[mike_vee]

Originally Posted by grenadierguardsman

This whole episode is a stain on the History of our Nation. The people in the position at that time where in fact quite dishonourable, by not honouring all members that fought for our freedom. The hierarchy of the Nation shafting the little people again. And again " Windrush ".....
Andy

While mistakes were made I honestly believe that not all of the criticism of the IWGC/CWGC is justified.

To have a headstone the war dead had to be positively identified and their bodies recovered , in many cases (both British and Commonwealth) this was not possible . When this happened Memorials were erected , the Menin Gate is one example and similar Memorials exist in numerous Commonwealth countries.(eg.India Gate)

I have mentioned religous/cultural aspects but there were other factors to be considered , one WW1 example I found highlights this.

One article states :

She had found references to “vast Carrier Corps cemeteries” in Dar es Salaam. We were standing in one. It was entirely unmarked; no plaque, let alone a gravestone, was anywhere in sight. Beneath our feet were as many as 10,000 Africans who had served Britain. Unremembered.

Yet , another points out :

During the First World War around 125,000 Egyptian men supported British Empire Forces as part of the Egyptian Labour Corps (ELC) and the Camel Transport Corps (CTC).

However, when those serving with the ELC or CTC died, their units often buried them in unmarked graves or kept sporadic records, if at all. It’s estimated around 10,000 to 50,000 died during the First World War but an accurate number is impossible to know without proper records.

By the time the Commission was able to gain access to East Africa and begin the difficult work of locating the First World War dead there was little to no information available about the majority of Africans who had served, including accurate death tolls or burial locations or even their names.

The EAST AFRICA MEMORIAL bears the inscripition :

1939 - 1945 THE COLUMNS IN THIS ENCLOSURE BEAR THE NAMES OF TWO THOUSAND FOUR HUNDRED MEN AND WOMEN OF MANY RACES UNITED IN SERVICE TO THE BRITISH CROWN WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN ITALIAN SOMALILAND, SOUTHERN ETHIOPIA, KENYA AND MADAGASCAR, BUT TO WHOM THE FORTUNE OF WAR DENIED A KNOWN AND HONOURED GRAVE.

Besides those who died in these campaigns, many men and women who were lost in the sinking of the troopship 'Khedive Ismail' en route to Ceylon on 12 February 1944 are commemorated here; they include a great part of the 301st Field Regiment, East African Artillery.

So while individual headstones were not always possible they were not "forgotten" and their service was remembered and honoured.

NB. Since the erection of the memorial and engraving of the dedicatory panels the burial places of 188 casualties have since been discovered and they are now correctly commemorated by headstone at the graves.

Perhaps , one day , someone will do research and publish the number of British/Canadian/New Zealander/Australian forces who do not have a 'marked' grave but are simply remembered/honoured on Memorials. (The Menin Gate contains names on stone panels of 54,395 Commonwealth soldiers who died in the Salient but whose bodies have never been identified or found.)

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