Forceville Cemetery


Forceville was one of three pilot cemeteries set up by the Imperial War Graves Commission to test out the best format for laying out a consistent pattern for the graveyards. It was generally judged to have been the most successful of the three. It was a walled cemetery with uniform headstones in a garden setting with roses growing between them. The Cross of Sacrifice was designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield and the Stone of Remembrance by Sir Edwin Lutyens. The Stone of Remembrance had the words 'Their name liveth for evermore' etched on the side. These words were chosen by Kipling as being suitably Christian words taken from Ecclisiastes but also ambiguous enough not to offend the non-religious or members of other faiths who would also be interred in the graveyard. Forceville would provide the template for subsequent Imperial War Grave Commission cemeteries.


War Graves and Cemeteries


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by Stephen Luscombe