Having been alarmed at reports in the media that the Law Commission for England and Wales have made a recommendation to open up and re-use graves in council run cemeteries and other places, in an attempt to find new burial places for a growing population, it was important to take action. In many cemeteries, such as our own council run ones, this would include war graves that are scattered amongst the general graves. Whilst war graves are specifically mentioned within this proposal, in terms of existing legislation and consultation that was held with bodies such as the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, it was concerning that there needed to be an explicit public commitment from Government to ensuring that war graves will never be reused, this would ease potential distress to families, who were worried by reports in the press.

For balance, the consultation paper notes that “The Commonwealth War Grave Commission’s duty is to mark and maintain war graves by protecting them indefinitely. Significant protections currently exist for Commonwealth War Graves in local authority cemeteries, Church of England churchyards and certain private burial grounds. These protections have been included in legislation to enable the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to fulfil the aims of its Charter.” Under current legislation, regards local authority run burial grounds specifically, the current law is outlined by the paper to show that “Before reusing a grave, the local authority must serve notice on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, stating its intention to reuse a grave. This applies whether or not the grave is known to be a war grave. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission has six months to object to the disturbance if it owns the burial right or the tombstone. If an objection is served, the grave cannot be disturbed for a further 25 years.” The paper then goes on to say “Old graves can also be reclaimed, that is, further burials can be made above the level of any existing burials without disturbing remains. This can be done without any requirement to obtain permissions or issue notices, if there are no extant exclusive burial rights over the grave. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission does not have any power to object to grave reclamation of this type in relation to Commonwealth War Burials.”

This shows that current legislation is not without issues, something that is admitted by the proposal paper created by the Law Commission of England and Wales. For example, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission has to object every 25 years to the re-use of a war grave, despite it being their commitment to maintain these graves in perpetuity. There are loopholes to allow local authorities to inter other remains on top of the existing burial (reclamation), something that the Commonwealth War Graves Commission has little power to prevent. We would go further and question why only the war dead from the two world war periods are offered special protections. The consultation paper proposes to address the rights of local authorities to reclaim war graves, they will no longer be able to inter others into war graves without consulting with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. “We also provisionally propose that the Commonwealth War Graves Commission should be informed every time a burial authority seeks to make a further interment above the level of a burial which could be a Commonwealth war burial (that is, to reclaim such a grave). If the grave is a Commonwealth war burial, their consent should be required before such a grave can be reclaimed.”

Despite what appear to be sensible recommendations to protect war graves, the media reports whipped up the general public who feared that their loved ones war graves would be desecrated. Despite best intentions it is beyond the scope of this website to understand the intricacies of the proposals put forward by the Law Commission of England and Wales, and as such it was sensible for to approach this directly with our local Member of Parliament, Jon Trickett, on behalf of our friends in the community, who are rightly upset. As such, a communication was sent to Jon Trickett MP, to outline concerns regarding this proposal, and to seek his help in raising the concerns being widely reported in the media, to this in the House of Commons, at the earliest opportunity.

”Dear Jon,

Thank you for the hard work that you have done, for so many years, in our community. Today we have read with horror that there are plans proposed by the Law Commission of England and Wales to open up and re-use graves within council run cemeteries and other places, a proposal which lacks any protection for war graves.

As you may know, in our local cemeteries and burial grounds we have a large number of important graves of the war dead, people who gave the ultimate sacrifice for the freedoms that we enjoy today. In Moorthorpe Cemetery, for example, there are men and women who have been given a fitting grave marker by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and other partners. It is sickening that, should the media reports in circulation be believed, the Law Commission of England and Wales now apparently wishes to desecrate those graves by reusing their graves. However, having read the proposal documentation this does not appear to be the case, in fact in terms of local authority run cemeteries the proposed legislation would strengthen the law in regards the re-use of war graves.

I draw your attention to the grave of Flight Sgt Talbot, of Adelaide, South Australia, who lays at rest in Moorthorpe Cemetery. I covered his incredibly moving death and the aftermath on the Story of South Elmsall website. Link below. This grave monument represents unity, international cooperation in the face of struggle, a shared bond across the globe, and we should do all we can to protect this at all costs.

The war heroes that lay in our cemeteries and their families desperately require clarification on this matter, with urgency. I worked hard to get our local war memorial protections via a successful application to Historic England for Grade II listing, on behalf of our community. I now need your assistance to take the fight to preserve the resting places of our war dead. The family of Flight Sgt Talbot, in Australia, for example cannot speak up for themselves, and neither can the dead.

Please raise this issue with urgency with the Law Commission of England and Wales, and in the House, at your earliest convenience, and question why the national media is reporting that the proposal laid out offers no protection for war graves. A swift clarification that the media have gotten this wrong would be most helpful.

