Anger

Anger is the most visceral and volatile stage of grief, when the desire to blame external forces often mingles with a sense of guilt at surviving. Plenty of anger was directed at the Commission as it established the ground rules for a uniform style of commemoration. Many people resented what they perceived as state-controlled bereavement, losing the ability to make personal decisions about how and where their loved ones would be remembered.

There were several key issues that inflamed public opinion:

The bodies of those who had died abroad would not be repatriated. This contrasted with American forces, who were usually returned to the USA.
The rounded headstones were neutral, rather than overtly Christian. Some felt they should take the form of crosses, as with American and French war graves.
Large numbers of bodies were scattered across former battlefields in isolated graves and makeshift burial grounds. They had to be exhumed and ‘concentrated’ into larger cemeteries, potentially causing further distress and confusion for relatives trying to locate a grave.
Memorials to the missing were still contentious, as there was no standard design for them.

Here are just some of the impassioned letters of disapproval the Commission received…

As we can see, it was often disenfranchised women – generations of wives, mothers and daughters in mourning – who were the most powerful voices of protest…