Tuesday, October 01, 2019

World War Two graves of Allied dead restored in Iraq

BBC
Nearly 200 damaged World War Two graves in the Iraqi desert have been restored after decades of conflict prevented their upkeep.
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Since 1990 war and political instability in the country meant that it was unsafe for staff at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to manage the site.
Safety concerns led to the CWGC placing its operations in the country on hold for decades, save for brief periods where repairs were possible.
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The CWGC maintains 23,000 memorial and cemetery sites around the world, helping to commemorate 1.7 million Commonwealth war dead.
Iraq represents its fifth largest commitment, where 51,000 casualties from World War One and 3,000 from World War Two are commemorated.
We lost 51,000 in Iraq in World War One. I didn't have a clue!

I imagine https://www.cwgc.org/ makes sobering reading

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