Best wishes

Matt Thomas – The Story of South Elmsall”

Further to this, i was aware of the public campaign led by Christine Leeman, of Dewsbury, here you can see the petition. As such a communication was written to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to outline my commitment to supporting their hard work in Moorthorpe Cemetery.

“To whom it may concern,

Firstly, please accept our sincere gratitude for the excellent work that you have done for our community, in the relation to war grave monuments and signage at our local cemeteries, such as Moorthorpe Cemetery in West Yorkshire.

I am concerned at media reports recently that proposals outlined by the Law Commission of England and Wales to change legislation, allow the reuse of graves within council run cemeteries and other areas. If media reports are to be believed the proposal doesn’t appear to offer strong enough protections for against the reuse of war graves within such cemeteries, and other important monuments and grave markers within.

I am writing to you to show our commitment to urgently clarifying the media reports of these proposals, on behalf of our local residents. I have contacted our local Member of Parliament, Jon Trickett MP, to seek reassurances on this matter and request he urgently raises concerns and objections as appropriate, in the House of Parliament.

Please see https://thestoryofsouthelmsall.co.uk/campaign-to-protect-our-war-graves/ for further information.

Best wishes

Matt Thomas – The Story of South Elmsall”

I also contacted Royal British Legion with a similar communication. Should the need arise i will work closely with select partners to protect the resting place of the war dead.

After consultation with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, on behalf of local residents, Jon Trickett MP responded with the following email:

”Good Afternoon

Please see below the response from the Law Commission on the reuse of War Graves:

“Thank you for your email. We are aware of the coverage on a number of websites which relates to the provisional proposals in the Law Commission’s recently closed consultation on burial and cremation law. The coverage suggests that our proposals include plans to reuse war graves. The coverage includes comments from a local campaigner in Dewsbury that she is appalled by the idea that 124 war heroes buried in the Dewsbury cemetery could be among those whose plots are listed for reuse (Express, 13 January 2025).
 
This is not the case. As your email notes, there are safeguards in local authority cemeteries for the graves of service men and women who died during the first and second world wars, graves which are protected by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC), an organization created by Royal Charter for that purpose. These Commonwealth war graves are also protected in existing laws that enable grave reuse in London council cemeteries and three private cemeteries with their own Acts of Parliament. In these cemeteries, the CWGC must be notified before any grave at all is reused, and has the right to object to any Commonwealth war grave being reused – which we understand it will do in every case.
 
This means that where grave reuse is currently permitted by law, no Commonwealth war graves are reused. Our provisional proposals overall would enable an extension of grave reuse, so that any other cemetery could obtain the powers if they consult locally, and if their plan is approved by the Secretary of State. The same protections for Commonwealth war graves would apply. The provisional proposal made in Consultation Question 39 on page 232 of our Consultation Paper sets out this policy.
 
That is not the only provisional proposal we make in relation to Commonwealth war graves. In an entire chapter of our Consultation Paper dedicated to the matter, we make a number of other provisional proposals which would strengthen, not weaken, the protection for these graves; for example, enabling the CWGC to maintain monuments over Commonwealth war burials which are in a state of disrepair; improving their protection from interference by councils; and extending protections for Commonwealth war grave memorials, specifically, to private cemeteries.
 
As the Commonwealth War Graves Commission has stated in their comment, quoted in the recent GB News coverage, they “are fully engaged with the Law Commission and appreciate their engagement with us during the pre-consultation and consultation process”.
 
We appreciate that the wider proposal for grave reuse is one that will cause unease. Many people are not aware that grave reuse already takes place in some cemeteries and while the issue has long been discussed within the death care sector that debate has not generally reached the wider public. That is why we have consulted widely on this matter, holding events across the country. We are consulting on grave reuse because of evidence that grave space is running out across the country, with potential impacts on the cost of burial, and on stretched local authority budgets if new cemeteries are to be established. Our provisional proposals include two levels of safeguards, at the level of the burial ground as described above, and at the level of the individual grave, where reuse would not be permitted before a fixed period (we consult on what it should be), and where an objection from family members would prevent reuse for a further 25 years.
 
However, it is not the case that our provisional proposals would enable the reuse of Commonwealth war graves, as has been reported.”

It is distressing that manipulation of information on social media and news platforms is increasing at such an alarming rate. I am glad that this report has been dismissed and proposals will not enable the reuse of Commonwealth War Graves. 

Yours sincerely,

Jon Trickett 

Member of Parliament for the Normanton and Hemsworth Constituency”

Updates will be made to this page if this this progresses and, hopefully, now that we have been given assurances that protections are in place to ensure that war graves are not disturbed, local residents can be assured that their our war dead will