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Support | Demo | Recommended Plugins | Upgrade to Pro ⭐
Add floating form and tabs on any side of your website to help your visitors contact you and easily find your Facebook page, YouTube channel, open hours, address, phone number, email or any other important business information
With My Sticky Elements you can:
- Capture more leads and messages through WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and many other chat and social channels
- Get more followers on your business' social pages
- Show important information such as open hours and address
🎥 Check out My Sticky Elements in action (Video with audio)
Want to use the robust pro version? Check out My Sticky Elements Pro Plans.
📝 Contact form and social buttons in one plugin
Show customizable tabs that will help your website visitors contact you and reach out to you or follow your business on any popular social channel such as Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp, Telegram, Pinterest, Youtube, WeChat and more.
🚀 Show My Sticky Elements contact and social tabs
Contact form
Facebook page
Twitter page – X.com
Instagram page
Pinterest page
YouTube channel
Click to call
Facebook Messenger
Open hours
Trip Advisor
Google Play (Google)
App Store (Apple)
Odnoklassniki (OK Одноклассники)
Custom Icon
Shortcode, IFrame or HTML icon
6 Custom icons (Pro)
6 Shortcode, IFrame or HTML icons (Pro)
🔗 Integrations
Upgrade to the Pro version of My Sticky Elements and connect your My Sticky Elements contact forms to MailChimp or MailPoet.
MailChimp integration – connect your contact forms to your MailChimp audiences. You can add the contacts so specific MailChimp groups or tags.
MailPoet integration – sync your leads with your MailPoet account with the click of a button.
=▶ Live Demo =
A live demo for My Sticky Elements plugin is available at Premio's demo site.
👬 Join the Premio community
Have any questions or feature suggestions? We'd love to hear from you. Join our Facebook group to share ideas and get updates about new features.
🆓 What do you get in the Free plan?
- Show a floating contact form with any field you want: Name, Phone, Email, and Message
- Choose what fields in your floating contact form are required to be filled by your visitors
- Show up to 2 different social icons tabs
- Select the location of the widget (bottom/left/right). If you select bottom desktop location for the contact us form, chat and social icons you can place the widget on the left and the right.
- Choose from a variety of contact icons templates including rounded, diamond, sharp, triangle, leaf shaped and more
- Set an entry effect (slide-in or fade) for your contact form and chat icons
- Bottom and top location for mobile – display the widget on the bottom part of the screen for easy access on mobile (including the contact form). Let your visitors contact you with ease! When you choose top position for the widget, all your content will be pushed down, which means your menu and other header content will stay visible and clickable
- Add a custom Call-To-Action beside each tab
- New! Auto-launch the contact us form on page load and make it easier for your visitors to fill out your floating contact form
- New! Icons' text – add any custom text label under your icons. You can add a label to your channels, for example, WhatsApp label for the WhatsApp channel, or Facebook Messenger label for the Facebook Messenger icon
- Choose background colors for your tabs
- Choose the order of your social icons tabs (with drag and drop)
- Decide which tabs you want to show on desktop & mobile, or both
- Decide whether the tabs will be opened by hover or click
- New! Make your custom channels act as existing channels. For example, you can create two WhatsApp buttons or two Facebook Messenger buttons or any other combination
- LTR/RTL support for your contact form
- Collect all of your contact form leads into your local database
- Minimize tab: from now on your visitors can minimize the floating menu on desktop and mobile. You can show the minimize icon on mobile or desktop separately, and also decide if you want to have the widget minimized by default or fully displayed by default
- New! Launch your contact form and chat channels using a JavaScript function. just link to this function launch_mystickyelements(); with a number inside the brackets (1,2,3 etc) to launch any of your channels
- Change contact form fields order: you can now decide the order of your contact forms fields using drag and drop
- New! 24 new channels: Vimeo, Spotify, Itunes, SoundCloud, VK, Viber, Snapchat, Skype
Line, SMS, Tumblr, Qzone, QQ, Behance, Dribbble, Quora, Poptin, Fiverr, Shopify, Printful, Odnoklassniki (OK Одноклассники), Gumroad - Full RTL support for RTL menus
- Change the font of all the buttons text
- Change the size of the widget bar (both the contact form and all the channels' icons). You can change the size separately for mobile and desktop
- A custom icon is now available in the free version, you can use it to link to your click to chat provider or any other relevant website or in-site page. You can use it as a plain link to any website, or as a Javascript to trigger any chat provider or any other Javascript triggered service
- You can use the new shortcode, IFrame or HTML icon and display any embedded content on-hover or on-click. You can use it to show a youtube/vimeo video, contact form 7 or any other form, maps, or any other shortcode or IFrame
- You can add a preset message that'll automatically be inserted to the WhatsApp messages your visitors send you
- Track the URL from which your contact form was submitted
- Use Font Awesome icons for the custom icons and the shortcode icons
- My Sticky Elements is fully compatible with page builders like Elementor, Divi, Oxygen, SiteOrigin, Zion, Beaver, Visual Composer, and more 🙂
- Load Google fonts locally from your website – if you select a Google font, you can load it locally from your WordPress website to improve the website's loading time
🔥 What do you get in the Pro plan?
Unlock the Pro features for only $49/year
You will get all the features of the free plan, plus:
- Show unlimited tabs at the same time (contact form + 50 social icons + 3 custom icons + 3 shortcode, HTML, and IFrame icons)
- Get the leads for your contact form directly to your email
- Upload up to 6 custom icons for your tabs. You can use it to link to your click to chat provider or any other relevant website or in-site page. You can use it as a plain link to any website, or as a Javascript to trigger any chat provider or any other Javascript triggered service.
- Page targeting – show or hide your contact form, chat, call, and social networks channels on specific pages. Use our advanced page targeting rules (contain, exact match, starting with, and ending with) to show and hide the widget. You can also target your floating contact form and chat widgets for specific WordPress pages, posts, categories, and tags.
- Widget analytics – discover the most frequently used chat and social channels (e.g., WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, contact form, etc) and keep track of how each widget performs. Use the widget analytics feature to analyze the number of unique clicks and the click-through rate
- Country targeting – display or hide your contact us form, chat icons and social buttons for specific countires
- New! Time delay – show your contact form and chat channels to your visitors after a few seconds based on your choice.
- Integrations with MailChimp and MailPoet – connect your My Sticky Elements contact forms to your MailChimp and MailPoet accounts
- Create different bars for different pages. Show different icons, form and language based on page targeting rules. You can also create 2 different bars for the same page if you want 🙂
- Custom CSS style for your contact form and tabs
- Custom height position of the contact us form and the chat channels on the screen for desktop and mobile from the top or bottom of the screen
- New! Custom fields to your floating contact form – add custom fields to your contact form including text, text area, dropdowns, website, number, and date fields
- New! Automatically close the contact form after submission – once your visitors submit the contact form, you can have the form to automatically close after a few seconds
- New! Google reCAPTCHA support – add Google reCAPTCHA support for your My Sticky Elements contact us forms (reCAPTCHA v2 and reCAPTCHA v3 are supported)
- Add a file uploader to your contact form – let your visitors upload based on your needs. You can use it to allow uploading png, jpg, PDF, and many other popular file types to your contact form
- Consent checkbox – use this feature to create GDPR ready forms. Once your website visitors accept your terms, the form will be submitted
- Google Analytics events. this is how it work:
For Facebook, X.com (Twitter), Instagram, Pinterest, Whatsapp, YouTube, Click to call, Facebook Messenger, Email, Telegram -> the Google Analytics event will be fired when the visitor click on their link in the open tab.
For Open hours, Address and WeChat -> The Google Analytics event will be fired when the visitor hover the tab - Dropdown multi select field to your contact form -> add dropdown select box to your contact form for multi choice, and give your visitors the option to select one variant from a list of predefined variants.
- Redirect your visitors to another page after the form is submitted. You can use this feature to present a thank-you page for your form.
- You can create 6 shortcode, IFrame or HTML icon and display any embedded content on-hover or on-click. You can use it to show a youtube/vimeo video, contact form 7 or any other form, maps, or any other shortcode or IFrame.
- You can add custom text fields to your contact form. This means you can collect any kind of information in your contact form including address, zip, note, or any other kind of free text.
- Send your contact form leads to as many email addresses you want. E.g. you can send your contact form leads to your client and to yourself just to keep track. You can also CC or BCC your recipients.
- Change the thank you message that's displayed after the contact form is submitted.
- Log the IP address of visitors that submit your contact us form.
- Add a Text block to your contact form – add text to the upper part of your forms. Use the text to add instructions and relevant info to your form
- New! Traffic source targeting – show the contact form and social channels only to visitors who come from specific traffic sources including direct traffic, social networks, search engines, Google Ads, or any other traffic source.
- New! Available days and hours – display the contact form and chat buttons on specific days and hours based on your opening days and hours.
- New! More text formatting options for the text block and consent checkbox text.
- New! Add sender name in email subject for your contact form submissions – you can now have the subject field include the sender's name.
- New! Multiple file upload feature – there can now be up to 5 files that can be uploaded via the contact form.
- New! TikTok – you can now have the option to add their TikTok channel as a platform option in the Add Chat and Social Media tab.
- New! Merge tags for WhatsApp – you can add merge tag like the URL or the Title of the page when visitors message you on WhatsApp
Upgrade to pro 🚀 to get all pro features 🙂
💻 How does each social button work?
My Sticky Elements Contact Form – your contact form can include Name field, Phone number field, Email field and Message field (textarea).
The phone and emails field have a built-in validation feature, and all the leads will be displayed on your "Contact Leads" tab in your admin panel (CSV download is available as well). You can also get these leads by email in the Pro plan.
You can also add a country code formatting picker to your contact form, making it easier for your visitors to enter their phone number.
The contact form fields also support RTL! -
Facebook page – add a link to your Facebook business page (fan page), and let your visitors find you on facebook, like your page and follow your posts. Build your brand on Facebook with social proof and trust by showing updates, comments and growing audience.
Twitter page / X.com – add a link to your Twitter business page, and let your visitors find you on Twitter, follow your page and see your posts. Have lots of updates? Twitter is a great social network to keep your audience posted with new deals, services or features.
