When the full scale of First World War deaths became apparent it was decided to bury soldiers in France and Belgium“Is it not enough to have our boys dragged from us and butchered without being deprived of their poor remains?”So pleaded one bereaved mother during the First World War, joining thousands in expressing outrage that the bodies of fallen soldiers would be buried in mass cemeteries abroad rather than returned home for private family burials. The countless ranks of white headstones in graveyards across France and Belgium now stand as poignant memorials to those who died, including more than 700,000 British soldiers. Yet 100 years ago, the commission given the task of burying the Empire’s war dead was accused of “conscripting bodies” by horrified parents who believed the plans amounted to “state-controlled grief”, a new exhibition reveals. A housewife and an aristocrat united to…

Source: The Times November 05, 2018 00:03 UTC