The Commonwealth War Graves Commission has announced that it is carrying out major renovations at a cemetery near Berlin where almost 1,200 First World War servicemen are buried.
A team of 18 craftsmen, including stonemasons from the Commission’s Works Department in Belgium, are involved in the project at Berlin South-Western cemetery. 256 new headstones are being installed as part of a range of structural maintenance work.
The cemetery, 14 miles (22 kilometres) southwest of the German capital, will also undergo a complete horticultural renovation. The CWGC says the work should be finished in November 2013.
In 1922-23 it was decided that the graves of Commonwealth servicemen who had died all over Germany should be brought together in four permanent cemeteries. Berlin South-Western, which is near the village of Stahnsdorf, was one of those chosen.
There are now 1,176 First World War servicemen buried or commemorated in the Commonwealth plot at Berlin South-Western Cemetery. The total includes special memorials to a number of casualties buried in other cemeteries in Germany whose graves could not be found.
Source: Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Posted by: Peter Alhadeff, Centenary News