Instagram page – add a link to your Instagram business page or Instagram profile page, and let your visitors follow your brand on Instagram, like your posts and see your promotions. If you have an eCommerce store, restaurant, hotel or any business that images are a big part of its marketing, Instagram is a must for you.
Pinterest page – add a link to your Pinterest business page or even to a specific Pinterest board, and let your visitors follow your brand on Pinterest and like your pictures. Like Instagram, Pinterest is a popular social network when we talk about images and visual content.
WhatsApp chat – enter your phone number and when your visitors click on the WhatsApp icon, WhatsApp chat interface will be launched. On mobile it will launch the WhatsApp app conversation window, and on desktop it will launch the desktop WhatsApp web interface. You can add a preset message that'll automatically be inserted to the WhatsApp messages your visitors send you. On desktop you can decide if you prefer to redirect users to WhatsApp app or WhatsApp web.
Adding WhatsApp button to your site will give 25 million new users every month (833,000 active users per day) and total of 65 million active users (10% of the total worldwide users), access to contact your immediately. -
YouTube channel – add a link to your YouTube channel (YouTube page) and get more subscribers and views for your videos. In today's world, videos are consumed more than ever before, and YouTube is probably the best platform to publish your videos and tutorials.
Phone number (click to call) – add a phone number and let your visitors use the call now button to contact you or your business directly. A call button is very useful in mobile devices, but desktop visitors can also view your phone number or click to call you via different calling web apps (like Skype).
Facebook Messenger – enter the direct link to the Facebook Messenger of your business page. and once the visitors click on the Facebook Messenger button, the Messenger conversation tab will be opened and they will be able to send you a message. You will get the message into your Facebook page inbox and if you have a bot (native Facebook Messenger bot, Manychat or Chatfuel) it will work automatically.
Email – enter your business email, and let your visitors click on the email button and send you an email via their email client (Gmail or Outlook). They can also copy the email address and send you an email later.
TikTok – enter your TikTok handle and let your website visitors discover your TikTok profile.
Poptin – launch a Poptin pop up using the Poptin channel. Use Poptin to get more sales, leads, and email subscribers using smart pop ups and forms.
Address – show your business address for website visitors that want to arrive to your store.
Open hours – show your business hours for website visitors that want to arrive to your store. You can also type your workdays there.
WeChat – enter your WeChat User ID and let your visitors search for you easily on the WeChat app and message you about your business.
Telegram channel – add your Telegram channel link and let your visitors join your Telegram community. The number of Telegram users keeps growing, and it is a great channel to talk privately about your business with your clients and fans.
Vimeo – do you have a Vimeo channel? Like on YouTube, Let your visitors see all of your videos on Vimeo, comment, like your videos and follow your channel. Just add your Vimeo channel link and you're all set.
Spotify – Spotify is growing and if you run a podcast, Spotify is the best distribution channel you can probably have. Let your visitor find your podcast and playlists easily and follow you.
Itunes – similar to Spotify but for Apple users. Add your itunes link to let your visitors find your itunes channel quickly. Just add your itunes link and you're ready to go.
SoundCloud – this is another great channel like itunes and Spotify to distribute music, interviews and podcasts. SoundCloud lets its users to upload, promote, and share audio, so don't skip on this one.
VK – VKontakte is a Russian online social media and social networking service. Add you VK username in the field and it will automatically let your visitors chat with you.
Viber – Viber is a popular cross-platform voice over IP and instant messaging software. Add your phone number and visitors who have Viber app installed can call and chat with you easily.
Snapchat – Very popular social messaging app used globally. Insert your Snapchat username and let your visitors message you anytime.
Skype – Like Viber, Skype lets your visitors send you messages or call you from their phone or desktop. Just add your Skype username and you're all set.
Line – Line is a free app for instant communications. Enter your LIne link and let your visitors contact your easily.
SMS – Let your visitors send you SMS via their mobile phone.
Tumblr – Tumblr is microblogging and social networking website. Let your visitors read your Tumblr posts and images and follow your brand.
Qzone – QZone is a very popular social networking website in China. Add your QZone link and let your visitors see your videos, images and read what you have to say.
QQ – QQ was created by the same company as QZone. Tencent QQ is an instant messaging software service and web portal in China. Add your QQ username and let your visitors chat with you easily.
Behance – Behance is an online platform to showcase and discover creative work. If you are in the design business, you should definitely show your portfolio there and let your visitors see it.
Dribbble – Like Behance, Dribbble is made for creatives and it is an online community for showcasing user-made artwork. If you want to open a Dribbble account, you need to get an invitation by one of the existing users. Insert your Dribbble portfolio link and show your work to your visitors.
Quora – Quora is an Q&A (question-and-answer) website. Quora is a great place to gain and share knowledge. Answer questions, get more impressions and build your personal brand. Enter the link to your Quora profile and let your visitors follow you on Quora.
LinkedIn – LinkedIn is a professional community. In LinkedIn you can find all kind of professionals including sales people, developers, finance, marketers and much more. Enter the link to your LinkedIn profile and let your visitors connect with you on LinkedIn.
Yelp – Yelp is a business directory service and crowd-sourced review forum. Link to your Yelp profile and let your visitors find your business with ease.
Amazon – Amazin is one of the biggest eCommerce website around the world. Link to your Amazon store or Amazon product to increase sales.
Reddit – Reddit is a social news aggregation, web content rating, and discussion website. Link to your Reddit community and help your visitors join the conversation.
RSS – RSS is a web feed that allows users and applications to access updates to websites in a standardized, computer-readable format. Link to your RSS feed to make sure all your visitors are up-to-date.
Flickr – Flickr is an image hosting service and video hosting service. Link to your Flickr profile and make sure your visitors can browse your images.
eBay – eBay is one of the biggest eCommerce websites worldwide. Link to your eBay store or eBay products and increase sales.
Etsy – Etsy is an e-commerce website focused on handmade or vintage items and craft supplies. Link to your Etsy store and increase your sales.
Slack – Slack is a proprietary instant messaging platform. Link to your Slack workplace so your visitors can chat with you.
Trip Advisor – TripAdvisor is a platform with user-generated content, price comparison tools, and online reservations for transportation, lodging, travel experiences, and restaurants. Link to your Trip Advisor profile and let your visitors view your reviews.
Medium – Medium is an online publishing platform. Link to your Medium publication and expose your visitors to your posts.
Google Play (Google) – Google Play is the official app store for the Android operating system, allowing users to browse and download applications developed with the Android SDK and published through Google. Link to your Android apps on Google Play and let your visitors download and use your apps.
Fiverr is an online marketplace for freelance services. The company provides a platform for freelancers to offer services to customers worldwide.
Shopify is an online retailers a suite of services including payments, marketing, shipping and customer engagement tools to simplify the process of running an online store for small merchants
Printful a platform to create & sell your own custom design products online with print-on-demand dropshipping
Odnoklassniki (OK Одноклассники) is a social network service for classmates and old friends. It is especially used in Russia and former Soviet Republics
Gumroad is an online platform that enables creators to sell products directly to consumers.
App Store (Apple) – the App store allows users to browse and download apps developed with Apple's iOS SDK. Link to your apps and let your visitors download your apps from the App Store.
Custom icons – you can add up to 3 customs icons on the Pro version and link to any website you want. For example: Vimeo, VK, Viber, Skype, SMS, contact page etc.
✉ Add a Floating Contact Form to your WordPress website
With My Sticky Elements, you can create a floating contact form for your visitors. In the Pro version, you can customize this form by adding various types of input fields, such as dropdown, file upload, phone number, etc. You can also get an email whenever a visitor submits the contact form.
No matter what kind of input you take websites, files, IPs, etc, use our lightweight, seamless contact form that does not occupy space on your website by just floating on the side.
💬 Social, chat buttonsm custom links, and shortcode support
Do you wish to create two WhatsApp channels? Select from 50+ chat and social buttons? Now you can! With the customer channel feature, you can now use almost any platform with my sticky menu elements. Simply set up the custom link while creating the widget and redirect the users to the platform of your choice. With a highly customizable interface, make this custom channel appear the way you want.
🎯 Smart Targeting Options
Choose to show or not show the widget on specific using various rules combinations. Use page targeting and set custom behavior of the widget on different pages. You can also choose to show the widget only to visitors who come from specific traffic sources, including direct traffic, social networks, search engines, Google ads, or any other traffic source.
A powerful feature that helps you personalize your website's experience for different types of visitors.
🛡 Spam Protection using Google reCAPTCHA
With our Pro version use our built-in integration with reCAPTCHA, you can easily protect your contact form from spam and bots. The reCAPTCHA integration in My Sticky Elements is a simple and effective way to protect your contact form and keep your inbox clean.
🔒 My Sticky Elements is GDPR complaint
We don't store any data about your visitors who click on any of the social channels. Once your visitors click on any of the social channels buttons, they will be redirected to relevant platform or app such as Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp app, Instagram page etc.
On My Sticky Elements' settings panel you can see a "Contact Leads" tab that will contain the leads you got via the contact form tab. You can always delete them easily if you get a GDPR request from any of them.
🤗 Testimonials
"Great plugin & excellent email support! Happy customer!
I recently purchased the pro versions of the sticky menu & sticky element plug-ins for my new website. I wanted to give visitors permanent visibility of the email-us contact form and the call-us button to maximise the opportunity for them to act instantly when prompted by features in my web content.
Both were easily configured and live on the website in no time. They can also be configured so that they are not overly obtrusive. I am 100% pleased with my purchase and the customer support was instant i.e. no waiting for a reply to my emails. Well done Premio!"Alan Colin, Garden Sanctuaries
"Great Plugin and amazing Customer Service
I have used both Premio's myStickyElements and Chaty plugin on a couple of my clients websites with great success. To elaborate, the ability to customize features and track events has made me recommend the plugin to my fellow friends and collegues. However, what really makes Premios services unique is the care for its customers. Without hesitation they quickly helped with my technical requests and difficulties. I give my highest recommendation to Gal and his team at Premio!"Axel Looström, Pionedge AB
"Awesome plugin!
