Grave job threat insults war dead

My family and I were disgusted to read about the decision of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to cut the wages of the great people who look after the graves (Mirror, December 14).

Having visited the cemeteries in France and Belgium we were very happy to see how well kept they were. The staff have dedicated their lives to tending the graves of those who gave everything for their countries and have been treated very poorly. I wonder if the bosses at the commission will also have their pay halved? I doubt it.

It is also dreadful that they notified these good people by email and used Brexit as an excuse.

These are the graves of our brave soldiers who fought for this country and made the ultimate sacrifice and we can’t believe they would be just cast aside in this callous way. R Churchill, Lowestoft, Suffolk

I was very upset to read that our war graves staff in Europe will be another victim of Brexit as their wages are likely to be cut in half. My father is buried in a community cemetery in Bailleul, France, three miles from the Belgian border, one of only three British servicemen buried there. I have managed to visit his grave twice in my 83 years and it is kept absolutely pristine. Now these dedicated d staff have been informed d they have to take a huge e pay cut or be repatriated. d. I dread to think what the e graves will soon look like.

Diane Hughesdon South London

It’s disgraceful that the staff who look after our war graves face having their pay halved.

These cemeteries in Europe are places of pilgrimage for many British families who lost loved ones in the two world wars, as well as places of great historical significance which are visited by thousands of tourists each year – under normal circumstances at any rate.

I have been there and the gardeners and other staff do a wonderful job. They deserve every penny of what they get. Bob Clarke, Sunderland

I’m flabbergasted that the War Graves Commission wants to drastically cut the wages of the people who look after the graves of our fallen heroes and have used Brexit as an excuse. These people have dedicated their lives to performing this duty and deserve better treatment. The Government must look into this.

D Morrison Chatham Kent

How could the War Graves Commission treat their staff this way? It is not a job everyone could do and to have the threat of having your pay cut by half hanging over you after all that has happened this year must be awful. It is an amoral decision and must be reversed.

Tony Howard, Salford

Gtr Manchester

It’s an insult to the fallen heroes of Ypres and the Somme and the other hellish battles of the First and Second World War that the people who serve their country by looking after their graves are to have their pay slashed in half. To blame it on Brexit is a poor excuse.

Bill Jenner, via email

What an abomination to do this to the people who look after the war graves in France and Belgium of those who gave their lives for our freedom. The Government must stop this squalid treatment of our war hero heroes.

G Crawford, Crawfo Medway, Kent