The guest speaker this month was Chris Nash, who spoke about The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC). Chris is a CWGC volunteer and shared his extensive knowledge of War Grave sites around the world, in the UK and even locally within South Oxfordshire.
The talk covered the origins of the CWGC and it was a surprise to many in the audience that before the First World War, Britain felt no obligation to the thousands of soldiers who lost their lives in wars across the globe. It was only the scale of losses during the First World War, and the reaction of the population, that the Government was forced to act.
Chris then explained the principles that were adopted to govern the structure, layout and content of the War Grave sites, including Equality, Headstones, Regimental Association, Central Monuments, and Horticulture deign.
Chris presented some fascinating metrics: 1.7m commonwealth servicemen and women are commemorated, 1.1m headstones are maintained, 98237 square metres of grass are cut in western Europe each year, and there are 23000 locations around the world.
Chris finished with a local view, talking about the various sites and monuments within South Oxfordshire, which Probus members could visit, and where they could read more.