The plugin works perfectly. It looks so great, lot of options and cool design. Premio team is very kind, supportive and progressive. I can only recommend this awesome plugin."Ondre Jvosecky, Global Duck
- Install and activate My Sticky Elements plugin on your WordPress website
- Customize your contact form and choose your social tabs and click on "Save changes"
- You're all set! Your contact form and social tabs menu will now appear on your site
सामान्य प्रश्न
What's included in the free plan of My Sticky Elements?
You can show a customized contact form and also up to two social channels (unlimited in the pro plan), display the floating tabs on desktop and mobile, choose LTR or RTL, change the background colors and call-to-action for each icon and more.
Is there a time limit for the free plan?
No. you can use the free plan as long as you want.
Yes! You can customize your contact form tab and choose to show only the contact tab without any social icon, or vice versa – show only social icons without the contact form.
I don't see the widget on my site, what should I do?
Please make sure the toggles of the contact form and/or social channels are turned ON and click on "SAVE CHANGES" button.
How do I activate my pro plan?
Just follow our pro installation guide.
Is there a live demo for My Sticky Elements
A live demo for My Sticky Elements plugin is available at Premio's demo site.
सहायक &डेवलपर्स
यह खुला स्रोत सॉफ्टवेयर है। अनुगामी लोगो ने इस प्लगइन के लिए योगदान दिया है।
योगदानकर्ता"All-in-one Floating Contact Form, Call, Chat, and 50+ Social Icon Tabs – My Sticky Elements" has been translated into 2 locales. Thank you to the translators for their contributions.
Interested in development?
Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.
बदलाव विवरण
Layout bugs fixed
Added the option to target specific WordPress pages, posts, categories, and tags to the Pro version
The file upload option supports ZIP and RAR files
Renamed Twitter to X
Contact form bug fixed
Other bugs fixed
Safety bug fixed
PHP compatibility
Phone number validation is now available for the contact form
Form preview is now available
Added "defer" in script tag to boost performance
Smaller screens contact form scroll improvement
Added label for each input field (ADA)
Other bugs fixed
Google PageSpeed improvement and custom channels bug fixed
WhatsApp web support for desktop (or you can just use a regular WhatsApp app link)
Merge tags for WhatsApp (Pro feature)
UI improvements
Widget analytics – discover the most frequently used chat and social channels (Pro feature)
Fixed the auto close on hover bug
Fixed the country code bug
Added a trailing slash to the chat and social channels (to improve SEO)
Custom icon bug fixed
Fixed contact form bugs
Flow changes
Minor bug fixed
We've added the option to add a phone country picker and the option to load Google Fonts locally from your website (instead of the Google servers). We've also fixed some bugs 🙂
Activation hook minor bug fixed
Bugs fixed
Many performance and UI improvements were added in this release. We've also added some new features like the option to change placeholder color and more 🙂
Telegram bug fixed
Bugs fixed
Full revamp of the My Sticky Elements UI 🥳
Now it's much easier and fun to create My Sticky Elements widgets
Bugs fixed: Viber and JavaScript launching function issues
Plans page typo fixed
Bugs fixed
Fixed the flyout flow and some other bugs
Fixed mobile buttons bug (top and bottom position)
New buttons shape: Sharp, added an option to change the background color, and fixed some bugs
More bugs fixed 🙂
Bugs fixed
MCB Icon Picker bug fixed
New channels (Poptin, Fiverr, Shopify, Printful, Odnoklassniki (Одноклассники OK), Gumroad), more custom channels and HTML/IFrame channels, Javascript function to launch My Sticky Elements channels, option to auto-launch the form on page load, option to make your custom channels act as an existing channel, and some bug fixes
Remove jQuery.live function dependency
Contact form submission bug fixed
Infrastructure improvements
You can now stretch custom images end to end, set widget position separately for desktop and mobile, iPhone frontend fix and other frontend fixes
Option to change the headline of the form, Super cache support, UI improvements and frontend bugs fixed
Credit removal
Preview fix for some of the new channels
New channels: Yelp, Amazon, Reddit, RSS, Flickr, eBay, Etsy, Slack, Trip Advisor, Medium, Google Play (Google), and App Store (Apple).
Added two new positions for the widget (bottom left and right), fixed settings view for small screens,
Font Awesome 1 conflict fixed + onboarding popup video
Tooltip hover for all the chat and social icons, search input for all the chat and social icons, fixed some minor frontend bugs in the floating contact form and buttons.
You can now add text under the icons. We've also fixed some minor bugs
The social buttons text is now in the same color as the icon
Contact icons preview bug (mobile and desktop preview)
Added an accessible contact form leads
Contact form fields bug fixed
Contact form icon size when label is empty fix
Contact form empty name field bug
WP 5.3 adjustments including checkbox UI issues, and color picker height issue
Z-index bug fix. Also fixed icon size bug for Line.me and Facebook Messenger. My Sticky Elements is also now compatible with Google Lighthouse.
Top position for mobile, support for Facebook Messenger pages that don't have a custom URL, and the contact form button becomes disabled until the contact form is submitted to avoid double submission.
Use Font Awesome icons with the custom widget and shortcode widget. We've also fixed a line.me bug and some other minor bugs.
You can now change the the color of the contact icons. You can also see what was the URL from which your contact form was submitted.
We've added 7 icon templates, you can make your icons rounded, diamond-shaped, arrowed shaped and more. You can also set an entry effect (fade or slide-in) for your widget. Desktop bottom position is also available for the widget. Change the color of the contact form headline. We've also improved our RTL menu support and added Hummingbird cache compatibility.
Added compatibility with many cache plugins like WP-Rocket, W3Cache, LiteSpeed Cache, WP Fastest Cache, Autoptimize and more. You can also add a preset message for the WhatsApp icon. We've also fixed some mobile bugs.
Added LinkedIn as a new channel
Fixed an Android click to call and click to sms bugs
You can add custom Javascript to the custom icon
Fixed a shortcode bug
You can now embed any shortcode, IFrame, and HTML using the new shortcode/HTML channel. we've also unlocked one custom channel for the free version
Control the size of the widget + performance improvement
Upgrade page update
Improved the UI – now the preview is sticky and the navigation is much easier
Fixed SMS channel bug
Brand new view for mobile, show all elements on the bottom of the screen. also added separate configuration for the minimize icon for desktop and mobile, and you can also decide if you want it open by default or not
Added font selection, bulk removal off leads, added date col to the leads table
- RTL support, easier facebook messenger integration, redirect after form submission to pro version
- Added 16 new channels: Vimeo, Spotify, Itunes, SoundCloud, VK, Viber, Snapchat, Skype
Line, SMS, Tumblr, Qzone, QQ, Behance, Dribbble, Quora
- Added dropdown box to your contact form + change the order of the fields in the contact form
- Minimize the widget * font awesome bug fix
- Bug fixes on mobile view
- Bug fixes
- On mobile the widgets are now closed on click
- Brand new UI, new channels, contact form and much more 🙂
- Fixed: close element on mobile devices (all events)
- Added: Language support.
- Fixed: close element on mobile devices (click event only)
- Added: Shortcode support.
- First version


text:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Commonwealth War Graves Commission | |
Headquarters | Maidenhead, United Kingdom |
Official languages | English |
Type | Intergovernmental organization and commission |
Membership | |
Leaders | |
• Patron | The King |
• President | The Princess Royal |
• Director-General | Claire Horton |
Establishment | |
• Founded as the Imperial War Graves Commission | 21 May 1917 |
• Name changed to Commonwealth War Graves Commission | 28 March 1960 |
Website www |
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations military service members who died in the two World Wars. The commission is also responsible for commemorating Commonwealth civilians who died as a result of enemy action during the Second World War.[1] The commission was founded by Sir Fabian Ware and constituted through Royal Charter in 1917 as the Imperial War Graves Commission.[1] The change to the present name took place in 1960.[2]
The commission, as part of its mandate, is responsible for commemorating all Commonwealth war dead individually and equally. To this end, the war dead are commemorated by a name on a headstone, at an identified site of a burial, or on a memorial. War dead are commemorated uniformly and equally, irrespective of military or civil rank, race or creed.
