Britain and the Memory of the Two World Wars

'Unravelling the Tapestry of Death: Britain and the Memory of the Two World Wars'

Professor Tim Grady (University of Chester)

Royal Historical Society public lecture at the University of Suffolk, 5.30pm, Wednesday 22 October 2025

The Hold, 131 Fore Street, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP4 1LR https://www.suffolkarchives.co.uk/about-suffolk-archives/the-hold/

Part of the Society's visit to historians at the University of Suffolk, 22 October.

About this lecture

Death was a central experience of the British home front during the world wars. Although fewer traces remain today, the wartime mortuary landscape was originally extremely diverse. In many cemeteries, British soldiers were buried alongside Americans, French and Belgians who in turn mingled with the graves of enemy servicemen: Germans, Austrians and Italians.

This talk explores the importance of the multinational dead for grief, international relations and even reconciliation. It also considers the gradual exhumation and removal of these other dead in peacetime, and the longer-term consequences of these actions for remembrance and commemoration.

This is a public lecture which forms part of the Society's visit to historians at the University of Suffolk on 22 October 2025.

All are very welcome to attend the lecture which will take place at The Suffolk Archives, The Hold, 131 Fore Street, Ipswich, IP4 1LR.

About our speaker

Tim Grady is Professor of Modern European History at the University of Chester, where his research focuses on twentieth century Germany, British-German relations and Jewish history. His most recent publication is: Burying the Enemy: The Story of Those who Cared for the Dead in Two World Wars (2025).

Tim's previous publications include: A Deadly Legacy (2017), which was shortlisted for the Wolfson History Prize and the Cundill Prize, and The German-Jewish Soldiers of the First World War in History and Memory (2011).

The Royal Historical Society visit to the University of Suffolk

On 22 October 2025, members of the Society's Council will be visiting historians at the University of Suffolk to learn more about their work and to discuss topics of interest and concern.

The Society's visit to Suffolk is one of several such events taking place in 2025 and early 2026 year. Other visits include to the Cornwall Campus of the University of Exeter (22 May), the University of Aberdeen (17-18 September), a joint visit to historians at the Institute of Education and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, to consider being a historian in a non-History department (10 December), and to Sheffield Hallam University (18 February 2026).

Each visit includes a public guest lecture, with further details of these events - open to all - from the Society's Events pages.

Header image: iStock Photo: credit, Havana1234

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