The Commonwealth War Graves Commission is rebuilding a cemetery in Poland where 39 British soldiers were buried during the First World War.
The men died whilst being held as Prisoners of War during the conflict.
During the 1960s, the cemetery deteriorated and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission decided to commemorate the men at Malbork Commonwealth War Cemetery, about 60km from Gdansk.
At the end of March 2014, a “multi-skilled” CWGC team travelled to Lidzbark Warminski in northern Poland to restore the cemetery, with work expected to be complete by mid-April.
Headstones manufactured in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s offices in Arras, France, have been erected in the cemetery
After an appeal by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, a number of families of the men have come forward and will attend the re-dedication ceremony, which is planned for May this year.
Private Frank Bower
The Western Front Association’s David Tattersfield has carried out research into one of the men buried at the site – Private Frank Bower.
The soldier, from Huddersfield in West Yorkshire, England, was a railway clerk before joining the British Army in April 1917, enlisting into the Northumberland Fusiliers.
He was captured whilst in hospital at the Battle of the Lys in 1918.
Private Bower died in captivity on the 29th October 1918, aged 19.
Source: Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Western Front Association
Images courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Posted by: Daniel Barry, Centenary News