Brookwood MilitaryCemetery

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

a guide to

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In May 1917, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission wasestablished by Royal Charter. That same year, the need for a cemeteryfor servicemen and women who died in the London area was

recognised and Brookwood Military Cemetery was established. The menand women buried in Brookwood died in hospitals in the London areafrom wounds received on the Western Front, of sickness or in trainingaccidents. The cemetery was extended for the burial of Second WorldWar casualties.

Brookwood Military Cemetery is split into sections according to nationalityand the war in which the casualty died. It is unique among Commonwealthwar cemeteries in containing two Stones of Remembrance and twoCrosses of Sacrifice.

a guide toBrookwood Military

Cemetery

The Canadian Section viewed from the Brookwood Memorial

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The Canadian Records Building and Canadian SectionThe Canadian Records building stands at theentrance to the cemetery. Designed byEdward Maufe, the building was a gift to theCommission from the Canadian governmentand was erected by the Royal CanadianEngineers. Over the entrance is the sculptedfigure of a Canadian beaver (right) which wascarved by one of the engineers. The building houses the cemeteryregisters, offices and a reception area for visitors. The walls of thereception room are painted with the coats of arms of Canada and theCanadian armed forces, their battle honours and divisional badges.

Members of the CanadianExpeditionary Force werebased in the UnitedKingdom during both worldwars. Brookwood MilitaryCemetery contains 326 FirstWorld War and 2,405Second World War Canadianburials. The vast majority ofthese burials are in theCanadian section. Mapletrees line the avenue to theCross of Sacrifice and Stoneof Remembrance. Near theroad are a small number ofPolish and British post-warburials. Behind the Cross ofSacrifice is a small plot ofCanadian post-war burials.

The Dieppe RaidOn 19 August 1942, a mostly Canadian

assault force raided the French port of

Dieppe. It was the first significant Allied

action on the continent since the

withdrawal of the British Expeditionary

Force in 1940. As the troops landed

they were spotted by a German convoy

and lost the vital element of surprise.

Casualties were heavy but the lessons

learnt would prove vital in ensuring the

success of the D-Day landings in 1944.

Some of the wounded of the Dieppe

Raid were evacuated and those who

died of their injuries in the UK were

buried in Plot 38 of the Canadian

section of Brookwood Military Cemetery

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The Brookwood MemorialThe Brookwood Memorial was designed byRalph Hobday. It commemorates 3,438 menand women of the Commonwealth landforces who died during the Second WorldWar and have no known grave. They died inraids, at sea or on service outside the maintheatres of war. Among those honoured onthe memorial are personnel who died duringthe 1940 campaign in Norway, in raids onoccupied Europe such as the Dieppe Raid andas special agents.

Brookwood American CemeteryBrookwood American Cemetery andMemorial are owned and maintained by theAmerican Battle Monuments Commission.The headstones are arranged in four groupsaround a flagpole. The plot contains a chapeland a reception building. The walls within thechapel are inscribed with the names ofAmerican service personnel who died at seaand have no known grave. For moreinformation visit www.abmc.gov

Building the Brookwood Memorial

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Main Commonwealth SectionThis section contains the graves of allCommonwealth nationalities from bothWorld Wars. The graves are grouped inplots by nationality and the war in whichthey died. This section also contains asmall Second World War German plot. Inthe centre of the plot is the Stone ofRemembrance. The Cross of Sacrificestands to the north-west. A small plot ofBritish post-war service burials lies just offthis section.

“Set Europe Ablaze” Winston Churchill on the

formation of the Special Operations Executive

(SOE), 1940

During the Second World War the

SOE sent hundreds of agents into

occupied Europe. Their task was to

“co-ordinate, inspire, control and

assist” resistance movements. Many

were captured, interrogated and

executed. The majority of SOE dead

have no known graves and the

Brookwood Memorial alone bears the

names of 81 of them. Among them

are six female agents, including one

of only four women ever to receive a

George Cross, Violette Szabo

left: Brookwood Canadian Section

right: Brookwood American Cemetery

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The French Memorial

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Brookwood United Kingdom1914-1918 MemorialThis memorial (right) was created in 2004.It commemorates 217 Commonwealthcasualties who died in the United Kingdomduring the First World War but for whomno graves could be found.

