ties that bind - sep 11

Ware was the director of Rio Tinto Limited, the mining company, and had tried
to enlist for war in 1914 but, aged 45, was rejected as being too old. Keen to serve
in the conflict, he nonetheless made his way to France and led a mobile unit of
the British Red Cross with the intention of administering aid to soldiers. His
attention was soon distracted by the lack of any centralised system for recording
the war dead, prompting fears that the sacrifices of millions would be lost
without trace. His unit began turning its attention towards this and received the
tacit support of the British Army. Ware’s team was quickly deluged with requests
from loved ones on the home front, desperate for information about relatives –
and soon began doing more than simply registering the deceased. By October
1915, both the Army and government recognised the importance of his work and
transformed the Red Cross mission into the Graves Registration Commission,
which the Army formally absorbed within its own operating structure.
In May 1917, Ware made an appeal at the international Imperial War
Conference for the establishment of a specific body to deal with fallen soldiers
from the Empire, which gave rise to the Imperial War Graves Commission. 184 It
was created by Royal Charter with the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VIII, as
President and Ware as Vice-Chairman.
This reflected a wider shift in Whitehall which now concerned itself with
ensuring that the contribution of imperial soldiers was properly recognised and that
their religious sensitivities were observed when performing last rites. Colonel
Chitty, who led the Kali Panchwin battalion, along with the Imperial War Graves
Commission, contacted Maulana Sadrudin, imam of Woking Mosque – Britain’s first
such structure – about how to commemorate Muslim soldiers and what
arrangements should be made for their funerals. 185 A burial ground was eventually
opened near the mosque, in Brookwood, with the Commission making funds
available for its purchase and for the imam to hire additional staff to cope with the
increased workload.
Proposals were also made, although unsuccessfully, by Lord Headley, ‘to mark
our appreciation of Muslim loyalty and devotion by electing a site in London and
building thereon a handsome mosque as a memorial offering by the nation’. 186
The suggestion encountered stiff opposition from government ministers who
were weary of giving undue recognition to one religious community over others,
and alternative recommendations were made to build non-denominational war
memorials which commemorated all.
The Commission adopted this idea immediately after the war and enlisted the
efforts of leading architects – Sir Edwin Lutyens, Sir Herbert Baker and Sir
Reginald Blomfield – along with Rudyard Kipling to produce the inscriptions for
the graves of the unknown and to begin commemorating the men through
architectural and horticultural displays.
More recently, the Queen officially inaugurated the opening of the Memorial
Gates located towards the top of Constitution Hill in London on 6 November
2002. There, four Portland Stone columns commemorate the contribution made
by men and women from the Empire in both World Wars. These recognise not just
the servicemen who fought, but also the contribution of money and munitions
vital to the war effort.
The columns bear the names of Africa, Bangladesh, the Caribbean, India, Nepal,
Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The memorial itself provides lasting, albeit overdue,
Muslims in the World Wars
184 It was renamed the
Commonwealth War Graves
Commission in 1960.
185 Burial ground for Muslim
soldiers in Brookwood Cemetery,
L/MIL/7/17232, IOR, BL, London
186 Proposal to build a mosque in
appreciation of Muslim soldiers’
loyalty in, or near, London,
L/MIL/7/18861, IOR, BL, London
policyexchange.org.uk | 43