On 21 May 1917 Fabian Ware's (pictured right) vision brought into being an organisation that would redeem the debt of honour owed to those men and women of the commonwealth forces who gave their lives in the two world wars.
The Imperial (later Commonwealth) War Graves Commission he founded preserves their memory by maintaining and caring for the most tangible reminders of their sacrifice, their graves and memorials, all over the world.
The principles of permanence and equality of treatment at the core of the Commission's work, and the exacting standards of care and service laid down by Ware and his colleagues, are as valid today as they were in 1917.
From the very beginning, horticulture has played a central part in creating the reflective, tranquil atmosphere that characterises the cemeteries in their care; the Commission's reputation for horticultural excellence is widely acknowledged, but much of the work undertaken to achieve the high standards visitors have come to expect is unseen.
(image above: The Commission's cemeteries in France are tended by 33 mobile horticultural groups, each led by a senior or head gardener supported by up to 15 members of staff with an average of 20,000 graves to maintain.)
The Commission commemorates 1.7 million individuals at 23,000 locations around the world, but one half of its work is concentrated in the small area of France and Belgium that saw the terrible trench warfare of the First World War. Here there are more than 1,000 Commonwealth war cemeteries and memorials and this density of commemorative sites has made maintenance by mobile teams of gardeners a feature of the Commission's work from the start.
Today that work continues in the hands of a new generation of gardeners, stonemasons and support staff, many of them descendants of the original, largely ex-service workforce who took up the challenge in the aftermath of the First World War. People like Jean-Pierre Nelson, Horticultural Manager, who is the third generation of his family to work for the Commission, and Samuel Rebeilleau, the newest member of the Gouzeaucourt group.
To Jean-Pierre, work on the cemeteries is more than just a job. he knows that every day he's helping to keep alive a tradition, a family tradition in his case, of remembrance. For Samuel, growing up in the midst of all the history, he felt it is just something he have always wanted to do.
When the First World War ended in 1918, the scale of the construction task facing the Commission cannot be understated. In a landscape ravaged by four years of bitter fighting the immediate priority was to make the cemeteries less bleak for the grieving relatives who were arriving to mourn.
(image: At first only bicycles and non-mechanised machines were used)
Ex-servicemen were recruited to tend the graves. In 1920, four hundred British gardeners were working in France and Belgium, rising to more than 1,300 by 1924.
In the early days, living and working conditions were hard. Equipment, supplies and miscellaneous vehicles were scrounged from departing army units, and the first gardeners were accommodated in huts and abandoned army hospitals. Later, men would find billets among the local people, a number of them marrying French and Belgian girls to establish bi-national communities that survive to this day.
(image right: Initially ex-servicemen were recruited to establish the cemeteries)
At first many of the men worked alone in the devastation of the old battlefields; one gardener had to take a bearing on a solitary blasted tree when he wanted to reach the road at the end of the day. Most faced a daily walk of several miles, weighed down with tools and equipment. The lucky ones had a heavy army bicycle adorned with an oil lamp, known as the demon for the frequency with which it set fire to the front tyre.
The logistical problems caused by the sheer number and wide dispersal of the cemeteries soon led to the introduction of mobile gardening parties. At the start of each week, a driver, a cook, half a dozen gardeners and a dog would leave their headquarters to tour the outlying cemeteries in a lorry with the assistance and direction of the renowned gardener Gertrude Jekyll.
(image right: Gertrude Jekyll advised and helped the Commission created borders)
The creation of flower borders in front of the headstones and floribunda roses shading the names of the fallen remains to this day. Teams of gardener-caretakers were appointed to care for small groups of cemeteries or even individual sites. Fewer ex-servicemen were now available to fill vacancies and for the first time, consideration was given to the possibility of engaging local labour.
The children of Commission staff were also being encouraged to work as gardeners in an effort to perpetuate the caring link between the cemeteries and memorials and those who had served in the war.
Just as the last Commission memorial of the Great War was completed in 1938, the peace of Europe was shattered once again in September 1939 with the declaration of war. At first, the work of the 500 gardeners and craftsmen caring for the Commonwealth cemeteries of France and Belgium continued as normal but in May 1940, the German advance forced a dramatic evacuation.
Just one step ahead of the invading forces, more than 400 men, women and children escaped to the United Kingdom, but some 160 were captured and interned for the duration of the war.
When the cemeteries and memorials were reclaimed by the Commission in 1944, much work needed to be done after the four years of virtual neglect. Gardeners were set to work in cemeteries nearest their homes and became known as static gardeners.
