CWGC (Commonwealth War Graves Commission)
Definition
The international organisation, established by Royal Charter in 1917, responsible for commemorating Commonwealth military casualties of the First and Second World Wars. Partners with national defence authorities on casualty recovery and identification.
- Established
- 1917, by Royal Charter
- Scope
- Commonwealth military casualties, WWI and WWII
- Role
- Commemoration and casualty recovery partnership
- Field
- Battlefield and conflict archaeology
Common questions
Does the CWGC itself carry out forensic identification of recovered remains?+
It partners with national defence and casualty-recovery authorities that handle the anthropological and identification work, while the CWGC's core role is maintaining cemeteries, memorials, and records and coordinating commemoration once identification is complete.
Why do WWI-era remains still turn up for CWGC involvement today?+
Agricultural and construction work in former battlefield regions such as Belgium and northern France continues to expose unrecovered casualties, and the CWGC is notified so any remains found can be assessed and, where possible, identified and formally commemorated.
Related terms
- DNA Kinship Matching
- The process of identifying conflict casualties by comparing DNA extracted from skeletal remains to reference samples from known descendants, using STR profiles...
- Identity Disc
- A metal disc worn around the neck by military personnel bearing name, number, unit, and religion. In WWI British forces used two-disc...
- Ordnance Survey Grid
- In the context of conflict archaeology, the systematic metal-detector transect grid laid out before excavation begins, used both to locate metallic finds...
- Unexploded Ordnance (UXO)
- Ammunition, shells, grenades, or bombs that were deployed but did not detonate, remaining live in the ground decades or centuries after the...
- Wound Track
- The path of tissue disruption left by a projectile passing through a body. Consists of a permanent cavity (crushed tissue) and a...