on behalf of those who lie in the earth part 3

My first visit to the cemetery on Tuesday had to be postponed because of the rain, but thankfully the weather cleared up and I was able to visit yesterday.

I met Marc (the cemetery director) and we had a great chat about what I might do. There are 6 rows of 17 graves in the military section of the cemetery. (there are a few scattered across the cemetery too, and I will try and find those later on).

We talked a while ago about creating a little planting section for each of them, to give them their own unique look and feel, and this is still something that I will look to do. For now though we have to put that on hold, because the Commonwealth War Graves Commission visited recently and they will be coming to reset all the stones to make them straight and the same height. As you can see from the photo below, the gravestones have moved over time, and they will need to be reset. So, its not worth doing any planting yet until this work has been done.

So, what then have we decided? Well, Marc suggested two things which were just so in sync with my hopes and dreams for this project. Firstly, he wanted me to do some cataloguing for him. So I will be creating a database of names and rank and with which unit/regiment they served in. Secondly – and this was the piece that really resonated with me – he suggested that I repaint the inscriptions of those gravestones which have weathered over time.

As you can see from the image at the top of this blog, when the paint starts to fade, it becomes quite difficult to read the inscription, and over time the names become less and less visible. The image below shows what they look like when they have been painted (although this one too is starting to fade)

So what does this work entail? Initially, I will have to do some work to clean them. The granite needs to be very clean and free of mud and dirt before the painting can be done. Then I have to use this special lithichrome paint which is the best one for use on granite. You have to handpaint the inscriptions of course, with a fine brush. So, its very much a labour of love, spending time crouched over the gravestones repainting the names and the other details. We have to order in the paint (supply chain issues of course), so I will do some cleaning to begin with, and wait for the paint to arrive.

There is so much I love about the turn that this project has taken already. The idea of helping to make visible those things that time is threatening to erase strikes a deep chord within me. Not only is it something that speaks to me of my vocation as a historian to remember the dead, and to make them visible, but it also is this deeply personal, compassionate act of kindness for this dead human.

You will not be forgotten.

You will be seen.

Your name will not disappear.

You will be remembered.

Moreover, the physical actions involved – the careful, painstaking work of painting by hand using a fine brush – creates a tangible connection to the memorial and to the ground itself. It requires me to be in situ, to be present, to sit with them and to take great care over the work.

I also love that I will be going over work done by others – the original inscribers, the people who cut the granite, the families who chose the words – and it connects me to a whole network of unknown people who are part of the community of care for this dead human.

My deep hope is that all of these demands and actions and practices that make up the labour of this project will become woven into my professional practices and my spiritual practices (not that I see these things separately of course). I want these things to be present in my work of research and writing and caring for the dead.

My act of hesed.