The legacy of ensuring a proper burial for the fallen in our wars is a century old

Work of Commonwealth War Graves commission is priceless, says John Cameron

One hundred years ago, the Imperial War Graves Commission was established to give a proper burial to those for whom some corner of a foreign field was their last resting place.

In 1960 the name changed to The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) and it is now an intergovernmental organisation of six nations which maintain the graveyards. The 1.7 million Commonwealth dead of both world wars are commemorated uniformly and equally on a headstone or memorial, irrespective of rank, race and creed in 153 countries.

The principal architects commissioned to design the memorials in France and Belgium were the Eng- lish trio Sir Herbert Baker, Sir Reginald Blomfield and Sir Edwin Lutyens. The latter’s Thiepval Memorial on the Somme is truly haunting, while every Scottish traveller should try to see his Arras Memorial, a tribute to so many of our men who died on that ground.

I have also seen immensely moving memorials designed by that distinguished Scottish duo Sir Robert Lorimar in Italy and Sir John James Burnet at Gallipoli. Burnet’s Helles Memorial near Sedd el Bahr in Turkey is a particularly impressive 30-metre high obelisk recalling the 21,000 Commonwealth servicemen who have no known grave.

The man almost entirely responsible for this noble idea was Fabian Ware, a director of Rio Tinto who