The Graves of the Fallen

The Graves of the Fallen was published by the Imperial War Graves Commission in 1919 with text by Rudyard Kipling and illustrations by Douglas Macpherson. It is is based on a report by Sir Frederic Kenyon, the then Director of the British Museum, who had been tasked with examining the preferred design of military cemeteries for the war dead of Britain and her Dominions. The report concluded that 'in each cemetery there should stand a Cross of Sacrifice, and an altar like Stone of Remembrance, and that the headstones on the graves should be of uniform shape and size.'

Kipling developed a deep personal interest in the commemoration of Britain's war dead after his only son Jack was killed in action at the Battle of Loos in September 1915. In 1934, at the request of the Victorian Agent General in London, Kipling composed an ode to be read at the close of the dedication ceremony for the Shrine of Remembrance. At Kipling's request the ode was cast in bronze and placed in the Shrine.