Alfred and his colleagues visited Tyne Cot Cemetery - the largest Commonwealth war graves cemetery in the world,(located just south-west of Passchendaele Belgium). This photograph was taken of The Cross of Sacrifice. It was built on top of a German pill box in the centre of the cemetery, purportedly at the suggestion of King George V who visited the cemetery in 1922 as it neared completion.
Alfred's photograph shows the quiet respect of those looking for the graves of loved ones. The women are in dark clothing and the gentlemen have their hats in their hands. So moving and terribly sad.
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| 1929 Tyne Cot Cemetery Cross of Sacrifice
Tyne Cot CWGC (Commonweath War Graves Commission) Memorial to the Missing was designed by Sir Herbert Baker and was unveiled on the 20th June 1920. There are 11,953 burials. On the wall at the back of the cemetery are 34,927 names of men who died from August 1917 to the end of the war, who have no known graves.
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| The Cross of Sacrifice today |
This is a recent ariel view of Tyne Cot, its size must be overwhelming to visitors. Here lies the remains of thousands of men brought in from isolated graves and small cemeteries when the war ended, however, it was also a battlefield burial ground. The headstones immediately behind the Great Cross, in less organised rows are the original burial plots.
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