Boy SoldierIn Plot 7 lies the grave of a 15 year old, Thomas Andrew Knowles, who died of

influenza in 1918. Thomas was one of an estimated 70 million people

throughout the world who died in the influenza pandemic. Those who died in

service are commemorated by the Commission

Brookwood Memorial

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Air Forces Section and RAF Shelter BuildingThe Air forces section contains graves of members of theRoyal Air Force who died during the Second World War.Including Americans who served with Eagle Squadron of theRoyal Air Force and some Dutch casualties. Nearby is theRAF Shelter Building which was designed by Edward Maufe,the Commission’s principal architect for the United Kingdomafter the Second World War.

Among the non-Commonwealth sections are the graves of Czechs whoserved in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve.

Non-Commonwealth GravesWith the exception of the American Cemetery, all graves in BrookwoodMilitary Cemetery are maintained by the Commonwealth War GravesCommission. There are plots of graves of French (244 burials), Polish (83burials), Belgians (47 burials), Italians (346 burials), Germans (53 burials)and Serbs (3 burials).

Brookwood American Cemetery

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The Chelsea Pensioners PlotThis plot contains the graves ofover a thousand ChelseaPensioners who died while inresidence at the Royal Hospital,Chelsea. The graves aremaintained by the Commission onbehalf of the Royal Hospital.

Brookwood CemeteryBrookwood Cemetery was opened in 1854 by a private company as aburial ground for Londoners as space for burials was running out in thecapital. It is now the largest cemetery in the United Kingdom.

The graves of 12 nursing service casualties of the First World War lie ina small plot in Brookwood Cemetery and are maintained as wargraves. A small plot of 28 Indian First World War graves and anotherof 14 Turkish Air Force burials of the Second World War lie just off themain Commonwealth section, outside the boundaries of BrookwoodMilitary Cemetery.

The Royal HospitalThe Royal Hospital, Chelsea was

founded by King Charles II in 1682

as a retreat for veterans of the

army. For more information visit

www.chelsea-pensioners.co.uk

The RAF Plot

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Wartime service burials in the UnitedKingdom were not regulated andfamilies often chose the final restingplace. There are war graves in almost12,500 burial grounds in the UnitedKingdom. Brookwood MilitaryCemetery is no exception andcontains scattered burials, often withprivate memorials. As well as the plotsmentioned above there are 98 FirstWorld War and 50 Second World Wargraves in Brookwood Cemetery.

LocationBrookwood Military Cemetery islocated 3 miles west of Woking on theA324 towards Pirbright. (See mapoverleaf)

Opening hours: Gates are unlockedand locked at the following times.

Summer (1 April to 30 September)Weekends/Bank holidays 8am to7.30pm, or dusk if earlier.

Winter (1 October to 31 March)Weekends/Bank holidays 8am to 4pm,or dusk if earlier.

Brookwood Military Cemetery isclosed on Christmas Day and NewYear’s Day.

Headstones in Brookwood Military Cemetery

HM The Queen at the unveiling of theBrookwood Memorial, 1958

Czech Plot

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The Commonwealth War Graves Commission is responsible for marking andmaintaining the graves of those members of the Commonwealth forces whodied during the two world wars, for building and maintaining memorials to thedead whose graves are unknown and for providing records and registers ofthese 1.7 million burials and commemorations which are found in mostcountries throughout the world.

Enquiries about the locationof individual burials andcommemorations may bedirected to the office belowor the search by surnamedatabase on theCommission’s website atwww.cwgc.org

For further information contact:Commonwealth War Graves Commission2 Marlow RoadMaidenheadBerkshireSL6 7DXTel: +44 (0) 1628 507200Fax: +44 (0) 1628 771208Email: casualty.enq@cwgc.org

Cover image courtesy Natalie Salat. Other images Brian Harris and CWGC archive

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