The commission is currently responsible for the continued commemoration of 1.7 million deceased Commonwealth military service members in 153 countries.[3] Since its inception, the commission has constructed approximately 2,500 war cemeteries and numerous memorials.[1] The commission is currently responsible for the care of war dead at over 23,000 separate burial sites and the maintenance of more than 200 memorials worldwide.[2] In addition to commemorating Commonwealth military service members, the commission maintains, under arrangement with applicable governments, over 40,000 non-Commonwealth war graves and over 25,000 non-war military and civilian graves.[1][4] The commission operates through the continued financial support of the member states: United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India and South Africa. The current and first ever Patron of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission is King Charles III.[5] The current President of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission is Anne, Princess Royal.[6]
First World War[edit]
At the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, Fabian Ware, a director of the Rio Tinto Company, found that he was too old, at age 45, to join the British Army.[7] He used the influence of Rio Tinto chairman, Viscount Milner, to become the commander of a mobile unit of the British Red Cross. He arrived in France in September 1914 and whilst there was struck by the lack of any official mechanism for documenting or marking the location of graves of those who had been killed and felt compelled to create an organisation within the Red Cross for this purpose.[8] In March 1915, with the support of Nevil Macready, Adjutant-General of the British Expeditionary Force, Ware's work was given official recognition and support by the Imperial War Office and the unit was transferred to the British Army as the Graves Registration Commission.[7][8] The new Graves Registration Commission had over 31,000 graves of British and Imperial soldiers registered by October 1915 and 50,000 registered by May 1916.[9]
When municipal graveyards began to overfill Ware began negotiations with various local authorities to acquire land for further cemeteries. Ware began with an agreement with France to build joint British and French cemeteries under the understanding that these would be maintained by the French government.[10] Ware eventually concluded that it was not prudent to leave the maintenance responsibilities solely to the French government and subsequently arranged for France to purchase the land (under the law of 29 December 1915), grant it in perpetuity, and leave the management and maintenance responsibilities to the British. The French government agreed under the condition that cemeteries respected certain dimensions,[11] were accessible by public road, were in the vicinity of medical aid stations and were not too close to towns or villages. Similar negotiations began with the Belgian government.[10]
As reports of the grave registration work became public, the commission began to receive letters of enquiry and requests for photographs of graves from relatives of deceased soldiers.[12] By 1917, 17,000 photographs had been dispatched to relatives.[12][13] In March 1915, the commission, with the support of the Red Cross, began to dispatch photographic prints and cemetery location information in answer to the requests. The Graves Registration Commission became the Directorate of Graves Registration and Enquiries in the spring of 1916 in recognition of the fact that the scope of work began to extend beyond simple grave registration and began to include responding to enquiries from relatives of those killed. The directorate's work was also extended beyond the Western Front and into other theatres of war, with units deployed in Greece, Egypt and Mesopotamia.[12]
Formal establishment[edit]
As the war continued, Ware and others became concerned about the fate of the graves in the post-war period. Following a suggestion by the British Army, the government appointed the National Committee for the Care of Soldiers' Graves in January 1916, with Edward, Prince of Wales agreeing to serve as president.[14] The National Committee for the Care of Soldiers' Graves was created with the intention of taking over the work of the Directorate of Graves Registration and Enquiries after the war. The government felt that it was more appropriate to entrust the work to a specially appointed body rather than to any existing government department.[15] By early 1917, a number of members of the committee believed a formal imperial organisation would be needed to care for the graves. With the help of Edward, Prince of Wales, Ware submitted a memorandum to the Imperial War Conference in 1917 suggesting that an imperial organisation be constituted.[15][16] The suggestion was accepted and on 21 May 1917 the Imperial War Graves Commission was established by Royal Charter, with the Prince of Wales serving as president, Secretary of State for War Lord Derby as chairman and Ware as vice-chairman.[1][16] The commission's undertakings began in earnest at the end of the First World War. Once land for cemeteries and memorials had been guaranteed, the enormous task of recording the details of the dead could begin. By 1918, some 587,000 graves had been identified and a further 559,000 casualties were registered as having no known grave.[17]
The scale, and associated high number of casualties, of the war produced an entirely new attitude towards the commemoration of war dead. Previous to the First World War, individual commemoration of war dead was often on an ad hoc basis and was almost exclusively limited to commissioned officers.[18] However, the war required mobilisation of a significant percentage of the population, either as volunteers or through conscription.[19] An expectation had consequently arisen that individual soldiers would expect to be commemorated, even if they were low-ranking members of the military.[20] A committee under Frederic Kenyon, Director of the British Museum, presented a report to the Commission in November 1918 detailing how it envisioned the development of the cemeteries.[21] Two key elements of this report were that bodies should not be repatriated and that uniform memorials should be used to avoid class distinctions. Beyond the logistical nightmare of returning home so many corpses, it was felt that repatriation would conflict with the feeling of brotherhood that had developed between serving ranks.[22][23]
An article in The Times on 17 February 1919 by Rudyard Kipling carried the commission's proposal to a wider audience and described what the graves would look like.[24] The article entitled War Graves: Work of Imperial Commission: Mr. Kipling's Survey was quickly republished as an illustrated booklet, Graves of the Fallen. The illustrated booklet was intended to soften the impact of Kenyon's report as it included illustrations of cemeteries with mature trees and shrubs; contrasting the bleak landscapes depicted in published battlefield photos.[25] There was an immediate public outcry following the publication of the reports, particularly with regards to the decision to not repatriate the bodies of the dead. The reports generated considerable discussion in the press which ultimately led to a heated debate in Parliament on 4 May 1920.[26][25] Sir James Remnant started the debate, followed by speeches by William Burdett-Coutts in favour of the commission's principles and Robert Cecil speaking for those desiring repatriation and opposing uniformity of grave markers. Winston Churchill closed the debate and asked that the issue not proceed to a vote. Remnant withdrew his motion, allowing the commission to carry out its work assured of support for its principles.[27][28] The 1920 United States Public Law 66-175 ensured American citizens who were killed while in service of a Commonwealth nation were eligible for burial in national cemeteries in the United States [29] However, the commission made no repatriation policy exception for American citizens and attempts to retrieve loved ones from Commonwealth cemeteries were not supported by the American Graves Registration Service.[30]
First cemeteries and memorials to the missing[edit]
In 1918, three of the most eminent architects of their day, Sir Herbert Baker, Sir Reginald Blomfield, and Sir Edwin Lutyens were appointed as the organization's initial Principal Architects. Rudyard Kipling was appointed literary advisor for the language used for memorial inscriptions.[31]
In 1920, the Commission built three experimental cemeteries at Le Treport, Forceville and Louvencourt, following the principles outlined in the Kenyon report.[32] Of these, the Forceville Communal Cemetery and Extension was agreed to be the most successful.[33] Having consulted with garden designer Gertrude Jekyll, the architects created a walled cemetery with uniform headstones in a garden setting, augmented by Blomfield's Cross of Sacrifice and Lutyens' Stone of Remembrance.[1] After some adjustments, Forceville became the template for the commission's building programme. Cost overruns at all three experimental cemeteries necessitated some adjustments.[34] To ensure future cemeteries remained within their budget the Commission decided to not build shelters in cemeteries that contained less than 200 graves, to not place a Stone of Remembrance in any cemetery with less than 400 graves, and to limit the height of cemetery walls to 1 metre (3.3 ft).[34]
At the end of 1919, the commission had spent £7,500, and this figure rose to £250,000 in 1920 as construction of cemeteries and memorials increased. By 1921, the commission had established 1,000 cemeteries which were ready for headstone erections, and burials. Between 1920 and 1923, the commission was shipping 4,000 headstones a week to France.[35] In many cases, the Commission closed small cemeteries and concentrated the graves into larger ones. By 1927, when the majority of construction had been completed, over 500 cemeteries had been built, with 400,000 headstones, a thousand Crosses of Sacrifice, and 400 Stones of Remembrance.[36]
The commission had also been mandated to individually commemorate each soldier who had no known grave, which amounted to 315,000 in France and Belgium alone. The Commission initially decided to build 12 monuments on which to commemorate the missing; each memorial being located at the site of an important battle along the Western Front.[37] After resistance from the French committee responsible for the approvals of memorials on French territory, the Commission revised their plan and reduced the number of memorials, and in some cases built memorials to the missing in existing cemeteries rather than as separate structures.[38]
Reginald Blomfield's Menin Gate was the first memorial to the missing located in Europe to be completed, and was unveiled on 24 July 1927.[39] The Menin Gate (Menenpoort) was found to have insufficient space to contain all the names as originally planned and 34,984 names of the missing were instead inscribed on Herbert Baker's Tyne Cot Memorial to the Missing.[40] Other memorials followed: the Helles Memorial in Gallipoli designed by John James Burnet;[41] the Thiepval Memorial on the Somme and the Arras Memorial designed by Edwin Lutyens;[42] and the Basra Memorial in Iraq designed by Edward Prioleau Warren.[43] The Dominions and India also erected memorials on which they commemorated their missing: the Neuve-Chapelle Memorial for the forces of India, the Vimy Memorial by Canada, the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial by Australia, the Delville Wood Memorial by South Africa and the Beaumont-Hamel Memorial by Newfoundland.[44] The programme of commemorating the dead of the Great War was considered essentially complete with the inauguration of the Thiepval Memorial in 1932, though the Vimy Memorial would not be finished until 1936, the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial until 1938 and stonemasons were still conducting work on the Menin Gate when Germany invaded Belgium in 1940.[45][46] The only memorial created by the Commission that was not in the form of a monument or cemetery was the Memorial Ophthalmic Laboratory at Giza, Egypt—complete with library, and bacteriology and pathology departments—as its memorial to men of the Egyptian Labour Corps and Camel Transport Corps.[47] Its erection was agreed with local political pressure.[48]
Second World War[edit]
From the start of the Second World War in 1939, the Commission organised grave registration units and, planning ahead based on the experience gained from the First World War, earmarked land for use as cemeteries.[49] When the war began turning in favour of the Allies, the commission was able to begin restoring its First World War cemeteries and memorials. It also began the task of commemorating the 600,000 Commonwealth casualties from the Second World War.[citation needed] As with the First World War, casualties were commemorated with uniform memorials and bodies should not be repatriated. Exceptionally, the American Graves Registration were permitted to repatriate the remains of an unknown number of American citizens who were in service of a Commonwealth nation during the Second World War.[citation needed]
