Today's visitors to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries and memorials scattered across the globe are frequently overawed by their beauty, seeing them as a lasting tribute to the dead of two World Wars. Those paying respects to a family member, who gave his or her life in the service of their country are comforted that they are still honoured in the land in which they fell, either in one of the garden cemeteries or through their name carved on a Memorial to the Missing. That these cemeteries and memorials were once deeply controversial seems inconceivable. But, in 1918, when the bereaved discovered that the remains of their loved one would not be repatriated, many were outraged. They saw official total intransigence that the dead would never return to their native shores as an infringement of the rights of bereaved citizens by an increasingly autocratic government – whose actions were even compared to those of Lenin. A monumental controversy ensued: royalty was petitioned, associations were formed, newspapers bombarded with letters, and every action of the newly-formed Imperial War Graves Commission scrutinized and commented upon. Battle lines were established as both sides sought to establish to whom do the dead belong?
