Document 1

Photo showing six French soldiers praying near tombs, 1914-18, gelatin silver print on paper, coll. Historial de la Grande Guerre, Péronne

Six French soldiers praying near tombs

Document 2

Plan for the provisional military cemetery in the municipal cemetery of Saint-Just in Laon, November 1918, drawing and ink on paper, Departmental Archives of the Aisne – mark FRAD002, E-dépôt 401 4 H 323

Plan for the provisional military cemetery, communal cemetery of Saint-Just, Laon

Document 3

View of the Chinese cemetery at Noyelles-sur-Mer (Somme), digital photo, © Syndicat mixte Baie de Somme - Grand Littoral Picard

This British military cemetery, where Chinese workers were buried, was inaugurated by the Prefect of the Somme in 1921. More than 800 men, who came to work under British command, from 1917 onwards, are buried here.
It was designed by John Reginald Truelove, one of the architects of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. This organisation, which was established in 1915 and initially named the Graves Registration Commission, was founded to register the tombs of British soldiers who died on the front.

General view of the Chinese cemetery at Noyelles-sur-Mer

Document 3

Gravestones of the Chinese cemetery at Noyelles-sur-Mer (Somme), digital photo, © Syndicat mixte Baie de Somme - Grand Littoral Picard

Operating under other names from 1915 onwards, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission was officially founded in May 1917. It was charged with marking and maintaining the graves of Commonwealth soldiers who died during the two World Wars, to build commemorative monuments honouring those who were buried in nameless graves. At Noyelles-sur-Mer, the gravestones bear Chinese ideograms.

Detail of the Chinese cemetery at Noyelles-sur-Mer
  • I observe
    • 1° Document 1: Describe the scene in the picture (attitude of the soldiers, place, the tombs...).
    • 2° Document 2: How did the city architect design the cemetery for the soldiers who died during the war? Describe the place.
    • 3° Document 3: Describe the organisation and the surroundings of the Chinese cemetery at Noyelles-sur-Mer. What impression does it leave? 
  • I identify
    • 1° Document 1: The common grave was traditionally used as a place to bury soldiers. Identify the major change that is illustrated by this document.
    • 2° Document 2: Identify the diversity of the nationalities in this photo.
    • 3° Document 2: Which soldiers are called “black”? What about the German soldiers? Why?
    • 4° Document 3: How do we know that this cemetery was built for Chinese workers? 
  • I associate
    • Which elements in these three documents show that the buried body itself has been displaced?
  • I put in perspective
    • How does the management of the dead bear testimony to a change in mentality?