The Tabor independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1913-19??, 1916-12-14
BRITISH USE SYSTEM
in CARING FOR DEAD
Every Effort Now Made to Bury
Bodies Where Grave Can
Be Marked.

London (by mail).-In keeping with
all other phases or the war, order has
come at last in the care OF the dead.
Where all was sopsy-turyy two years
ago in the first pell nell rush 10 battle.
and where there was little time TO bury
men even where they fell, the British
now nave evolved an organization and
q system OF dealing with this ever
growing problem which viii at least
relieve the bereaved at home oe the
added ormen and anxiety of the I'M
known grave
at the beginning OF tho var men
were buried near the trenches, only to
have their graves blown away by ex-
ploding shells the very next day. But
many remained, and some have been
identified, as the allies hay Tough
their way slowly back ever part of the
ground once occupied by the Germans.
Where there was hard fighting in
France n 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 gar
denS. in corners OF farm yards and or
chards, 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 hun
dred yards of each other, the gabled
and eaved cross of the Germans, the I,
"hier ruht in Gott," n a name painted |
white on a dark background; the
beaded wire wreath of the French,
with it's requiescat, or mort pour la
France" and the plain lined cross OF
the English, white or light brown. or
just painted wood, I'm loving memory" '
of n or more officers and men.
The very position of some of these
isolated memorials iss eloquent. Near
Fricourt, on what used TO be mo Mans
Land" until the English won 1t the
last summer 81 number of EnRltSn
crosses stand to the memory OF un-
known French soldiers. This was part
of the line turned owe to the English
by the French. I'VE leave you our
trenches and our dead" they said:
When the English offense began last
July and the first line German trenches
were. carried by storm, 1t was n or
the first cares of the British Tommies
to bury the bodies OF their French
comrades, some having laid in the fire
swept zone since late in the Winter.
To some officers the idea OF being
buried where they fall. and have there
erected even the modest little me-
mortal Of a roughly hewn cross, Is an
honor greater than the shelter Of West
minister abbey. A few such graves and
some part of the trenches near them.
probably will be preserved forever by
village or private owners OF
land.
But as the var has fingered and there
still is much stubborn fighting ahead
some say for years-the care Of the
dead has become a most important
branch Of wal work-imp6rtant alike
In sentiment an sanitation. The Brit
ish have organized a commission OF
graves registration n inquiries n
under its direction registration units
and sections have been sent to the
front, and back of h front. Much OF
the work is done by noncombatants,
but many OF their tasks must be car
ried out under fire and some have been
killed n others wounded.
When an officer or man is killed at
the front, or dies OF wounds, his burial
Is now at once reported to the regis
tration units. If killed in action he may
still be buried In the old way some
where near the treich. If so, the chap
lain or officer who buries him reports
the position of the grave, which as
soon as possible is mark ed with a dur
able cross and an Identification plate
stamped in aluminium.
But this mode Is becoming much less
common. The army has been quick to
realize the ~desirability of burying it's
dead in the nearest Of the 800 or more
recognized cemeteries chino the lines.
The bodies are carried back by road or
light railway to one OF the little wood
en-. iron or canvas mortuaries which the
registration units have set up In the
cemeteries. There is nothing perfume
tory about the funerals. Everything Is
done as tenderly and reverently as IL
the e were In an English church.
yard.
Some of the cemeteries are great ex-
tensions of little village g~raveyards.
Some were begun by special corps or
divisions, which wished to bury their
dead all together. In one is found sep
arate plots, each with it's special en-
trance, for Gurkhas, Sikhs and Pun
labs. Under the great trees nf annfhnvr
where many of those who fell at
Festhubert lie. some Indian soldiers
have followed the custom of their coun-
try and built brick tombs OF ~extraordi-
nary m~assiveness.
At Villers aux Bots the French buried
$500 OF those who were killed In win
ming the Vimy Ridge. On each grave
at the loot OF Its wooden cross. there is
still stuck in the earth, neck downward
the bottle in which the first hasty
record Of the interment was placed.
A few days ago a woman in deem
mourning visited n Of the French
cemeteries with a handful Of white
flowers. She was arranging these on
of the French graves when one OF
the usual little bareheaded professions
with an English chaplain in front.
passed by. On the stretcher was a
body sewn uplin a brown army blanket.
a big union jack lying over II. Tho
woman rose. and shyly, with some OF
the flowers still in her hand, fell in at
the rear of the procession. As the
chaplain was reading dust to DUST
and "ashes to ashes" the little French
woman was kneeling on the ground.
The service over, and the rest turnina
away, she came close to the grave.
dropped the white flowers In, and re-
turned to the other grave empty
handed.