Global War Graves Leicester: October 2017

Tuesday, 31 October 2017

International Epitaph: Sergeant Frank Nicholls Knight

Today's blog post is not by us and is not hosted on this site- instead it's by the fantastic Sarah Wearne of the 'Great War Epitaphs' daily research project!

Sarah kindly agreed to feature another one (see her first one here) of the international First World War burials at Leicester, Sergeant Frank Nicholls Knight, as her daily epitaph for today. She researched the personal history and social context behind his epitaph, "An O.L. / He became a profitable member of the King and Commonwealth". Click here to read the full post!

Tuesday, 10 October 2017

What we're working on: October

Here's a quick update about what the Global War Graves team is working on this month!

Enshia is working on compiling a series of spreadsheets: info on international burials and commemorations of First World War participants in Welford Road Cemetery; international burial or commemoration places of British soldiers who are also commemorated on non-CWGC headstones at Welford; and other international connections. (Working from info drawn from the CWGC database and a PDF created by the Friends of Welford Road Cemetery).

Hanna is working with the Friends of Welford Road Cemetery to plan and define the public-facing deliverables for the project, and planning next steps for research in the CWGC archives in Maidenhead and a research trip to Leicester. The only mandated outcome for this project is a conference paper to be given in Leicester next November, but we are very excited to announce that we will also be putting on an exhibition of our findings at the cemetery's visitor centre, and creating a First World War edition of the cemetery's popular self-guided walking trails.

About the Project

There are 298 First World War casualties buried or commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission at Leicester's Welford Road cemetery. (And many more commemorated on private headstones). Not all of them are British, and not all of them are men. There are also Australians, Belgians, Canadians, and an Indian, whose 'name liveth forever more' in stone in Leicester. This project aims to explore and bring to light how these people ended up in Leicester; how their identities were negotiated in death; and how even the British burials alongside them also had connections throughout and beyond the UK. The purpose of this research will be to challenge and expand our understandings of the relationship between local and global in terms of Leicester and the First World War.