The Nearest Public Car Park Is at Pirbright Green Which Can Be Found on Explorer Map 145

BROOKWOOD

Parking

The nearest public car park is at Pirbright Green which can be found on Explorer Map 145, it's located just off the A324 (Dawney Hill). There's a pond and children's playground nearby and, of course, a village Pub. It's not far from Brookwood Cemetery, but if you don't like walking then it is possible to find a place to park on the verge, at the Dawney Hill end of the long driveway to Brookwood Military Cemetery.

The Walk

We visit Brookwood Military Cemetery and then we carry on through the older part of the Cemetery which is devoted mostly to civilian burials. Dogs are not allowed in any part of the cemetery. Information about the Cemetery and its facilities can be found on the Brookwood Cemetery website. You should allow about 1.5 hours for the walk, more if you wish to explore. This document is free of copyright restrictions except for commercial use. You may copy and paste it into an MS Word document which can then be printed out so that you can take it with you on the walk.

1. Leave the car park and turn left back towards the main road and then turn right into The Gardens. Follow this driveway as far as Holly Grange where you turn left on the public FP alongside the house. At the wood, take the woodland path on the right and follow it through to the driveway of Brookwood Cemetery.

2. Enter the Military Cemetery which was established in 1917 and is under the control of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Over 5000 dead from two world wars are buried here in addition to about 500 Americans and those from other nations.

3. Adjacent to the main entrance is "Beaver House" built at the expense of the Canadian Government as a gift to the CWGC. An avenue of Maple trees runs through the adjacent plot and half-way down is the Stone of Remembrance with the words "their name liveth for evermore". At the far end is the Cross of Sacrifice. These two features are common to war graves elsewhere in the world; although Brookwood is uniquewith three of these features.

The Canadian Cemetery

Stone of Remembrance and Cross of Sacrifice

4. On your immediate right is the Brookwood Memorial which commemorates the 3500 men and women of the British Commonwealth and Empire from WWII who have no known grave. It was inaugurated by the Queen in 1958. The majority of those buried here were UK land forces killed in the 1940 Normandy Campaign. In addition, many were special agents or members of raiding parties who set out from the UK. Among the names is that of Violette Szabo GC, Croix de Guerre of the Women's Royal Transport Service who was executed in 1945 by the Nazis in Ravensbruck and whose courageous exploits were made into a film "Carve Her Name With Pride" (1958). In 2009 a bronze memorial bust of Violette was unveiled in London in recognition of the contribution of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) during WWII.

The Brookwood Memorial

5. At the end of the main driveway come to a T-junction and turn left then right into the American Cemetery. The principal American Military Cemetery in Britain is dedicated to the dead of WW1. There are about 500 graves; in addition the Memorial Chapel commemorates another 500 servicemen who have no known grave. Many of the victims of SS Tuscania sunk by a U-boat off the coast of Scotland in 1918 are buried here. Note the memorial flagpole which flies the stars and stripes with the American Eagle on top, and the lawns of Kentucky bluegrass.

The American Cemetery

6. Exit into Long Avenue and turn left. After a little exploration you can find the British Military Cemetery on the immediate left hidden behind the French plot. The British Military Cemetery was established in 1917 for the burial of soldiers, sailors and nurses from the London District; it is the oldest part of the Military Cemetery.

The French Cemetery

7. In this Avenue are the giant Canadian Redwood Trees. These trees are among the largest plants on earth. They commonly reach a height of 160ft and one in the USA measures 280ft with a girth of 80ft; as such it is believed to be the largest plant on earth. Due to their conical shape and immense trunk they are rarely blown down and therefore withstand great storms.

Redwood Trees in the Avenue

8. A few yards along on the right is The Czechoslovakian Plot with a general monument to all Czechoslovakian servicemen killed in WW2 and whose bodies are buried in various cemeteries in the UK. Some of the dead buried here were pilots who served with the RAF in the Battle of Britain.

The Czechoslovakian Plot

9. Further on is the RAF building and the RAF cemetery containing WWII graves. The nearby Air Forces Shelter houses the Register of names of those RAF personnel buried here and above the building is the RAF badge and motto.

The RAF Memorial Building

10. The second Cross of Sacrifice and Stone of Remembrance are contained within the Canadian and Australian Cemetery which lies to the rear of the Royal Air Force Cemetery.

The Royal Air Force Cemetery

11. Pass through the gate and enter the civilian cemetery. By the mid-nineteenth century London's cemeteries could no longer accommodate graves for the dead and in 1850, 2000 acres of Woking's common land was acquired for further burials. The idea was to transport the dead together with the mourners from a private station at Waterloo to stations at Brookwood, of which there were two, one at each end of the cemetery. There are now some quarter of a million buried here over. The funeral trains stopped running after the London terminus was bombed in 1941. The Company (The London Necropolis Company) which administered the cemetery was dissolved in 1975 and the Cemetery is now a privately owned by a Ltd Company in the Guney family who maintain it at their own expense aided by fees from ongoing funerals. The late Mr Guney the elder was a Turkish Muslim and he bought the cemetery in 1985 in order to preserve the land where his relatives and other Muslims are buried. Dodi Fayed was interred here for 40 days, in accordance with Muslim custom, and later re-buried at his father's estate in Oxfordshire. Other plots are devoted to particular sections of people such as Actors (the Actors' Acre), Catholics, Church of England and Orthodox Christians.

