Dan Cruickshank’s Monuments Of Remembrance

In this documentary, a co-production for BBC Four and BBC Northern Ireland to mark the centenary of the end of World War One, Dan Cruickshank reveals the extraordinary story behind the creation of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission - and the design and building of the iconic war memorials following the conflict. 　　Towards the end of the First World War, Britain was a traumatised society, faced with the challenge of making a lasting tribute to those who had died in unprecedented numbers. Over a million lives lost from across the Empire - soldiers of different rank, race and religion, some who could be identified, many who could not. What followed was an extraordinary building project, the sheer scale of which the writer Rudyard Kipling described as “work greater than the Pharaohs”. 　　Dan travels to the Western Front, visiting cemeteries at Forceville and Serre Road No.2 in northern France to examine the architectural and horticultural decisions made in the early days of the Imperial War Graves Commission to honour and remember the dead.