Member Countries

When the then Imperial War Graves Commission was founded in 1917 it was unique in two respects. It was the only organisation to be charged with the commemoration of all the war dead from the member countries and it was, until the creation of the Commonwealth Secretariat in 1965, the only permanent Commonwealth institution reflecting a common aim shared by an equal partnership of nations.

The cost of the work of the Commission is shared by those partner governments of nations which raised independent forces in the 1914-18 and 1939-45 wars, in proportions based on the number of their graves. Other Commonwealth nations contribute to the work of the Commission by maintaining graves in their own country.

The partner governments, and the proportion they contribute towards the cost of the Commission’s work are: Australia (6.05%), Canada (10.07%), India (1.19%), New Zealand (2.14%), South Africa (2.11%) and the United Kingdom (78.44%). Newfoundland, which was a founding member of the Commission, ceased to have separate status from 1949 when it elected to join Canada.

Forces of Australia Commemorated

	1914-18 War		1939-45 War		Both Wars
	Identified Burials	Commemorated on Memorials	Identified Burials	Commemorated on Memorials	Identified Burials	Commemorated on Memorials
	38,512	23,343	28,337	12,129	66,849	35,472
	Total commemorated by the Commission: 102,321

Forces of Canada Commemorated

	1914-18 War		1939-45 War		Both Wars
	Identified Burials	Commemorated on Memorials	Identified Burials	Commemorated on Memorials	Identified Burials	Commemorated on Memorials
	45,283	19,575	37,324	8,032	82,607	27,607
	Total commemorated by the Commission: 110,214

Forces of Undivided India Commemorated

	1914-18 War		1939-45 War		Both Wars
	Identified Burials	Commemorated on Memorials	Identified Burials	Commemorated on Memorials	Identified Burials	Commemorated on Memorials
	7,789	66,543	18,216	68,701	26,005	135,244
	Total commemorated by the Commission: 161,249

Forces of New Zealand Commemorated

	1914-18 War		1939-45 War		Both Wars
	Identified Burials	Commemorated on Memorials	Identified Burials	Commemorated on Memorials	Identified Burials	Commemorated on Memorials
	11,748	6,290	9,033	2,893	20,781	9,182
	Total commemorated by the Commission: 29,963

Forces of South Africa Commemorated

	1914-18 War		1939-45 War		Both Wars
	Identified Burials	Commemorated on Memorials	Identified Burials	Commemorated on Memorials	Identified Burials	Commemorated on Memorials
	6,624	2,822	10,028	1,884	16,652	4,706
	Total commemorated by the Commission: 21,358

Forces of United Kingdom and Former Colonies Commemorated

	1914-18 War		1939-45 War		Both Wars
	Identified Burials	Commemorated on Memorials	Identified Burials	Commemorated on Memorials	Identified Burials	Commemorated on Memorials
	477,570	440,745	244,537	105,829	721,107	546,574
	Total commemorated by the Commission: 1,268,681

All Forces Commemorated

There are 211,104 unidentified burials (185,490 from the First World War and 25,614 from the Second World
War), this brings the totals to 1,146,105.

Of the many civilians of the Commonwealth whose deaths were due to enemy action in the 1939-45 War,
the names of some 66,400 are commemorated in the Civilian War Dead Roll of Honour, located near St George’s
Chapel in Westminster Abbey, London.