When going through various cemetery registers I keep seeing references to Special Memorials A, B

Can any one explain what these are please & are there any other types as well

All The Best

Chris

Special Memorials are CWGC headstones which look the same as the usual ones but which do not sit over an actual grave. They have a superscription across the top denoting their purpose.

They commemorate men who are buried in the cemetery but whose exact location is unknown or those buried in a grave in another cemetery which is now lost or is unmaintainable.

The list is as below...

Sp. Mem. A "Buried elsewhere in this cemetery"

Sp. Mem. B "Believed to be buried in this cemetery"

Sp. Mem. C "Buried near this spot"

Sp. Mem. D "Believed to be............"

Sp. Mem. E This is known as a Kipling Memorial -

The Kipling Memorial headstone is so called because the quotation from the Apocrypha (Ecclesiasticus 44, verse 13) "THEIR GLORY SHALL NOT BE BLOTTED OUT" which appears on the headstone was chosen by Rudyard Kipling. These headstones commemorate casualties whose graves in a particular cemetery were destroyed or who were known to be buried in a particular cemetery but the exact whereabouts within the cemetery were not recorded.

Sp. Mem. F "Buried in ................ Cemetery (or Churchyard)"

There can be variations in the wording (eg 'Chapelyard' instead of 'Churchyard'). Types E and F are to be found in a nearby cemetery to the one in which the actual grave was known to be located.

Terry

Many thanks for your very informative reply

All The Best

Chris