Burying the Enemy

Join Professor Tim Grady as he shares some poignant examples of British and German communities burying the war dead of their enemy during times of conflict.

Both Britain and Germany have dedicated considerable effort to commemorating the service and sacrifice of their military personnel killed in the First and Second World Wars. Far less consideration, however, has been given to their wartime foe who also died in conflict.

In this talk, Professor Tim Grady will explore the little-known history of enemy deaths on the home front. He will consider specifically the thousands of German servicemen who died on British soil during the World Wars, as well as the British soldiers who lost their lives in wartime Germany.

Today, the majority of these servicemen rest in large military cemeteries, cared for by the countries' respective war graves’ commissions. However, for years – sometimes decades – after the two conflicts, the enemy dead lay in hundreds of different cemeteries scattered throughout Britain and Germany.

As a result, local communities often became the custodians of the enemy dead. Far from ostracising the former foe, these communities often ended up tenderly caring for their graves. What this talk reveals, therefore, is a story of shared loss that transcended the wartime divide.

About the speaker

Tim Grady

Tim Grady is Professor of Modern European History at the University of Chester and the author of 'Burying the Enemy: The Story of Those Who Cared for the Dead in Two World Wars' (2025). He has previously written extensively on German and Jewish history including: 'European Fascist Movements', with Roland Clark (2023); 'A Deadly Legacy: German Jews and the Great War' (2017); and 'The German-Jewish Soldiers of the First World War in History and Memory' (2011).