Commonwealth War Graves Week

The graves of New Zealand and Australian troops in Balgay Cemetery

This week is Commonwealth War Graves Week.  I was able to join a tour of Balgay Cemetery with a Commonwealth War Graves volunteer to hear about the stories of some of the nearly 300 war graves in Balgay Cemetery, here in the West End of Dundee.

I am not one for glorifying war but it is important that we remember our history.  This tour highlighted some fascinating stories about people who were born and brought up in Dundee as well as people who found themselves in Dundee from Australia, Canada and New Zealand as well the stories of Polish and Dutch soldiers and sailors.

There were some really interesting and some really sad stories about families who lost more than one son in the war or of people surviving dreadful things in war zones only to die of complaints that are now easily treated when they returned to Dundee.

As I said this was a chance to hear about some fascinating stories from the history of our city.  You can find out more about Dundee and the First World War at the Great War Dundee website. To find out more about the Commonwealth War Graves Commission you can visit their website.