WAR GRAVES.
[To TEL EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."]
Sri,—Having suffered the loss of two sons during the war, I have received several letters from the War Graves Commission on the subject of their graves, and while recognizing the very fine work done by this Commission, I hope I am not too late— writing as I do from the Antipodes—to protest against their latest decree. I am sure very many other parents must have already done the same. It has been decided that the full Christian and surnames can only be engraved on the headstone provided they do not exceed eighteen letters, including word spaoes, and I am therefore asked "to be good enough to say in what precise manner I wish my son's name to be abbre- viated." It seems to me little less than an insult to suggest any abbreviation. Surely the object of the headstone is to ensure complete identification, and in my case, as my sons had a double surname and two Christian names, I cannot see any way of abbreviating, so as to secure identification, within the prescribed limits. Parents are refused, and perhaps rightly, the privilege of providing headstones at their own expense, but to expect them also to waive the right of having their sons' names fully inscribed shows, I think, scant apprecia- tion of the sacrifice made by both parents and sons.—I am, Sir, South Canterbury, New Zealand, May EL A. S. T.
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