In 1949, the Commission completed Dieppe Canadian War Cemetery, the first of 559 new cemeteries and 36 new memorials.[50][51][52] Eventually, the Commission erected over 350,000 new headstones, many from Hopton Wood stone.[53] The wider scale of the Second World War, coupled with manpower shortages and unrest in some countries, meant that the construction and restoration programmes took much longer. In Albania the graves of 52 of the 54 graves of British SOE personnel had been reburied in Tirana before Major McIntosh from the CWGC Florence base was expelled by the new regime. Three-quarters of the original graves had been in "difficult" or remote locations.[54] Following the war, the Commission implemented a five-year horticultural renovation programme which addressed neglect by 1950. Structural repairs, together with the backlog of maintenance tasks from before the war, took a further ten years to complete.[55]
With the increased number of civilian casualties compared with the First World War, Winston Churchill agreed to Ware's proposal that the commission also maintain a record of Commonwealth civilian war deaths. A supplemental chapter was added to the Imperial War Graves Commission's charter on 7 February 1941, empowering the organisation to collect and record the names of civilians who died from enemy action during the Second World War, which resulted in the creation of the Civilian War Dead Roll of Honour. The roll eventually contained the names of nearly 67,000 civilians. The Commission and the Dean of Westminster reached an agreement that the roll would eventually be placed in Westminster Abbey but not until the roll was complete and hostilities had ended. The Commission handed over the first six volumes to the Dean of Westminster on 21 February 1956; it added the final volume to the showcase in 1958.[56]
Post–Second World War[edit]
Following the Second World War, the Commission recognised that the word 'Imperial' within its name was no longer appropriate. In the spirit of strengthening national and regional feelings the organization changed its name to Commonwealth War Graves Commission in 1960.[57]
More recent conflicts have sometimes made it impossible for the commission to care for cemeteries in a given region or resulted in the destruction of sites altogether. Zehrensdorf Indian Cemetery in Germany was unkempt after the end of the Second World War and until the German reunification because it was located in an area occupied by Russian forces and was not entirely rebuilt until 2005.[58] The Six-Day War and War of Attrition resulted in the destruction of Port Tewfik Memorial and Aden Memorial, and the death of a Commission gardener at Suez War Memorial Cemetery.[59] During the Lebanese Civil War two cemeteries in Beirut were destroyed and had to be rebuilt.[58] The maintenance of war graves and memorials in Iraq has remained difficult since Iran–Iraq War in the 1980s, with regular maintenance being impractical since after the Gulf War.[60][61]
The commission also provides support for war graves outside its traditional mandate. In 1982, the British Ministry of Defence requested the commission's assistance to design and construct cemeteries in the Falkland Islands for those killed during the Falklands War.[62] Although these cemeteries are not Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries, the Commission manages the administrative responsibilities for them.[63] Since 2005, the commission has carried out similar management duties on behalf of the British Ministry of Defence for cemeteries and graves of British and Imperial soldiers who died during the Second Boer War.[64] In 2003, Veterans Affairs Canada employed the commission to develop an approach to locate grave markers for which the Canadian Minister of Veterans Affairs has responsibility. As of 2011, the commission conducts a twelve-year cyclical inspection programme of Canadian veterans' markers installed at the expense of the Government of Canada.[65]
In 2008, an exploratory excavation discovered mass graves on the edge of Pheasant Wood outside of Fromelles. Two-hundred and fifty British and Australian bodies were excavated from five mass graves which were interred in the newly constructed Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery. This was the first new Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery in more than 50 years, the last such cemeteries having been built after the Second World War.[66][67]
Burial sites and memorials[edit]
The commission is currently responsible for the continued commemoration of 1.7 million deceased Commonwealth military service members in 153 countries and approximately 67,000 civilians who died as a result of enemy action during the Second World War.[1][4][3] Commonwealth military service members are commemorated by name on either a headstone, at an identified site of a burial, or on a memorial. As a result, the commission is currently responsible for the care of war dead at over 23,000 separate burial sites and maintenance of more than 200 memorials worldwide.[2] The vast majority of burial sites are pre-existing communal or municipal cemeteries and parish churchyards located in the United Kingdom, however the commission has itself constructed approximately 2,500 war cemeteries worldwide.[1][68] The commission has also constructed or commissioned memorials to commemorate the dead who have no known grave; the largest of these is the Thiepval Memorial.[69]
Qualifications for inclusion[edit]
The Commission only commemorates those who have died during the designated war years, while in Commonwealth military service or of causes attributable to service. Death in service included not only those killed in combat but other causes such as those that died in training accidents, air raids and due to disease such as the 1918 flu pandemic.[70] The applicable periods of consideration are 4 August 1914 to 31 August 1921 for the First World War and 3 September 1939 to 31 December 1947 for the Second World War.[4] The end date for the First World War period is the official end of the war, while for the Second World War the Commission selected a date approximately the same period after VE Day as the official end of the First World War was after the 1918 Armistice.[71]
Civilians who died as a result of enemy action during the Second World War are commemorated differently from those that died as a result of military service. They are commemorated by name through the Civilian War Dead Roll of Honour located in St George's Chapel in Westminster Abbey. In addition to its mandated duties, the commission maintains, under arrangement with applicable governments, over 40,000 non-Commonwealth war graves and over 25,000 non-war military and civilian graves.[1][4]
Architects and sculptors[edit]
As well as the main Principal Architects for France and Belgium (Baker, Blomfield and Lutyens), there were Principal Architects appointed for other regions as well. Sir Robert Lorimer was Principal Architect for Italy, Macedonia and Egypt, while Sir John James Burnet was Principal Architect for Palestine and Gallipoli, assisted by Thomas Smith Tait. The Principal Architect for Mesopotamia was Edward Prioleau Warren.[72]
As well as these senior architects, there was a team of Assistant Architects who were actually responsible for many of the cemetery and memorial designs. These architects were younger, and many of them had served in the war. The Assistant Architects were: George Esselmont Gordon Leith, Wilfred Clement Von Berg, Charles Henry Holden (who in 1920 became a Principal Architect), William Harrison Cowlishaw, William Bryce Binnie, George Hartley Goldsmith, Frank Higginson, Arthur James Scott Hutton, Noel Ackroyd Rew, and John Reginald Truelove.[72][73] Other architects that worked for the commission, or won competitions for the Commission memorials, included George Salway Nicol,[74] Harold Chalton Bradshaw, Verner Owen Rees, Gordon H. Holt, and Henry Philip Cart de Lafontaine.[75]
In January 1944, Edward Maufe was appointed Principal Architect for the UK.[76] Maufe worked extensively for the commission for 25 years until 1969, becoming Chief Architect and also succeeding Kenyon as Artistic Advisor.[77][78] Together with Maufe, the other Principal Architects appointed during and after the Second World War were Hubert Worthington, Louis de Soissons, Philip Hepworth and Colin St Clair Oakes.[79]
Leading sculptors that worked on the memorials and cemeteries after the First World War included Eric Henri Kennington, Charles Thomas Wheeler, Gilbert Ledward, and Charles Sargeant Jagger.[80] Other sculptors, both in the inter-war period and after the Second World War, included William Reid Dick,[81] Ernest Gillick,[82] Basil Gotto,[83] Alfred Turner,[84] Laurence A. Turner,[85] Walter Gilbert,[86] Henry Poole,[87] Vernon Hill,[88] Robert Anning Bell,[89] Ferdinand Victor Blundstone,[90] Joseph Armitage,[90] and Gilbert Bayes.[89]
Cemetery design[edit]
Common architectural design features[edit]
Structural design has always played an important part in the commission's cemeteries. Apart from a few exceptions, due to local geological conditions, the cemeteries follow the same design and uniform aesthetic all over the world.[91] This makes the cemeteries easily recognisable and distinguishes them from war graves administered by other groups or countries. [91][92]
A typical cemetery is surrounded by a low wall or hedge and with a wrought-iron gate entrance.[93][94] For cemeteries in France and Belgium, a land tablet near the entrance or along a wall identifies the cemetery grounds as having been provided by the French or Belgian governments. All but the smallest cemeteries contain a register with an inventory of the burials, a plan of the plots and rows, and a basic history of the cemetery. The register is located within a metal cupboard that is marked with a cross located in either the wall near the cemetery entrance or in a shelter within the cemetery. More recently, in larger sites, a stainless steel notice gives details of the respective military campaign.[95][94] The headstones within the cemetery are of a uniform size and design and mark plots of equal size.[96]
The cemetery grounds are, except in drier climates, grass-covered with a floral border around the headstones. There is also an absence of any paving between the headstone rows which is intended to make the cemetery feel like a traditional walled garden where visitors could experience a sense of peace.[97] However, Carter and Jackson argue that the uniform aesthetics are designed to evoke a positive experience which deliberately masks and sanitises the nature of the war deaths.[46]
Cross of Sacrifice and Stone of Remembrance[edit]
Typically, cemeteries of more than 40 graves contain a Cross of Sacrifice designed by architect Reginald Blomfield. This cross was designed to imitate medieval crosses found in churchyards in England with proportions more commonly seen in the Celtic cross. The cross is normally a freestanding four-point limestone Latin cross, mounted on an octagonal base, and ranging in height from 14 to 32 feet (4.3 to 9.8 m). A bronze longsword, blade down, is embedded on the face of the cross. This cross represents the faith of the majority of the dead and the sword represents the military character of the cemetery, intended to link British soldiers and the Christian concept of self-sacrifice.[98][99]
Cemeteries with more than 1000 burials typically have a Stone of Remembrance, designed by Edwin Lutyens with the inscription "Their name liveth for evermore". The concept of the Stone of Remembrance stone was developed by Rudyard Kipling to commemorate those of all faiths and none respectively.[100][101] In contrast to the Cross of Sacrifice, the design for the stone deliberately avoided "shapes associated with particular religions". The geometry of the structure was based on studies of the Parthenon.[102] Each stone is 12 feet (3.5 m) long and 5 feet (1.5 m) high.[103] The shape of the stone has been compared both to that of a sarcophagus[103] and an altar.[101] The feature was designed using the principle of entasis.[104] The subtle curves in the design, if extended, would form a sphere 1,801 feet 8 inches (549.15 m) in diameter.[105]
Every grave is marked with a headstone.[106] Each headstone contains the national emblem or regimental badge, rank, name, unit, date of death and age of each casualty inscribed above an appropriate religious symbol and a more personal dedication chosen by relatives.[107] The headstones use a standard upper case lettering designed by MacDonald Gill.[108] Individual graves are arranged, where possible, in straight rows and marked by uniform headstones, the vast majority of which are made of Portland stone. The original headstone dimensions were 30 inches (76 cm) tall, 15 in (38 cm) wide, and 3 in (7.6 cm) thick.[109]
