With VE Day 2025 marking 80 years since the end of the Second World War in Europe, we are proud to share a detailed and heartfelt letter by Gary Armstrong exploring the history of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and its lasting links to St Mary the Virgin Church, Layer Marney. His work highlights the stories of those who rest here and the legacy they leave behind.

“Most families in Britain had a connection to someone who was killed in the first or second world wars. For some it is a distant relative or neighbour, for others it was more their immediate family, say father of Grandad. Either way, time is passing, and memories start to fade.

It is the commission’s task, under an Act of Parliament, to keep these memories alive and honour those who died in the first and second world wars, through talks, guided tours, commemoration events, and the ongoing job of maintaining the headstones in numerous cemeteries and churchyards across the world.

The founding principles were:

  • Each of the Commonwealth dead should be commemorated by name on a headstone or memorial
  • Headstones and memorials should be permanent
  • Headstones should be uniform with no distinction of rank or status

Every name of of every commonwealth servicemen and women who died in WW1 & WW2 is recorded, with details of their death and where their body and/or commemoration is sited. You can easily trace a relative, or any service people, who died during the wars, on-line at www.cwgc.org

In Europe, Fabian Ware’s team had identified 587,000 basic and scattered graves, plus another 559,000 casualties with no grave recorded, but just crudely buried near the battlefields or completely missing altogether and presumed dead.

Incredibly, there are still around 100 bodies found every single year, by farmers in the main, that can be identified using modern methods and a new grave allocated. Their funeral is always undertaken with full military honours.

The war grave burials in the UK are in 13k different locations, often just one or two sited in a village church graveyard.

The standard layout of a headstone always details; the regimental badge, service number, rank, name, and regiment. Then death date and age, usually a religious emblem, different for different religions, and a personal inscription chosen by the family.

There are 1300 people doing this voluntary task across the country. Many are ex-service people, but folk from all walks of life. They are tasked to visit each headstone they are allocated every six months to do a maintenance report.

I now look after about 25 Headstones in 9 North Essex churchyards, including those of Rifleman Ernest Playle and Pioneer H Burmby in St Mary the Virgin Churchyard, Layer Marney which I only have taken on this year.

Being conscripted to fight or undertake the many other jobs in the Army, Navy and Airforce must have been daunting to many ordinary folk. I think it is important to remember and honour the generations before us who died to give us what we have now.

I for one, am very grateful for them.

Anybody can upload their stories of the fallen via www.cwgc.org/stories”