"Two World Wars left Europe with a scattering of well tended war cemeteries," the Lady of the Cemetery said. "The Cold War however, sprinkled the European countryside with tombstones of Canadian Forces personnel and their families..."
According to the Canadian Department of National Defence, more than 1,370 Canadians were buried in Europe during the Cold War. "But many graves were lost," the old lady said. "In Canada graves are kept in perpetuity, you know. But in Europe a grave is usually leased for a period of 20 to 25 years, after which the headstone is removed and the grave is used again."
As the Canadian Forces prepared to leave Europe, the National Defence Headquarters became aware of this issue. People had relatives buried there, but no grave could be found. One month a Canadian had been buried in a military cemetery, the other in a civilian.
"Plots in the children's section already expired after 5 to 20 years," the old lady said. "And they could not be renewed, you know."
In April 2002 the Department of National Defence launched a website which made it possible to search easily for names in an alphabetical listing. National Defence also went into negotiations to renew the leases and protect the graves.
"It turned out that the graves of serving members were by far the smaller number," the Lady of the Cemetery said. "Many of them were newborn babies, you see? And that's why I got the Cold War Baby Blues, mister."
For the graves that were lost, a memorial cairn was raised in the cemetery where once the grave was, with the names of the Canadians buried here.
Many of them simply had "baby" in front of the surnames.
"See for instance Marville, France," the Lady of the Cemetery said. "Cozy little village it was."
A figure in a sack like shroud, St Mary’s Perivale, London. This is the only one I’ve ever seen quite like this.
Ricardo’s cat, a large mosaic cat from Pere Lachaise cemetery Paris which always makes me smile.
This is known as a dead man's penny. I discovered it on a monument at the City of London cemetery.
I’ve never seen another quite like this – an unusual mirrored monument from Pere Lachaise, Paris with tiny figures depicting the life of the man buried there.
A beautiful, quiet cemetery surrounded by busy city life, Melaten is located on Aachener Strasse in Cologne, Germany. I can't remember the first time I found this place but since then I have been back many times. On my last visit I finally found some very interesting information. The location was originally used during the Middle Ages for witch burnings and executions, including the hanging of a church robber in 1797. There was also a leprosarium for lepers on the grounds, which is where the cemetery gets it's name; Malade is french for ill. The building was closed in 1767 when leprosy was mainly wiped out in Europe. In 1804 Napolean ordered that Cologne citizens only bury their dead outside the municipality, which is when it was decided to use Melaten as a cemetery.