Most headstones are inscribed with a cross, except for those deceased known to be atheist or non-Christian. In the case of burials of Victoria Cross or George Cross recipients, the regimental badge is supplemented by the Victoria Cross or George Cross emblem. Sometimes a soldier employed a pseudonym because he was too young to serve or was sought by law enforcement; in such cases his primary name is shown along with the notation "served as".[107] Some American citizens who served with Commonwealth forces during the Second World War have the notation "Of U.S.A.".[110] Those whose exact burial location within a cemetery is not known will contain the superscript "Buried elsewhere in this Cemetery", "Known to be buried in this cemetery" or "Believed to be buried in this cemetery".[111] Many headstones are for unidentified casualties; they consequently bear only what could be discovered from the body. The epitaph, developed by Rudyard Kipling, that appears on the graves of unidentified soldiers for which no details are known is "A Soldier of the Great War known unto God".[101] Some headstones bear the text "believed to be buried in this cemetery" when the grave's exact location within the cemetery is not known. In some cases soldiers were buried in collective graves and distinguishing one body from another was not possible and thus one headstone covers more than one grave.[112] The headstone does not denote any specific details of the death except for its date, and even then only if it is known, and are deliberately ambiguous about the cause of death.[46] Due to local conditions it was sometimes necessary for the commission to deviate from its standard design. In places prone to extreme weather or earthquakes, such as Thailand and Turkey, stone-faced pedestal markers are used instead of the normal headstones.[113] These measures are intended to prevent masonry being damaged during earthquakes or sinking into sodden ground.[114] In Italy, headstones were carved from Chiampo Perla limestone because it was in more plentiful supply.[113] In Struma Military Cemetery, in Greece, to avoid risk of earthquake damage, small headstones are laid flush to the ground.[115] Due to their smaller size, the markers often lack unit insignia.[116]
Commission cemeteries are distinctive in treating floriculture as an integral part of the cemetery design. Originally, the horticultural concept was to create an environment where visitors could experience a sense of peace in a setting, in contrast to traditionally bleak graveyards. Recommendations given by Arthur William Hill, the Assistant Director of the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew enabled the commission to develop cemetery layouts and architectural structures that took into account the placement of suitable plant life.[117] Combining structural and horticultural elements were not unfamiliar to the commission's architects. Sir Edwin Lutyens furthered his long-standing working relationship with horticulturist Gertrude Jekyll, whose devotion to traditional cottage garden plants and roses greatly influenced the appearance of the cemeteries. Where possible, indigenous plants were utilised to enhance sentimental associations with the gardens of home.[118]
Variety in texture, height and timing of floral display were equally important horticultural considerations. The beds around each headstone are planted with a mixture of floribunda roses and herbaceous perennials.[119] Low-growing plants are chosen for areas immediately in front of headstones, ensuring that inscriptions are not obscured and preventing soil from splashing back during rain. In cemeteries where there are pedestal grave markers, dwarf varieties of plants are used instead.[118]
The absence of any form of paving between the headstone rows contributes to the simplicity of the cemetery designs. Lawn paths add to the garden ambience and are irrigated during the dry season in countries where there is insufficient rain. Where irrigation is inappropriate or impractical, dry landscaping is an ecological alternative favoured by the commission's horticulturists, as is the case in Iraq. Drier areas require a different approach not only for lawns but also to plants and styles of planting. Similarly, there are separate horticultural considerations in tropical climates. When many cemeteries are concentrated within a limited area, like along the Western Front or Gallipoli peninsula, mobile teams of gardeners operate from a local base. Elsewhere, larger cemeteries have their own dedicated staff while small cemeteries are usually tended by a single gardener working part-time.[120]
The affairs of the CWGC are overseen by a Board of Commissioners. The President of the board is HRH Princess Anne, Princess Royal, the Chairman is the United Kingdom's Secretary of State for Defence Ben Wallace MP and the Vice Chairman is Vice Admiral Peter Hudson CB CBE.[121] Claire Horton was appointed Director-General of the CWGC in 2020[122]
The members are: the High Commissioner for New Zealand to the United Kingdom, Phil Goff; the High Commissioner of Australia to the United Kingdom, Stephen Smith; the High Commissioner of the Republic of South Africa to the United Kingdom, Jeremiah Nyamane Mamabolo; the High Commissioner for India to the United Kingdom, Vikram Doraiswami; the High Commissioner for Canada to the United Kingdom, Ralph E. Goodale; Keryn James; Sir Tim Hitchens; Vice Admiral Peter Hudson; Hon Philip Dunne; Dame Diana Johnson; Vasuki Shastry; Dame Judith Mayhew Jonas; Lieutenant General Sir Ben Bathurst.[121]
Functional structure[edit]
The CWGC is headquartered in Maidenhead, England. Offices or agencies that are each responsible for a specific geographical area manage the worldwide affairs of the organisation. They are:[123]
- United Kingdom and Northern Area - UKNA: responsible for United Kingdom, Ireland, Iceland, Faroe Islands, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Gibraltar, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Russia (West) / Ukraine
- Central and Southern Europe Area - C&SEA: responsible for Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Poland, Austria, Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Malta, North Macedonia Republic, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Greece
- France Area - FA: responsible for France, Switzerland, Monaco, Spain, Portugal, Azores, Madeira
- Canada, Americas and Pacific Area - CAPA: responsible for Canada, United States, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Falkland Islands, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Netherlands Antilles, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, Saint Kitts, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, Venezuela, Virgin Islands, British China (including Hong Kong), Fiji, Japan, Philippines, Russia Vladivostok, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand
- Africa and Asia Area - AAA: responsible for Armenia, Bangladesh, Botswana, British Indian Ocean Territories, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Congo, Congo (Democratic Republic), Cote d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Swasiland (Eswatini), Ethiopia, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Guinea, India, Iran, Iraq, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Maldives, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia (including Somaliland), South Africa, Sri Lanka, St Helena and Ascension, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia, Yemen, Azerbaijan, Israel and Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Bahrain
The CWGC's work is funded predominantly by grants from the governments of the six member states. In the fiscal year 2020/21, these grants amounted to £66.1 million of the organisation's £74.5 million of income.[124] This equates to an approximate cost of CA$85 per commemorated war dead.[125] The contribution from each country is proportionate to the number of graves the CWGC maintains on behalf of that country. The percentage of total annual contributions for which each country is responsible is United Kingdom 79%, Canada 10%, Australia 6%, New Zealand 2%, South Africa 2% and India 1%.[124]
Ongoing projects and issues[edit]
Reburials and identifications[edit]
Immediately following the First World War, the British Army remained responsible for the exhumation of remains. The Western Front was divided into sectors and combed for bodies by 12-man exhumation units. Between the Armistice and September 1921, the exhumation units reburied 204,695 bodies. After 1921, no further comprehensive search for bodies was undertaken, and in February 1921 responsibility for the cemeteries was transferred to the commission. Nevertheless, despite the rigour of the searches, bodies continued to be discovered in large numbers. In the three years following the conclusion of the general search 38,000 bodies were discovered. In the mid 1920s, 20 to 30 bodies were being discovered weekly.[126][127]
The discovery of remains of First and Second World War casualties remains a common occurrence, with approximately 30 bodies discovered annually.[127] For example, in 2006 eight bodies of Canadian soldiers from the 78th Battalion (Winnipeg Grenadiers), CEF were discovered in a backyard in Hallu, France.[128][129] In April 2013, the remains of four British soldiers discovered by a French farmer clearing land with a metal detector in 2009 were re-interred at H.A.C. Cemetery near Arras, France.[130] In March 2014, the remains of 20 Commonwealth and 30 German soldiers were discovered in Vendin-le-Vieil, France, with the Commonwealth soldiers being subsequently reburied at Loos British Cemetery.[131][132] When the remains of a Commonwealth soldier from the First or Second World War is discovered the commission is notified, and a Commission burial officer tries to collect any associated artefacts that may help identify the individual. The details are then registered and archived at the commission's headquarters. Evidence used for identification purposes may include artifacts found with the remains, anthropological data and DNA.[133]
Investigation of archival records by members of the public periodically results in the identification of previously buried casualties. The archival records of the commission are open to the public to permit individuals to conduct their own research.[133] In December 2013, it was discovered that Second Lieutenant Philip Frederick Cormack, who was previously commemorated on the Arras Flying Services Memorial, had in fact been buried in a French military cemetery in Machelen, East Flanders in Belgium.[134] Sergeant Leonard Maidment was identified in 2013 after a visitor to Marfaux British Cemetery discovered a headstone of an unknown sergeant with the Hampshire Regiment killed on 20 July 1918, and was subsequently able to show that only one sergeant from that regiment had been killed in France on that date.[135] As of July 2022, the In From The Cold Project has so far identified 7,255 individuals with either unmarked graves or names missing from the Roll of Honour maintained at Westminster Abbey.[136] The majority of the casualties commemorated on the Brookwood 1914–1918 Memorial are servicemen and women identified by the In From The Cold Project as having died while in care of their families and were not commemorated by the Commission at the time.[137][138]
Cemeteries, including those of war dead, are targets for vandalism. The gravestones, cemeteries and buildings of the Commission are no exception.[139] The Commission believes that graffiti and damage to stonework are usually the work of young people, noting that the number of incidents increases when schoolchildren are on school holidays.[140] Metal theft is also a problem: determined thieves target the bronze swords from the Cross of Sacrifice, which are now replaced with replicas made of fibreglass.[141]
The vandalism of Commission cemeteries has also been connected to the participation of Commonwealth countries in contemporary conflicts. In the 1970s, during the Troubles, Commission cemeteries in Ireland experienced vandalism.[142] Vandals defaced the central memorial of the Étaples Military Cemetery in northern France with anti-British and anti-American graffiti on 20 March 2003 immediately after the beginning of the Iraq War.[143] On 9 May 2004, thirty-three headstones were demolished in the Gaza cemetery, which contains 3,691 graves,[144] allegedly in retaliation for the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal.[145] On 24 February 2012, during the Libyan Civil War, Islamist militia damaged over 200 headstones in the Benghazi war cemetery, as well as the central memorial.[146]
Inequalities in commemoration[edit]
In April 2021, a special committee of the CWGC published a report on historical inequalities in commemoration, concerning "failures to properly commemorate black and Asian troops" after the First World War.[147][148] A set of public statements by CWGC and the Special Committee on the issue and the next steps to be taken were published on the CWGC website, and the Defence Secretary Ben Wallace made an official apology in the House of Commons.[148][149]
See also[edit]
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Peaslee 1974, p. 300.
- ^ a b c Gibson & Ward 1989, p. 63.
- ^ a b Commonwealth War Graves Commission Annual Report 2013, p. 2.
- ^ a b c d "Facts and figures". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Archived from the original on 5 November 2011. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
- ^ Majesty Magazine [@MajestyMagazine] (10 November 2023). "The King becomes Patron of CWGC" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ Majesty Magazine [@MajestyMagazine] (10 November 2023). "The Princess Royal becomes President of CWGC" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ a b "Major General Sir Fabian Ware". Ministry of Defence Veterans Agency. Archived from the original on 28 December 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
- ^ a b Stamp 2007, p. 72.
- ^ van Emden 2011, p. 149.
