Brookwood American Cemetery and Memorial

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Coordinates: 51°18.07′N 0°38.43′W / 51.30117°N 0.64050°W / 51.30117; -0.64050
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Brookwood American Cemetery and Memorial
American Battle Monuments Commission
Memorial chapel and headstones
Used for those deceased 1918
Established1918
Locationnear 
Brookwood, Surrey
Designed byEgerton Swartwout and H.B. Cresswell
Total burials468 plus 563 commemorated
Unknowns
41
Burials by nation
United States
Burials by war
Statistics source: ABMC Brookwood web page

Brookwood American Cemetery and Memorial is the only American Military Cemetery of World War I in the British Isles. Located approximately 28 miles (45 km) southwest of London, Brookwood American Cemetery contains the graves of 468 American war dead, including the graves of 41 unknown servicemen, from World War I.[1]

Maintained by the American Battle Monuments Commission, the cemetery of 4.5 acres (1.8 ha) lies to the west of the civilian Brookwood Cemetery, built by the London Necropolis Company and opened in 1854. The American cemetery is flanked by the much larger Brookwood Military Cemetery, maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, which contains more than 5,000 war dead from the two world wars.

History

Jewish headstone inscribed 'Here Rests In Honored Glory An American Soldier Known But To God'
Remembered with Honour
Observance 2009

In September 1922 the London Necropolis Company sold an area adjacent to the Brookwood Military Cemetery to the US government. The LNC was hired by the US government to landscape this area and build a chapel, to create this cemetery.[2] In 1929 the chapel memorial opened. Inside are the engraved names of 563 missing, most of whom served in the United States Navy and Coast Guard, whose graves are in the sea. Most of the dead buried in Brookwood died in Great Britain or its surrounding waters. During World War I, servicemen who died in London hospitals were brought to Brookwood. After the Armistice in 1918, the dead from various temporary sites throughout England, Scotland and Ireland were brought to it. These were members of the American Expeditionary Forces who lost their lives in England or the surrounding waters. Among those reburied in Brookwood American Cemetery were victims of the German U-boat UB-77 attack on the SS Tuscania, a British troop transport of the Anchor Line, sunk on 5 February 1918 off the coast of Scotland with the loss of 210 souls. Also most of the 358 American victims of the HMS Otranto tragedy were reinterred in Brookwood.

After the entry of the United States into the

Devonport to Brookwood. By August 1944 over 3,600 bodies had been buried in the American Military Cemetery. At this time burials were discontinued, and US casualties were from then on buried at Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial.[3]

On the authority of

Free French forces and Italian prisoners of war.[3]

General layout

Central flag pole around which the 4 grave plots are arranged

The cemetery was designed by New York architect

Scots pine. Existing pine trees were retained to give a pleasing effect around the chapel. For color around the cemetery, rhododendrons, azalea and heather
were planted.

VADM James G. Foggo III, Commander US 6th Fleet pays respects to the Fallen at the 2016 Memorial Service
Mark Regev, Israeli Ambassador to the UK, pays his respect at the 2017 Memorial Service

From 2015 to early 2016 extensive work was undertaken at the cemetery in readiness for the 2016 Memorial Day Service. This included replacing all headstones to meet strict ABMC regulations, extensive ground works, removal of trees with borders redesigned and replanted.

The chapel

Observance 2009 – the Chapel is at the centre of services
Chapel Interior
One of the Chapels 18 stained glass lights designed by Reginald Hallward

The chapel memorial was dedicated in 1929 and designed by

Portland limestone, quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset, the interior is decorated with religious, military and patriotic symbols. The interior has soft tan-hued stone, with an altar, two oak pews, flags and carved doorways. There are 18 stained glass windows designed by Reginald Hallward
, each bearing the names of American States and Territories of 1918. There are unit insignia worked into the glass and the branches of service for the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard.

Engraved into the walls of the chapel are the names of 563 missing Americans. Most were lost at sea and their remains were never recovered or could not be positively identified. Included on the walls of the chapel are the names of all hands from the USCGC cutter

Alcedo, a former pleasure yacht that converted to a navy escort, and the first American ship lost in the war. It was struck by a torpedo on 17 December 1917 and lost 21 men. Also included on the wall are the names of the 11 men of the USCGC Seneca
who were lost on 16 September 1918, while attempting to assist the steamship Wellington.

Notable names

There are two

Gustav A. Sundquist, who fought in the Spanish–American War and who later drowned at sea on August 25, 1918.[7]

Gallery

  • Observance 2009 – "Doughboys" & Nurses
    Observance 2009 – "Doughboys" & Nurses
  • Robert Johnson, US Ambassador to the UK with his son 'Brick' Johnson, in the Chapel on Memorial Day 2018
    Robert Johnson, US Ambassador to the UK with his son 'Brick' Johnson, in the Chapel on Memorial Day 2018
  • Brigadier General Jefferson J O'Donnell & Mrs Susan O'Donnell represent all prevented by covid from attending Veterans Day 2020
    Brigadier General Jefferson J O'Donnell & Mrs Susan O'Donnell represent all prevented by covid from attending Veterans Day 2020
  • Visitor Reception Building
    Visitor Reception Building
  • The Purple Heart on display in Brookwood American Cemetery
    The Purple Heart on display in Brookwood American Cemetery

References

  1. ^ Brookwood American Military Cemetery on the AMBC website
  2. ISBN 978-0750935135
    .
  3. ^
    ISBN 978-0853616559
    .
  4. ^ a b c The Brookwood Necropolis Railway. pp. 61, 67.
  5. ^ The Brookwood Necropolis Railway. p. 61.
  6. ^ "Medal of Honor Recipients – World War I". U.S. Army Center of Military History. Archived from the original on October 18, 2008. Retrieved June 26, 2018.
  7. ^ vconline.org.uk
  • Sledge, Michael (2005). Soldier Dead: How We Recover, Identify, Bury, and Honor Our Military Fallen. New York: Columbia University Press. pp. 204, 207.
    OCLC 60527603
    .

External links

51°18.07′N 0°38.43′W / 51.30117°N 0.64050°W / 51.30117; -0.64050 Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from Brookwood American Cemetery and Memorial. American Battle Monuments Commission.

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