Before WW1 most soldiers who died in battle were buried where they fell, with the graves then lost to the elements. That was until an officer of the British Red Cross started recording the details and sending them back to London.
Today there are over 1.7 million graves of servicemen and women in 23,000 locations, spread over 153 different countries. The lecture,Their Name Liveth For Evermore, is titled after the words of Rudyard Kipling which appear in every CWGC cemetery.
Bernard Hope, who is providing the FREE lecture, is a retired teacher now involved in confidential work relating to secondary schools and further education colleges. He also gives talks to various different organisations.
He said: “Fabian Ware, an officer in command of a unit of the British Red Cross, became concerned that the graves of men dying in the First World War would be lost so he started recording details and sending them back to London.
“This became the Graves Registration Commission, then in 1917 the Imperial War Graves Commission, and later in the twentieth century the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Without the CWGC the names of the dead would be lost forever.”
The University of Sunderland’s Community Lectures are now in their 20th year, and are FREE and open to all. Each entertaining lecture is given by authoritative speakers at the award winning Sir Tom Cowie Campus at St. Peter’s, between May and September.
Lectures start at 2:30pm and last about one hour. There is no need to book but those attending are asked to arrive at the Prospect Building between 2pm and 2:30pm to register before the lecture begins.
There is (pay) parking in the grounds of the campus and St Peter’s Metro Station is within a few minutes walking distance. Alternatively the regular 700 bus service runs from the Park Lane Bus Station to St. Peter’s Campus itself.
For more information about the 2015 Community Lectures Series contact Leigh Johnson on (0191) 515 3169, or emailleigh.johnson@sunderland.ac.uk
2015 Community Lectures Series
May 13 – Bernard Hope – Their Name Liveth For Evermore
May 27 – Dr Andy Lane – Sunderland’s Geographical Heritage: A Dwindling Resource?
June 17 – Professor David Sanders – Techniques of Persuasion: the Psychology of Advertising
July 15 – Mrs Maureen Martin – Four Saxon churches of the North East
August 12 – Sharon Vincent – The Mitford Sisters
September 9 – Dr Robert McManners – Shafts of Light