12. Continue ahead to the Swedish Plot on the left, which you enter between the pillars with their reference to the Church of the Swedish Congregation in London. Here you will find, on the right, the grave of Captain Freienbergs with its memorial shaped like a lighthouse and dedicated to a Swedish captain who died when his ship sank in the North Sea in November 1941.

The Swedish Plot and Captain Feienbergs' Grave

13. Continue along Long Avenue past Railway Avenue and the Muslim Section on the left and then the Najmee-Baag cemetery on the right. We now make a short diversion, to find the grave of police constable Ford, by turning left down Eastern Avenue and then after about 10 metres we turn right along an undefined grassy path and, on the left, you should be able to spot a headstone with the cap badge of the Metropolitan Police. Police Constable Ford was killed when he fell through a plate glass roof during a hunt for a burglar in Westminster Bridge Road in 1929 at the age of 22. Thousands of people turned out for his funeral and the memorial was erected and paid for by the Metropolitan Police Force. Now return to Long Avenue and carry on to exit at Cemetery Pales. Cross the road and enter the Cemetery on the south side.

Najmee-Baag

14. Walk along St Cyprian's Avenue and then turn right along St George's Avenue. On the right-hand side is a grave with an ornamental cross in loving memory of Lt Gen George Vincent Watson who was an officer in the 66th (Berkshire) Infantry Regiment of Foot at the Battle of Maiwand in 1880. The Regiment later became known as the Prince of Wales Berkshire Regiment. Maiwan was a district in Afghanistan in which the British Army was involved in a struggle against a rebellious Afghan force. The Battle of Maiwan was under the command of Brigadier-General George Burrows. It ended in defeat of the British and victory for the Afghans. It was one of the few instances in the 19th century when an Asian power defeated a Western one. The rout was the result in part of the Afghans outnumbering the British by 10 to 1; but it was a very bloody battle with many dead on both sides (1000 British & 2-3000 Afghan dead and many more casualties). The 66th Regiment of Foot lost 62% of its men including 12 officers. However Britain did not accept defeat and subsequently attacked again when Gen Roberts took command and marched his men 314 miles from the capital in Kabul south to Kandahar (Helmand Province) and inflicted a decisive victory. This was, of course, in the Reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901) when Britain was the foremost military power in the world.

RHA fleeing from the Afghan attack at the Battle of Maiwand

15. Further along on the left is a large stone monument to William Smythe who was a member of the very first Gympie Legislative Assembly in Queensland Australia. The Assembly is still in being to-day as an important legislative assembly. William Smyth served from 1883-1888.

16. To the far rear of this grave is that of Colonel The Rt Honorable Sir Claude Maxwell MacDonald, Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG), Royal Victorian Order (GCVO), Order of the Bath (KCB), Privy Councillor (PC). Sir Claude was born on 12th June 1852 and died 10th September 1915, he was a soldier and diplomat and best known for his service in China and Japan. He was commissioned at The Royal Military College, Sandhurst (now The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst) and served with the 74th Regiment of Foot in 1872. He saw service in the Egyptian campaign of 1882 and was consul-general at Zanzibar and then served in west Africa. In 1896, MacDonald was appointed British minister to China where he was instrumental in securing the lease of Hong Kong from China to Britain. As a military man, MacDonald led the defence of the foreign legations in 1900 which were under siege during the Boxer Rebellion, and he worked well with the Anglophile Japanese Colonel Shiba Goro. During 1900 to 1912 he continued very harmonious work between Japan and Britain and he became Britain's first ambassador to Japan when the embassy was set up in 1905; a year later he was made a Privy Councillor and he served until his untimely death at the age of 63. His life has been portrayed in the fictitious film "55 Days in Peking" in which David Niven plays his part under the name of Sir Arthur Robinson.

17. Cross over St Mark's Avenue and, on the right, is a shelter inscribed to the St Albans The Martyr of Holborn which is an Anglican Church in the parish of Holborn, London founded in 1703 and called St George the Holborn Martyr.

18. Soon you come to a small cross in memory of Cuthbert Spencer Nesham Captain 21st Empress of India's Lancers. Born in Surbiton in 1875 and died in Dublin in 1901. Captain Nesham served in the Nile Expedition of 1898 and was severely wounded in the charge of his regiment at the Battle of Khartoum in Sudan on 2nd September 1898. Captain Nesham was a Gentleman Cadet at The Royal Military College, Sandhurst until he was commissioned into the 21st Hussars on 25th March 1896.

