July 2026

On the 2nd July our President, Victoria Wallace DL, gave a most interesting and informative talk on the work of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC), highlighting the background and last resting place of some of the fallen, particularly those from Kent.

Victoria is the former Director General of the CWGC, the amazing organisation set up to commemorate the 1.3 million dead of the Empire after the First World War.

In this role, Victoria travelled to hundreds of iconic monuments meeting descendants and relatives,  and various dignitaries, including Royalty, Presidents and Prime Ministers, all around the Commonwealth.

We heard that the CWGC was founded by Sir Fabian Ware and established by Royal Charter in 1917 as the sole organisation charged with the commemoration of Commonwealth servicemen and women who died during the First World War, later extended to include the Second World War. 

Victoria told us that the Commission operates through the continued financial support of the Member States, which comprise of the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India and South Africa. The current and first ever Patron of the CWGC is King Charles III. It was amazing to learn that the CWGC maintains the graves or commemorations of more than 1.7 million Commonwealth war dead worldwide, with the UK having the most War Graves. Victoria also said that on average, around 23 bodies each month were still being found in France and Belgium, to be reburied at an identified site of a burial or a memorial. 

In Maidstone we have our very own Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regimental Museum within the Maidstone Museum, which charts the history of Maidstone’s local regiment. The Memorial is situated in Brenchley Gardens. The Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment served with great distinction across multiple global theatres in the Second World War, fighting in France, North Africa, Malta, Italy, Greece, and most notably in the defence of Kohima in Burma. Different battalions earned numerous battle honours, (including a Victoria Cross), through desperate defences and fierce campaigns.

Victoria’s talk was at times very moving, particularly when she described the stories of ‘fallen local’ men who lived in Union Street and Week Street, Maidstone.  We somehow feel their presence is still here.  

In the poignant words of the Kohima Epitaph:

“When you go home,
Tell them of us and say,
For your tomorrow,
We gave our today.”

We will remember them, indeed.