- ^ a b Geurst 2010, p. 13.
- ^ Graves were to be 23 to 30 centimetres (9.1 to 11.8 in) apart with pathways no more than 90 centimetres (35 in) wide.Geurst 2010, p. 13
- ^ a b c Summers 2007, p. 15.
- ^ "A History of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission" (PDF). Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 February 2013. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
- ^ Summers 2007, pp. 15–16.
- ^ a b "WO 32/9433 – Text of Memorandum put before the Imperial War Conference in April 1917". The Catalogue. The National Archives. Archived from the original on 7 March 2009. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
- ^ a b Summers 2007, p. 16.
- ^ "History of CWGC". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Archived from the original on 3 August 2013. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
- ^ Carter & Jackson 2000, p. 182.
- ^ Winter 1998, p. 80.
- ^ Wittman 2011.
- ^ The document was entitled War Graves: How Cemeteries Abroad will be Designed.Braybon 2004, p. 32
- ^ Longworth 2003, p. 33.
- ^ Longworth 2003, p. 42.
- ^ Scutts 2009, p. 387.
- ^ a b Braybon 2004, p. 32.
- ^ "Imperial War Graves Commission HC Deb vol 128 cc1929-72". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 4 May 1920. Archived from the original on 25 June 2009. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
- ^ Longworth 2003, pp. 51–55.
- ^ "A History of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. p. 3. Archived from the original on 31 December 2013. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
- ^ Pub. L. 66-175 - An AN ACT To amend section 4878 of the Revised Statutes as amended by the Act of March 3 1897. April 15, 1920 552 (PDF), uslaw.link, retrieved 18 November 2021
- ^ Dickon 2014.
- ^ Dickon 2011, p. 62.
- ^ Geurst 2010, p. 58.
- ^ Summers 2007, p. 34.
- ^ a b Geurst 2010, pp. 48–50.
- ^ Summers 2007, p. 27.
- ^ Longworth 2003, p. 125.
- ^ Geurst 2010, p. 56.
- ^ Geurst 2010, p. 57.
- ^ Hucker, Jacqueline. "Monuments of the First and Second World Wars". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 10 August 2011. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
- ^ Summers 2007, p. 22.
- ^ Summers 2007, p. 23.
- ^ Geurst 2010, p. 2889.
- ^ Summers 2007, p. 35.
- ^ Ware 1937, p. 33.
- ^ Longworth 2003, p. 126.
- ^ a b c Carter & Jackson 2000, p. 190.
- ^ "Giza Eye Hospital". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
- ^ Longworth 2003, p. 97.
- ^ "A History of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. p. 5. Archived from the original on 31 December 2013. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
- ^ "Second World War". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Archived from the original on 31 December 2013. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
- ^ Gibson & Ward 1989, p. 60.
- ^ Stanford, Peter (2013). How to Read a Graveyard: Journeys in the Company of the Dead. Bloomsbury. p. 119. ISBN 978-1-4411-7977-7.
- ^ Thomas 2005.
- ^ Bailey, Roderick (2008). The Wildest Province: SOE in the Land of the Eagle. London: Jonathan Cape. pp. 2–6. ISBN 978-0224079167.
- ^ Edwards 2008, p. 30.
- ^ "Civilian War Dead Roll of Honour 1939–1945 – Westminster Abbey". The Dean and Chapter of Westminster. Archived from the original on 30 December 2013. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
- ^ Summers 2007, p. 50.
- ^ a b Summers 2007, p. 45.
- ^ Commonwealth War Graves Commission. "Heliopolis (Port Tewfik) Memorial". Archived from the original on 31 January 2018. Retrieved 31 October 2007.
- ^ Freeman, Colin (10 November 2013). "Iraq cemetery containing graves of British servicemen is destroyed". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 26 February 2014. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
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- ^ Summers 2007, p. 51.
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- ^ "WWI war dead reburied in special service". BBC News. 30 January 2010. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
- ^ Jackson, Peter (29 January 2010). "Putting names to the lost soldiers of Fromelles". BBC News. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
- ^ Commonwealth War Graves Commission Annual Report 2007–2008. Commonwealth War Graves Commission. pp. 48–52.
- ^ Stamp 2007, p. 153.
- ^ UK Home Front, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, archived from the original on 1 May 2017, retrieved 8 January 2017
- ^ Gibson & Ward 1989, p. 64.
- ^ a b Summers 2007, p. 20.
- ^ Stamp 2007, pp. 90–91.
- ^ Bernard Dolman, ed. (1927). Who's Who in Art. Art Trade Press. p. 170.
- ^ Stamp & Harris 1977, pp. 20–27.
- ^ Longworth 2003, p. 179.
- ^ Richardson, Margaret. Maufe, Edward Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Archived 19 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine, Oxford University Press, accessed 25 September 2013 (subscription or UK public library membership required)
- ^ Longworth 2003, p. 207.
- ^ Longworth 2003, pp. 179–180.
- ^ Longworth 2003, p. 130.
- ^ "Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Archived from the original on 28 September 2013. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
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- ^ "Beaumont-Hamel (Newfoundland) Memorial". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Archived from the original on 28 September 2013. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
- ^ 'Alfred Turner RA', Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851–1951, University of Glasgow History of Art and HATII, online database 2011 accessed 26 Sep 2013 Archived 27 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Pozieres Memorial". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Archived from the original on 24 September 2013. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
- ^ "Doiran Memorial". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Archived from the original on 7 December 2013. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
- ^ "Plymouth Naval Memorial". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Archived from the original on 17 September 2013. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
- ^ "Runnymede Memorial". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Archived from the original on 28 September 2013. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
- ^ a b "Jerusalem Memorial". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Archived from the original on 26 September 2013. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
- ^ a b "Tyne Cot Memorial". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Archived from the original on 17 September 2013. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
- ^ a b Carter & Jackson 2000, p. 188.
- ^ Stamp 2007, p. 82.
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- ^ a b "Our Cemetery design and features". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Archived from the original on 30 September 2013. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
- ^ Geurst 2010, p. 158.
- ^ Carter & Jackson 2000, p. 187.
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- ^ Geurst 2010, p. 46.
- ^ "Features of Commonwealth War Cemeteries" (Word document). Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Archived from the original on 18 February 2012. Retrieved 23 May 2009.
- ^ Edwards 2008, p. 31.
- ^ a b c Stamp & Harris 1977, p. 13.
- ^ "CWGC – Our Cemetery design and features". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Archived from the original on 18 February 2012. Retrieved 1 March 2010.
- ^ a b "Stone of Remembrance". Australian Government Department of Veterans' Affairs. Archived from the original on 18 June 2013. Retrieved 1 March 2010.
- ^ Skelton, Tim (November–December 2009). "Remembering the Great War with Lutyens". British Archaeology. Council for British Archaeology (109). Archived from the original on 19 July 2012. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
- ^ Stamp 2007, p. 79.
- ^ Geurst 2010, p. 34.
- ^ a b Geurst 2010, p. 98.
- ^ Stamp 2007, p. 85.
- ^ Geurst 2010, p. 96.
- ^ "Lost, Unknown, Misidentified or Alone" - You Tube, @ 7:00 and 12:00
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- ^ a b Summers 2007, p. 28.
- ^ "Features of Commonwealth War Cemeteries". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Archived from the original (Word document) on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 23 May 2009.
- ^ "Charles Usher Kilner". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Archived from the original on 16 June 2011. Retrieved 23 May 2009.
- ^ "The Gallipoli Campaign, 1915". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Archived from the original on 31 December 2013. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
- ^ Longworth 2003, p. 21.
- ^ a b "Our Horticulture". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Archived from the original on 31 January 2013. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
- ^ Commonwealth War Graves Commission Information sheet: The Commission's Horticulture. Commonwealth War Graves Commission. p. 2.
- ^ Longworth 2003, pp. 232–233.
- ^ a b "Our Commissioners". www.cwgc.org. Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
- ^ "Commonwealth War Graves Commission appoints Claire Horton CBE as Director General | CWGC". www.cwgc.org. Archived from the original on 20 April 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
- ^ Commonwealth War Graves Commission Annual Report 2013, pp. 44–45.
- ^ a b Commonwealth War Graves Commission Annual Report 2021, p. 39-40.
- ^ "Mr. Bradley Hall (Secretary-General, Canadian Agency of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission) at the Veterans Affairs Committee". Open North. 3 November 2011. Archived from the original on 2 October 2013. Retrieved 15 August 2013.
- ^ Summers 2007, p. 29.
- ^ a b Summers 2007, p. 30.
- ^ Shwartz, Daniel (27 September 2014). "4 WW I Canadian soldiers' remains identified". CBC News. Archived from the original on 20 November 2014. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
- ^ Of the eight bodies five have been identified. They are Lieutenant Clifford Neelands of Barrie, Ontario, Private Lachlan McKinnon, an immigrant from Scotland, Private William Simms of Russell, Manitoba, Sergeant John Oscar Lindell of Sweden who immigrated to Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Private Sidney Halliday of Minto, Manitoba
- ^ Allen, Peter; Arkell, Harriet (22 April 2013). "Douglas Elphick and Lieutenant John Harold Pritchard buried in France 96 years after killed in action in WWI". Capital Bay. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
- ^ "Re-burial at Loos". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. 14 March 2014. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
- ^ "First world war soldiers buried with full military honours after 100 years". The Guardian. Press Association. 14 March 2014. Archived from the original on 17 March 2014. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
- ^ a b Signoli & de Verines 2011, p. 712.
- ^ "CWGC Headstone for Second Lieutenant P. F. Cormack's Grave". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. 10 December 2013. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
- ^ Tattersfield, David (30 July 2013). "The life of First World War British Sergeant Leonard Maidment". Western Front Association. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
- ^ "Casualties In From The Cold". In From The Cold Project. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
- ^ Davis, Eleanor (15 October 2016). "Brookwood memorial updated with 77 new names of fallen World War One soldiers". Trinity Mirror Southern. Archived from the original on 8 January 2018. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
- ^ "Brookwood 1914–1918 Memorial". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Archived from the original on 9 December 2017. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
- ^ Gibson & Ward 1989, p. 99.