Most sites were restored to their pre-war standards within three years.
(image right: Slowly the gardening units became mechanised)
With the Great War sites restored and the Second World War cemeteries and memorials nearing completion, the Commission thought again about effective care and maintenance. Motorbikes replaced bicycles for the gardener in the field and greater advances in technology were changing the way the Commission worked.
At the start the 1950s came a decade of mechanisation for the Commission. The first motor mowers had been introduced in 1926 and by 1958, a fleet of 300 was in use alongside 2,000 push machines. Mechanical edgers, hedge cutters, leaf sweepers, gang mowers, fertiliser and compost distributors followed.
As the Commission's work became more mechanised, those cemeteries not large enough to justify heavy machinery and a full time staff of their own were organised into groups, each group serviced by a mobile team using newly introduced mini-vans to transport
their equipment.
These mobile teams had up to 15,000 graves to maintain and the 17 groups at work in 1962 were such a success that the number was doubled the following year. By the 1960s, turf lifters and rotovators greatly simplified the re-levelling and re-sowing of cemeteries and three quarters of all turf verges - many hundreds of kilometres a week - were cut by machine.
In the early 1980s, the mobile group structure was again reorganised, with increased mechanisation resulting in fewer but larger groups, and this process has continued with the introduction of new machines and techniques.
(image right: Today the skill and experience of the Commission's gardener is varied)
The gardeners who make up today's mobile horticultural teams are all-rounders with wide ranging skills that enable them to tackle every job from mowing and border maintenance to large scale cemetery renovations.
Virtually every type of tool required to ensure the cemetery is maintained to the highest possible standard is stored at the base site. In addition to a whole host of hand held equipment essential to the fine maintenance of turf, borders, trees, hedges and shrubberies, there are scarifiers, aerators, drift-free pedestrian sprayers and shredders. Some of the machinery has been specifically designed or adapted to suit the Commission's requirements.
The team maintains this equipment on a day to day basis themselves, but at the Commission's fully equipped machine workshop near Arras, three fitters are on hand to offer support for the more complex maintenance and repairs.
(image right: Commission staff mulch over borders)
Depending on the season, the group's daily tasks might include edging (there are 24 kilometres of edges in the Gouzeaucourt group area alone) and maintenance of borders, including deadheading. Jobs such as cleaning of bronze register boxes, sweeping of paved areas and shelters, leaf collection and hoeing of gullies are important tasks never overlooked. In January, up to three weeks can be spent on headstone cleaning using biocidal washes.
The Commission is renowned for the quality of its lawns but the results are only achieved with constant attention; a huge amount of the team's time is taken up with turf maintenance. During the growing season, the Gouzeaucourt group mows more than 52,000 square metres of grass each week using a combination of rotary, cylinder and ride-on mowers.
At other times of year, thatch is removed using scarifiers and compaction relieved with aerators. Quality is improved further by feeding and overseeding, and weeds are treated selectively in spring and autumn. Large scale turf renovation and closing in of borders takes place between autumn and spring.
In addition, the team uses shredders to recycle as much green waste as possible for future renovation projects as regard for the environment is at the heart of the Commission's operations.
No mobile team works in complete isolation. A group support network is in place to assist with tasks if required. For example, a team of qualified arborists is available for all major tree operations, such as crown thinning, reduction, lifting, felling, stump grinding and tree removal, while a fleet of three lorries supply the groups with all the necessary material when needed.
There is a comprehensive training programme available to all gardening staff to enhance skills and development. Working alongside more experienced colleagues, young gardeners learn not just about gardening skills but also the special nature of the Commission's commemorative work and the crucial part they play.
(image right: Today the Commission uses the latest up-to-date mechanised equipment)
At the end of the day all tools and equipment is cleaned and put away in its proper place ready for use the following day. Come sun, rain, wind, or snow, the work will go on, in perpetuity, as directed by the Commission's Royal Charter.
The Gouzeaucourt Mobile Group is but one of many mobile groups operating around the centres of Arras in France or Ieper in Belgium. In the United Kingdom maintenance is carried out by the Commission’s own staff and a variety of landscape contractors, local
authority agents and church groups. In Italy, principally static gardeners in many of the cemeteries are responsible for maintenance augmented by mobile groups in certain locations.
Elsewhere, from Russia to South Africa and Canada to Australia, maintenance to the same high standards is undertaken by the Commission’s own gardeners or contractors.
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