Dr Megan Wang (née Kelleher)

This Remembrance, I am hoping to highlight some of the stories I learned about from the Enquiries files held by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) in their Archives. During the pandemic, the CWGC released approximately 2000 of these, and I utilised the 56 released that pertained to war dead commemorated in England to form one of my chapters in my PhD thesis. As with any work, you cannot always include all of the stories you would like to so I’m hoping to highlight a few to give you an idea of some of the stories you may find!

Second Lieutenant BPB Harrison’s enquiries file is quite small compared to some, but it nevertheless highlights the connections between the bereaved and the war dead. Second Lieutenant Harrison was killed in a flying accident at Waddington in January 1918, and was buried in a cemetery in Brigg, Lincolnshire. However, for many years his grave was not marked.

On 4^th August 1964, the 50^th anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War, a friend of Second Lieutenant Harrison’s wrote a letter to the CWGC. In the letter, he highlighted that he had visited Brigg Cemetery, but had found that his friend’s grave was “not marked” or cared for in any way with the space generally overgrown. Thanks to this letter, the CWGC realised that Second Lieutenant Harrison’s grave was not listed in their records, and set about to make this right.

The Regional Director from the CWGC was sent to find the grave, and it was found that the individual was buried in an unconsecrated part of the cemetery, and set about to speak to the owners of the cemetery to gain the grave rights for the CWGC.

Eventually, a headstone was erected and an agreement made to look after this and the 45 other war graves in the cemetery; the cemetery registers held by the CWGC was also updated.

So, next time you’re near to Brigg in Lincolnshire make sure to stop at the churchyard and see the war graves plot there!

Source: CWGC/8/1/4/1/2/611 (CCM102067), Correspondence relating to Second Lieutenant B.P.B. Harrison of the Royal Flying Corps, 4th August 1964-3rd May 1965.