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- ^ Gibson & Ward 1989, p. 100.
- ^ Gibney, John. "Comrades in Death". Archived from the original on 7 November 2014. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
- ^ "French Plea as cemetery defaced". BBC News. 1 April 2003. Archived from the original on 12 January 2008. Retrieved 30 October 2007.
- ^ "Gaza War Cemetery". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Archived from the original on 31 January 2018. Retrieved 15 September 2006.
- ^ Lynfield, Ben (11 May 2004). "Palestinians vandalise UK war graves". The Scotsman. Archived from the original on 24 April 2005. Retrieved 15 September 2006.
- ^ Stephen, Chris (3 April 2012). "British war graves in Libya desecrated by Islamist militants". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 13 March 2014. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
- ^ "Report of the Special Committee to Review Historical Inequalities in Commemoration" (PDF). Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 April 2021. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
- ^ a b "Commonwealth war graves: PM 'deeply troubled' over racism". BBC News. 22 April 2021. Archived from the original on 22 April 2021. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
- ^ "Report of the Special Committee to Review Historical Inequalities in Commemoration". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Archived from the original on 22 April 2021. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
- Braybon, Gail (2004). Evidence, History, and the Great War: Historians and the Impact of 1914–18. New York: Berghahn Books. ISBN 978-1-5718-1801-0. OCLC 1100228087.
- Carter, Pippa; Jackson, Norman (2000). "An-aesthetics". In Linstead, Stephen; Höpfl, Heather (eds.). The Aesthetics of Organization. London: SAGE Publications Ltd. pp. 180–197. ISBN 978-0-7619-5323-4.
- CWGC Annual Report 2012–2013. Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Archived from the original on 30 December 2013. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
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- Dickon, Chris (2011). The Foreign Burial of American War Dead: A History. Jefferson, NC: McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-4612-4. OCLC 659753667.
- Dickon, Chris (2014). Americans at War in Foreign Forces: A History, 1914-1945. Jefferson, NC: McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-7190-4. OCLC 894719554.
- Edwards, Barry (November 2008). "The Commonwealth War Graves Commission". Context. The Institute of Historical Building Conversation (107). Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 15 August 2013.
- van Emden, Richard (2011). The Quick and the Dead: Fallen Soldiers and Their Families in the Great War. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7475-9779-7. OCLC 795355797.
- Gibson, T. A. Edwin; Ward, G. Kingsley (1989). Courage Remembered: The Story Behind the Construction and Maintenance of the Commonwealth's Military Cemeteries and Memorials of the Wars of 1914–18 and 1939–45. London: Stationery Office Books. ISBN 0-11-772608-7. OCLC 476384770.
- Geurst, Jeroen (2010). Cemeteries of the Great War By Sir Edwin Lutyens. 010 Publishers. ISBN 978-90-6450-715-1. OCLC 901292506.
- Longworth, Philip (2003) [1st. pub. CWGC: 1967]. The Unending Vigil: The History of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (1985 revised ed.). Pen and Sword. ISBN 1-84415-004-6. OCLC 1016649518.
- Peaslee, Amos Jenkins (1974). International Governmental Organizations. Vol. 2 (3rd ed.). London: Martinus Nijhoff. ISBN 90-247-1601-2.
- Scutts, Joanna (2009). "Battlefield Cemeteries, Pilgrimage, and Literature after the First World War: The Burial of the Dead". English Literature in Transition. 52 (4): 387–416. doi:10.2487/elt.52.4(2009)0045. ISSN 0013-8339. S2CID 162051177. BL Shelfmark 3775.070000.
- Signoli, Michel; de Verines, Guillaume (2011). "Burials related to recent military conflicts. Case studies from France". In Marquez-Grant, Nicholas; Fibiger, Linda (eds.). The Routledge Handbook of Archaeological Human Remains and Legislation: An International Guide to Laws and Practice in the Excavation and Treatment of Archaeological Human Remains. Oxon: Routhedge. pp. 711–717. ISBN 978-1-136-87956-2. OCLC 755922051.
- Stamp, Gavin; Harris, John (1977). Silent Cities: Catalogue of an Exhibition of the Memorial and Cemetery Architecture of the Great War. London: Royal Institute of British Architects. OCLC 16438447.
- Stamp, Gavin (2007). Memorial to the Missing of the Somme. Profile Books. ISBN 978-1-86197-811-0. OCLC 1055383547.
- Summers, Julie (2007). Remembered: The History of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. London: Merrell. ISBN 978-1-85894-374-9. OCLC 1152049462.
- Thomas, Ian A (2005). "Hopton Wood Stone – England's premier decorative stone". England's Heritage in Stone Proceedings of a Conference Tempest Anderson Hall, York 15–17 March 2005 (PDF). Heritage in Stone. pp. 90–105. OCLC 770340529. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 May 2014.
- Ware, Fabian (1937). The Immortal Heritage: An Account of the Work and Policy of the Imperial War Graves Commission During Twenty Years. Cambridge University Press. OCLC 629958536.
- Winter, Jay (1998). Sites of Memory, Sites of Mourning: The Great War in European Cultural History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-63988-0. OCLC 1159801157. Archived from the original on 25 April 2016. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
- Wittman, Laura (2011). The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Modern Mourning, and the Reinvention of the Mystical Body. Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-1-4426-4339-0. OCLC 777930306. Archived from the original on 25 April 2016. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
External links[edit]
- Official website
- Maple Leaf Legacy Project
- South Africa War Graves Project
- United Kingdom National Inventory of War Memorials Archived 19 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine
- New Zealand Memorials Register, Ministry of Culture & Heritage
- Commonwealth War Graves Commission on Flickr
- Presentation on the history of the CWGC by Julie Summers
- Commonwealth War Graves Commission
- Australian military cemeteries
- British military memorials and cemeteries
- Canadian military memorials and cemeteries
- Indian military memorials and cemeteries
- New Zealand military memorials and cemeteries
- South African military memorials and cemeteries
- Intergovernmental organizations
- Organisations based in Berkshire
- Commonwealth Family
- Government agencies established in 1917
- Military history of the British Empire and Commonwealth in World War II

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Year of publication
- 2004 (1)
Document Type
- Book (1)
- English (1)
Has Fulltext
- yes (1)
Is part of the Bibliography
- no (1)
This dissertation investigates developments in the performance of J. S. Bach's music in the second half of the 20th century, as reflected in recordings of the Mass in B Minor, BWV 232. It places particular emphasis on issues relating to concepts of expression through performance. Between the 1950s and the 1980s, most Bach performers shared a partial consensus as to what constitutes expression in performance (e.g., intense sound; wide dynamic range; rubato). Arguments against the application of such techniques to Bach's works were often linked with the view that his music is more "objective" than later repertoires; or, alternatively, that expressive elements in Bach's music are self-sufficient, and should be not be intensified in performance. Historically-informed performance (HIP), from the late 1960s onwards, has been characterised by greater attention to the inflection of local details (i.e., individual figures and motifs). In terms of expressive intensity, this led to contradictory results. On the one hand, several HIP performances were characterised by a narrow overall dynamic range, light textures, fast tempi and few contrasts; these performances were often considered lightweight. On the other hand, HIP also promoted renewed interest in the practical application of Baroque theories of musical rhetoric, inspiring performances which projected varied intensity within movements. More recently, traditional means of expression have enjoyed renewed prominence. Ostensibly "romantic" features such as broad legati, long-range crescendi and diminuendi, and organic shaping of movements as wholes have been increasingly adopted by HIP musicians. In order to substantiate the narrative outlined above, the significance of the evidence preserved in sound recordings had to be checked against other sources of information. This dissertation is divided into two main parts. The first part focuses on specific "schools" of prominent Bach performers. Complete recordings of the Mass are examined in relation to the biographical and intellectual backgrounds of the main representatives of these schools, their verbally-expressed views on Bach's music and on their own role as performers, and their style as documented in recordings of other works. The second part examines the performance history of specific movements within the Mass, comparing the interpretations preserved in sound recordings with relevant verbal analyses and commentaries. The dissertation as a whole therefore combines the resources of reception and performance studies. Beyond its specific historical conclusions concerning Bach performance in the post-war era, it also provides specific insights into Bach's music, its meaning and its role in contemporary culture.


text:
Adam & Barbara's trash the dress shoot is like nothing I've ever seen! Day of the Dead make up fused with an awesome cemetery location made for something pretty special. The bride did the make up "It was a trial and error process," she explained. "I looked up make up designs online and tried different ones to see which would look best with my (and my husband's) facial structure, without looking too cluttered. Since it was right before Halloween, I could find cream makeup almost anywhere, and picked up a few tubes, and some extra just in case I ran out. I applied it with paint brushes, which helped so I could layer it on without it looking too thick. I had to apply three layers of white to give it a true white appearance, and if I hadn't run out of time, I would've applied more."
The couple, who said their wedding was a bit of a 'toned-down' version of them, wanted to do something really dramatic and something they'd always remember for their post-wedding shoot. "Our wedding was very calm, very pretty, very "toned down" from the route I would normally go," Barbara continued. "We met at a Hot Topic store, started dating at a Halloween party, and got engaged at a rock Concert in California, but I wanted our families to feel comfortable, so I opted for only a few things that were on the darker side (mainly, the table that held my seating chart, which had Beetlejuice figures of "Barbara" and "Adam" and a twisted looking votive tree)."
"I wanted to do a Trash the Dress shoot because… well… you only live once, and I wanted to do something that I could remember, and look at the pictures down the road, and say "I'm glad I did that, that was so much fun". The Day of the Dead seemed like it would be really fun to do. We wanted to do something completely non-traditional, something a little off-the-wall, something with a bit of shock value (which we definitely got when we went into town with the makeup on, plenty of stares, scared children, it was really funny), and this was the perfect opportunity. We were actually planning on changing out of the Day of the Dead stuff and do a normal Trash the Dress shoot halfway through, but… it was too much fun, so we decided to stick with it."
Thanks to Adam & Barbara and their photographer Mike for sharing these today!
The Gallery
Photography Credit: Allebach Photography
Bride's Dress: David's Bridal