Page 14 - The Royal Lancers Chapka 2017

12 REGIMENTAL JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL LANCERS (QUEEN ELIZABETHS’ OWN) Centenary of the Commonwealth
War Graves Commission
Iwas once told that the cheapest way to visit a grand cathedral is to attend a service and so in May, Captain White [the au- thor] and Corporals Nagorski and Smith did just that. Westmin- ster Abbey hosted a special service of thanksgiving to celebrate the Centenary of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
To jog the memory of the reader, the Commission is an inter- governmental organisation of six member states; the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India and South Africa. Its principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration for the personnel from Armed Forces of the members of the Commonwealth of Nations who died in the two World Wars. The Commission cares for the graves and memorials of almost 1.7 million deceased Com- monwealth military servicemen and women in 23,000 locations, across 153 countries. Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Sir Mi- chael Fallon are the President and Chairman of the Commission respectively and both were in attendance at the service.
Included in the service was the dedication of two new volumes of the Civilian War-dead Roll of Honour from the Second World War and the laying of a specially created wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey. The new vol- umes include 650 new names of people killed in the UK and hundreds of others who died overseas between 1939-1945, which have only recently been presented to the Commission. The vol- umes have been designed not only to replicate the existing Roll of Honour, but also to allow for additional names to be included as project teams continue to discover people who are yet to be commemorated. Sadly, a large number of these names were chil- dren who died as a result of unexploded ordinance. The wreath is particularly significant to the Commission as it features as the crest marking the centenary of the organisation. The design was inspired by the famous bronze wreath on the pillbox below the Cross of Sacrifice in Tyne Cot Cemetery, near Ypres – the larg- est of the Commonwealth cemeteries and visited by many of the Regiment in recent years.
Representing the Regiment at Westminster Abbey was an excel- lent experience and an opportunity to commemorate not only those who lost their lives in the First and Second World Wars, but also to recognise the dedication of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission over the last century.
Corporal Smith, Captain White and Corporal Nagorski outside Westminster Abbey
The crest marking the Centenary of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission
SRW
The Tomb of the Unknown Warrior with the specially created wreath
The Civilian War Rolls enter the Abbey past the many servicemen and women represienting their units