The photo below was taken at a British Cemetery in Iraq about 1 year after the recent occupation.
At the time, I wrote to the War Graves Commission asking if they had any plans for rehabilitation of the sites. I had a very nice reply stating something along the lines of ‘there was an employee in charge of the site but that, given the current security situation, there was little that could be done until things improved’. The War Graves people were also able to identify some of the people from other photos in which headstones are visible.
It seemed clear to me that the site had been vandalised but I have not been able to return to the area and so have no idea if things have improved.
My question is quite simply: should we – given that we seem to be withdrawing from Iraq – be leaving the remains of these servicemen behind?
