War graves tour at Milton Keynes cemetery commemorates fallen heroes

A tour of war graves has paid tribute to the fallen heroes buried at a Fenny Stratford cemetery.

The Manor Road cemetery is the final resting place of 14 First World War and eight Second World War casualties commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC).

These include one soldier awarded the Military Medal in WW1 and one RAF pilot the Distinguished Flying Cross (WW2).

CWGC cares for war graves at 23,000 locations in more than 150 countries and territories. They organised the tour during War Graves Week.

A spokesman said: “We commemorate almost 1.7 million individuals, ensuring that all the Commonwealth men and women who died during both world wars are commemorated in a manner befitting their sacrifice.

“Our global estate is run by a multinational and multilingual workforce numbering approximately 1,300 – the vast majority of whom are gardeners and stone masons.

“Since our establishment by Royal Charter we have constructed 2,500 war cemeteries and plots, erected headstones over graves and where the remains are missing, inscribed the names of the dead on permanent memorials. More than a million burials are now commemorated at military and civil sites around the world.”

The Commission’s work includes amending records, searching for missing names, building new memorials and ensuring all those who fell are equally remembered.

Manor Road cemetery was the scene of a drama a year ago when gravediggers unearthed what was believed to be a wartime grenade while preparing a new plot.

Bomb disposal experts were called and police closed off a stretch of road while the problem was dealt with.