Heritage Talk: Commonwealth War Graves Commission

A Remembrance-linked heritage talk by Alan Fidler on the founding and work of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, with local North Shields stories.

For this year's Remembrance Day talk, The Old Low Light hosts Alan Fidler, the driving force behind the Northumbria WW1 Commemoration Project. He will describe the complexities of setting up the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in 1917, the challenges it faced amid a war with a heavy death toll, and criticisms from wealthy families who wanted to bring loved ones home despite strict rules on burial locations. The talk includes local stories documented in the project's extensive database, and lasts one hour.