War grave

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American Civil War graves, Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery

A war grave is a place where war dead are buried. It may contain either a combatant or a civilian. Although the victim does not need to die directly from enemy action, the main reason for calling a grave a war grave is that the death occurred as a result of active service by the victim or by military operations. For example, in the Crimean War more troops died of disease than as a result of enemy action. The increased mobility of troops and effectiveness of weapons means friendly fire is more of a risk now than in the past. The use of vehicles and aircraft and the need to transport and use dangerous equipment and materials increases the risk of accidental death.

A common difference between cemeteries of war graves and those of civilian, peacetime graves is the uniformity of the victims. They generally died during a relatively short period, in a small geographic area and consist of young men often from the few military units involved.

In the United Kingdom, sixteen ship wrecks and all underwater military aircraft are also designated war graves, which under the Military Remains Act 1986 imposes restrictions on their exploration and marine salvage.

Rupert Brooke's poem, The Soldier - "If I should die, think only this of me:/ That there's some corner of a foreign field/That is for ever England", is a patriotic poem about the possibility of dying abroad during a war. Brooke is himself buried in a war grave on Skyros in the Aegean sea, having died whilst en route to fight in the Gallipoli Campaign.

The British War Memorial Project, founded in 2001, aims to archive all military graves and memorials from 1914 to the present day.