War Graves

We have 24 War Graves in St. Peter’s Churchyard. These are for servicemen and women who died in the UK, either from their injuries having been brought home, or from enemy action in or over the UK e.g. fighter pilots. They could also be those who were killed in action overseas since the last war, and who were brought home e.g. Afghanistan. All those killed overseas during the First and Second World Wars were buried where they fell, whatever their rank.

Six of the memorial are the traditional white war gravestones; the rest, were buried in their family grave with a suitable inscription, financed by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission [CWGC] There is one, for example directly opposite the vestry door.

According to CWGC there are 13,000 war grave sites in the UK, some with very few graves and there are 23,000 worldwide, in 15 different countries. There is a team of volunteers who visit each grave about once every two years, to make sure that the grave is accessible (some graveyards are not as well kept as ours) to keep the headstones clean.

The Parish Office has a map, and references where the graves are. To commemorate the centenary of the ending of the First World War, 2018,  the PCC accepted the offer of a CWGC war grave sign which is placed on the wall, just inside the main Church gates at St Peter's.