The first Nile Expedition of 1885 involved the 21st Lancers who were attempting to relief Major Gen Gordon in Khartoum in the British state of Sudan. Gordon had been sent to Sudan to help the Egyptians evacuate from Sudan after Britain decided to abandon the country in the face of a rebellion. However Gordon decided to defy the British Government and to battle it out. He led a garrison of 6000 men to defend Khartoum, however his exploit was a disaster and the rebels, numbering 50,000, laid siege to the city with Gordon and his men trapped inside. It was only under pressure from the British public that the Government caved in and decided to send an expeditionary force to relieve Gordon and his men in Khartoum. The relief force included the 21st Infantry Lancers. The plan was to approach Khartoum along the River Nile since all other approaches had been cut off by the rebels. The journey along the Nile included crossing several rapids, or cataracts, upstream (north to south) where the boats had to hauled by rope from the shore. Progress was slow and by the time the expedition reached Khartoum it was too late. The entire garrison had been slaughtered including Gen Gordon. Sudan was now under the control of the Rebels who established an Islamic State under Sharia law.

Captain Nesham of the 21st Infantry Lancers took part in the subsequent battles of 1895-98. These battles to regain the Sudan were led by none other than Gen Lord Kitchener. The battle to retake Khartoum was bloody but successful. It was during this fighting that Captain Nesham was severely wounded on 2nd September 1898, but the resulting victory meant that Sudan was now back firmly under British Rule. The full story of the Nile Expedition is told in Winston Churchill's book "The River War".

Charge of 21st Lancers at the Battle of Ondurman 1898

19. On the right is the grave of Sir Luke Fildes, Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO), Royal Academician (RA), born 3rd October 1843 and died 28th February 1927. He is interned with Fanny his devoted wife and helper throughout their married life of 52 years.

Luke Fildes was an English painter and illustrator who studied at the Royal Academy schools. He was produced illustrations for many of the mass-circulation periodicals and books including Dickens' Edwin Drood. Later, he became an oil painter and, as such, he took rank among the ablest English painters. Fildes was knighted by King Edward VII in 1906 and appointed KCVO by King George V. In 1874 he married Fanny Woods, who was also an artist and sister of Henry Woods. Both Woods and Fildes were regarded as leaders of the Neo-Venetian school of art. A blue plaque marks Fildes' former house in Melbury Road, South Kensington, which is now occupied by film director Michael Winner.

Sir Luke Fildes

20. Further along, on the left, is the grave of Prof Reginald Gates FRS 1882-1962, who had wide ranging fields of interests in anthropology, botany and genetics but he was most prominent in the field of eugenics. He was born in Canada but did most of his work in the United Kingdom and the United States. He won various awards and in 1931 he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society which is still regarded as the pinnacle of scientific honours with the exception, perhaps, of Nobel Laureate. In the field of eugenics, he became a very controversial figure after the publication of his book "Heredity and Eugenics" in which he attempted to show that African Americans were mentally inferior to indigenous Americans. In 1911 Gates married Marie Stopes but the union was annulled in 1914 and in 1955 he married Laura Greer.

21. At the very end of the Avenue come to the Brotherhood Church where there are some seats on which to rest the weary body. The Church of St George The Shepherd is an Orthodox Christian Church with close links to the Greek Orthodox Church. The monastic clergymen, called priests, of the Edward Brotherhood live in the nearby monastic residence. The church has services every Sunday; Vespers is at 2pm and lasts half-an-hour. The church pews are typical Greek Orthodox. There is also a small exhibition and you may be invited to give a contribution to the roofing fund which is a major building works in urgent need of funding. The church is in opposition to Papism and Vatican Policies but is not anti-Roman Catholic; Orthodox Christians do not, however, believe in the infallibility of the Pope and do not accept the superiority of the Pope. Orthodox Christians regard Jesus Christ as head of the church and all bishops to be of equal rank. Icons of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary are used as the focus of prayer both in the church and in the home. If you wish to visit the church and speak with the priests then you will be made most welcome.
22. Now face the church and turn left, ignore the turning on the immediate left and walk along St Cyprian's Avenue back to Cemetery Pales, then cross the road to enter the cemetery on the north side. Bear left along Western Avenue and on the right you will see the grave to Private William Reynolds VC, Scotts Fusilier Guards who won the VC at the battle on the river Alma in the Crimean Peninsula on 20th September 1824 "when the formation of the line was disordered and for having behaved in a conspicuous manner rallying the men around the Colours". The Victoria Cross is the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy; it is awarded to British or Commonwealth forces. Pte Reynolds was the first private to receive the award. The citation for his actions are a masterpiece of understatement for the severity of the situation in which Pte Reynolds found himself and for which he was awarded this very high honour. Reynolds later achieved the rank of Corporal; he died, in London, aged 41. It is to the credit of the Guards Regiment that they have restored the headstone of the last resting place of Corporal Reynolds - the Victoria Cross, won by Pte Reynolds, is on display at the Scotts Guards RHQ in Wellington Barracks, Chelsea.