Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery, United Kingdom

here are over a thousand war burials commemorated at Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery. Nearly all are airmen, two-thirds of them belonging to the Canadian forces. Many of these men died in the Military Wing of Harrogate General Hospital. Of the many airfields established in Yorkshire during the War, a number were situated in the vicinity of Harrogate. Such were the R.A.F. station at Harrogate itself, and those at Linton-on-Ouse, Tockwith, Rufforth and Marston Moor. Nearly all the Canadians buried here belonged to No. 6 (R.C.A.F.) Bomber Group, whose headquarters were at Allerton Park. All the stations controlled by this Group were in the area north of Harrogate in the Vale of York, the largest base having its headquarters at Linton-on-Ouse.

Temporary crosses marking the war graves in 1947

During the early months of the war a piece of land was set aside by the local authorities for service war burials near the north-west corner of the cemetery. This group of war graves, containing 36 burials, is in Sections 20E and 21E within the northern boundary. In July 1943 the Air Forces Section was opened at the north-eastern corner of the cemetery, where men from airfields in Yorkshire and the north-eastern counties were brought, most of whom died in the great bomber offensive on targets in Germany. This War Graves Plot contains 914 burials, a number of airmen having already been buried with other service personnel in the group of war graves nearby. A few of the war graves are scattered elsewhere in the cemetery.

and the permanent headstones in the War Graves Plot today

The Air Forces Section stands on over two acres of ground and is entered by a pair of wrought iron gates in Forest Lane on the eastern side. It can also be approached from the main cemetery through the Garden of Rest immediately behind it. The graves are arranged in four groups, the wide grass paths between them forming a cross, with the Stone of Remembrance as the focal point at the centre. The Cross of Sacrifice stands at the southern apex and the stone shelter building at the northern end. The shelter, bearing on the lintel about the entrance the Royal Air Force motto PER ARDUA AD ASTRA, also serves to house the register box containing the register of all the war graves in the cemetery. Affixed to the inner wall of the building is a bronze panel commemorating by name 12 service men and women who were cremated in this cemetery. The Cross of Sacrifice was unveiled in July 1951 by the High Commissioner for Canada and dedicated by the Chaplain-in-Chief of the Royal Air Force, at a service arranged by the Borough of Harrogate.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission is responsible for marking and maintaining the graves of those members of the Commonwealth Forces who died during the two World Wars, for building and maintaining memorials to the dead whose graves are unknown and for providing records and registers of these 1.7 million burials and commemorations. For further information contact: Commonwealth War Graves Commission, 2 Marlow Road, Maidenhead, Berkshire SL6 7DX Tel : +44 (0) 1628 507200 Fax : +44 (0) 1628 771208 E-mail : casualty.enq@cwgc.org