© Passchendaele Museum
The Sources
The project is based on two Canadian archives, the Commonwealth War Graves Registers and the Circumstances of Death Registers.
For every Canadian killed in the First World War, the Commonwealth War Graves Registers either give the location where the body was buried or state on which memorial he is commemorated.
The Circumstances of Death Registers give information about the circumstances in which a Canadian serviceman died. If available, the document records each man’s initial place of death or burial.
Since July 2020, member of staff Simon Augustyn and two volunteers have been working through the sources, in search of locations in the landscape. Based on those sources, we have been able to point to an initial burial place for more than 20% of the Canadians named on the Menin Gate. By means of our geoportal we now want to make their stories accessible and preserve them for the future.
For every Canadian killed in the First World War, the Commonwealth War Graves Registers either give the location where the body was buried or state on which memorial he is commemorated.
The Circumstances of Death Registers give information about the circumstances in which a Canadian serviceman died. If available, the document records each man’s initial place of death or burial.
At the outbreak of war, the warring parties were unprepared for the scale of the conflict. There was a lack of unambiguous rules concerning the burial of the many dead. As the conflict went on, each aspect of the war was systematized and dealings with the dead were subjected to stricter rules. From 1917 onwards, Burial Officers were added to the British Army corps. In the front sector they went in search of the dead. Bodies were collected at a burial place designated by the division. Each grave was marked and registered, and the personal possessions of the dead man were gathered together.
© CWM 19960008 002