There are 32 locations in Orkney listed on the CWGC website where there are memorials to those who lost their lives in the two World Wars. As part of a week focussing on the work of the CWGC, local volunteer Brian Alexander took a group of people on a tour around one site – St Olaf’s Cemetery, on the outskirts of Kirkwall.

There are 23 Commonwealth burials of the 1914-18 war here, 3 of which are unidentified sailors of the Royal Navy. There are a further 100 Commonwealth burials of the 1939-45 war, 16 of which are unidentified seamen of the Merchant Navy and 3 are unidentified sailors of the Royal Navy. There are 24 Foreign National war burials here including 4 unidentified Norwegian merchant seamen and 4 non-war Service burials. CWGC

Brian started the tour with a brief description of the work of the CWGC maintaining the memorials around the world and how it is funded. Sadly there are two sites which are currently now impossible to either visit or maintain: Gaza War Cemetery (3691 casualties ) and Ghalayini Muslim Cemetery Gaza (1 casualty).

The tour took us around the different graves, some of servicemen unknown, some of memorials in local family graves, and at each one Brian stopped to tell us a little bit about each person. Brian has researched many of the burials and recounted how some of the men met their deaths.