Norwich bulletin., 1916-11-23
STORIES OF THE WAR
The Care of the Dead.

In keeping with all other phases of the war, order has come at last in the care of the dead. Where all was top sy-turvey two years ago in the first rell-mell rush to battle, and where there was little time to Eury men even where they fell, the British now have evolved an organization and a system of dealing with this eVeS,-growing prob lem which will at least relieve the be- reaved at home of, the added torment and anxiety of the unknown grave. At the beginning of the war men were buried near the trenches only to have their graves hlawn7 away by ex- ploding shells the very next day. But many remained, and some have been identified as the Allies have fought their way slowly back over part of the ground once occupied by the Ger mans.
 Where there was hard fighting in France and Belgium, the eye of the traveller along the roads today is struck by many low crosses sticking out of the ground in the fields in cottage gardens, in corners of farmyards and orchards. even on the roadside strips of grass. Where the ground has changed hands a good deal in the course of the war one can see, within a few hundred yards of each other, the gabled and eaved cross of the Ger mans, thes Heir ruht in Gott' and a name painted white on a dark back ground; the beaded wire wreath of the French with it's Reauiescat or Mort pour Ia France" and the splaln lined cross of the English, white or light brown, or just unpainted wood: In loving memory" pr one or more omcers and men.
 The very position of some of these isolated memorials is eloquent. Near Fricourt, on what used to be "No Mans Land" until the English won it the past summer, number of English crosses stand to the memory of un- known French soldiers. This was part of the line turned over to tEe. Eng trenches and our dead', they said. When the English offensive began last July and the first line German trenches were carried by storm, it was one of the first cares of the British Tonamies to bury the bodies of their French comrades, some having lain in the fire swept zone since late in the winter.
 To some officers the idea of being buried where they fal', and have there erected even the modest little memorial of roughly hewn cross. is an honor greater than the shelter of Westmin- ster Abbey. A few such graves. and some part of the trenches near them, probably will be preserved forever by village eommunes or private owners of land.
 But as the war has fingered, and there still is much stubborn fighting ahead-some say for years-the care of the dead has become a most im- portant branch of war twork-import- ant alike in sentiment and sanitation. The British have organized Com mission of Graves Registration and h. duiries and under it's direction regis tration units and sections have been sent to the front. and hack of the front. Much of the work is done by non -combatants, but many of their tasks must be carried out~ucder fire and some have been killed ana others wounded.
 When an officer or man is killed at i the front or dies of wounds, his bllrial l is now at once reported to the regis 1 tration units. If killed in action he may still be buried in the cid way | somewhere near the trench. If so, the