WAR GRAVES

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 856, 27 December 1929, Page 11

WAR GRAVES

WHAT OF THE GARDENERS? A DIFFICULT PROBLEM At Armistice time our thoughts naturally turn to the British war cemeteries which may be found in over 50 foreign countries, writes a special correspondent in the Loudon “Observer.” In Prance and Belgium alone there are nearly a thousand British War cemeteries, in most of which inay be found the Cross of Sacrifice and the monolith weighing nearly ten tons, known as the Stone of Kemembrance. As far as human foresight can provide, our fallen, numbering over one million, rest under the shelter of monuments which should be as lasting as the Pyramids, But what of the war gardeners whose devotion has created smooth lawns out of waste ground and who carry out their lonely work in a roost self-sacrificing manner? How glad they are to see any visitor, and what courtesy aud sympathy they show!

Their lives are by no means easy, set in the midst of populations with different customs and tradition. It is difficult to imagine the loneliness of a man stationed in some distant village beyond Bullecourt on :he site of the old Hiudenburg line. His children have to go to the local French school, and many are already more French than English. In the case of illness, their narrow resources are soon exhausted, and there have been sad episodes when French surgeons have demanded cash down for their fees before carrying out urgently required operations. Colonel Higginson and the administrative staff at the headquarters of the Imperial War Graves Commission at Arras are always ready co do what, they can, but much more might bo done for the gardeners who care for the Empire's dead. While we remember the fallen, let us not forget the living. If only a small -cottage hospital, for example, could be erected and endowed at. Arras, the most convenient centre for the war graves of Central Europe, many family tragedies at times of birth and when serious operations are needed might be avoided. There is also the future of these men to be considered, as many are now nearing the age for retiremen'Some have told me how arxious they are as to how they will live if they return to this country and cannot find any employment to eka out their pensions. The family men are anxious about their children. From the point of view of the Imperial War Graves Commission thero is the question as to who shall succeed the present gardeners. Some have actually suggested that men on their discharge from the regular Army should be sent out to France. But as they are ignorant of the language and of the ways of a foreign people, ami have never served in the district, as was the case with the original gardeners, there would be inevitable trouble and discontent. It may be necessary in the future to emp.oy French as gardeners, w-orking under the supervision of British . foremen. But possibly the best solution of all w-ill be if the sons of the present gardeners are given the opportunity of succeeding to their father’s jobs. Many have been born and bred close to the war cemeteries, and have helped their fathers during the school holidavs. This may well be the method adopted for relieving the original staff of its anxieties and carrying on the high traditions which have been established in the last ten years.