Brookwood Military Cemetery isclosed on Christmas Day and NewYear’s Day.
Headstones in Brookwood Military Cemetery
HM The Queen at the unveiling of theBrookwood Memorial, 1958
Czech Plot
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The Commonwealth War Graves Commission is responsible for marking andmaintaining the graves of those members of the Commonwealth forces whodied during the two world wars, for building and maintaining memorials to thedead whose graves are unknown and for providing records and registers ofthese 1.7 million burials and commemorations which are found in mostcountries throughout the world.
Enquiries about the locationof individual burials andcommemorations may bedirected to the office belowor the search by surnamedatabase on theCommission’s website atwww.cwgc.org
For further information contact:Commonwealth War Graves Commission2 Marlow RoadMaidenheadBerkshireSL6 7DXTel: +44 (0) 1628 507200Fax: +44 (0) 1628 771208Email: [email protected]
Cover image courtesy Natalie Salat. Other images Brian Harris and CWGC archive
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