History Extra Podcast: Burying the Enemy – Commemorating the World Wars’ Fallen Foes

Release Date: September 7, 2025
Host: Emily Briffett
Guest: Tim Grady, Professor of Modern European History, University of Chester

Episode Overview

This episode delves into the rarely explored subject of what happened to British and German servicemen who died on enemy territory during the First and Second World Wars. Drawing on Tim Grady’s new book, Burying the Enemy, the conversation uncovers how both nations cared for their fallen foes, the practical and moral dilemmas of burial, the shifting nature of remembrance, and the unexpected human connections formed between former adversaries.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Causes of Death on Enemy Soil

[02:42]

• Second World War: Losses were largely caused by aerial combat and bombing raids. Many airmen perished in crashes over enemy territory.
• First World War: More complex; deaths primarily occurred in prisoner of war (POW) camps due to disease (notably the influenza pandemic), accidents during forced labor, and harsh conditions.
  • Quote [04:00]:

    “In prisoner of war camps ... the largest number of people in the First World War died, lost their lives. And that happened in a whole variety of ways ... the influenza pandemic ... accidents ... coal mines, quarries.” — Tim Grady

2. Attitudes and Practicalities Around Enemy Dead

[05:00]

• Burial was driven by practicalities (hygiene, logistics) but also guided by the Hague Convention and Geneva Treaty, which required respectful treatment of enemy dead.
• Practices differed between wars and countries, sometimes offering grand funerals (including coffins draped with enemy flags), and, particularly in Nazi Germany's late war years, sometimes degrading or hurried interments.
  • Quote [06:20]:

    “Sometimes ... prisoners of war were allowed to accompany their comrades ... very public funerals ... on other occasions, Second World War in Nazi Germany, bodies were just chucked in pits ... with no ceremony, no care, no understanding.” — Tim Grady

3. Use of Enemy Burials as Political or Moral Leverage

[08:11]

• Both sides recognized the reciprocal nature—how their dead were treated would influence the other's handling. This shaped official propaganda and optics, such as swastika-draped coffins in Britain to demonstrate “honourable” treatment.
  • Quote [08:30]:

    “We kind of want our dead to be treated the same … we want some kind of respect … quite happy for reports to go out, news reports of ceremonies ... photos … quite surprising really.” — Tim Grady

4. Where Were Enemy Dead Buried?

[09:52]

• During the wars, enemy dead were interred locally, scattered across over 700 cemeteries in the UK alone, often in parish or municipal cemeteries. Large, centralized military cemeteries are a postwar development.
  • Quote [10:10]:

    “You ended up with enemy bodies scattered all over both countries … covering almost every corner of the country.” — Tim Grady

5. Significance and Marking of Graves

[11:16]

• International law dictated that enemy graves be marked—typically with a simple cross, and inscriptions identifying them as enemy combatants.
• Grand tombstones were rare, usually requiring the initiative of fellow POWs who sometimes fundraised for proper markers.

6. Local Responses and Social Impacts

[13:13]

• Despite initial discomfort, communities generally accepted enemy burials, distinguishing the dead foe from a living threat.
• Funerals were public, sometimes drawing attention or resistance (e.g., the rare case of egg-throwing at a Zeppelin crew’s funeral).
  • Quote [13:50]:

    “Once the enemy was dead, they're no longer a threat … That relationship at that point is slightly different.” — Tim Grady

7. Changing Attitudes Between the Wars

[14:58]

• The memory of enemy dead from WWI didn’t majorly alter local attitudes during WWII; instead, bombings and increased attacks brought the conflict closer, sometimes heightening animosity at funerals.
  • Quote [17:35]:

    “Only real kind of anger ... occurred at some of these funerals for Zeppelin crew ... [due to] the personal effect of the enemy getting so close.” — Tim Grady

8. Grieve, Care, and Reciprocal Memory

[20:15]

• Some community members tended to enemy graves out of compassion, shared humanity, or hope that their own war dead would receive similar care abroad. Acts ranged from laying flowers to adopting graves.
• These gestures occasionally sparked correspondence and lasting relationships with bereaved families in Germany or Britain.
  • Quote [21:15]:

    “There’s a case in Bishop Stalford … two local women decide to almost take on these graves as their own and start to tend them … lay flowers for Christmas … That’s quite common.” — Tim Grady

9. Enemy Graves as Sites of Memory

[22:27]

• Enemy graves acted as local memory prompts, leading people to reflect on both the circumstances of death and the broader context of war.
• Post-war investigations into war crimes uncovered, sometimes with difficulty, the histories behind specific graves.

10. Impact of Non-Repatriation on Families

[25:20]

• Both countries largely prohibited repatriation. This caused deep anguish among relatives, particularly as French and American policies differed, sometimes allowing families to choose.
  • Quote [25:49]:

    “There’s considerable anger among quite a few British relatives ... my son always made it clear, whatever you do ... I don’t want to be stuck in Germany.” — Tim Grady

11. Forging Connections: From Grief to Reconciliation

[28:20], [30:15]

• Practical exchanges—like letters seeking grave information—grew into personal relationships and even reciprocal visits, helping bridge divides at a local, personal level.
  • Quote [30:20]:

    “A brother of somebody who died locally, a German … traveled over to Essex and a local family said, do you want to stay with us? We'll show you the cemetery … breaking down barriers.” — Tim Grady

12. Postwar Commemoration: Concentration of Graves

[31:34], [33:00]

• War Graves Commissions in both Britain and Germany sought to centralize war dead in national cemeteries, exhuming and relocating remains. In Britain, German graves were moved to Cannock Chase in the 1960s.
  • Quote [33:20]:

    “We want all of the dead to be placed into one national cemetery, one military cemetery for all ... within the boundaries are the German dead from World War I and World War II.” — Tim Grady

13. Consequences for Collective Memory

[36:01]

• Centralizing graves shifted attention from shared, community experiences to more national, singular narratives—diminishing daily reminders of the shared losses and the “other side’s” suffering.
  • Quote [36:30]:

    “You’ve removed that connection to a history, potentially a shared history ... it becomes easier to construct narratives about your own wartime suffering.” — Tim Grady

14. Broader Lessons on British-German Postwar Relations

[38:09]

• Grady argues that, while national antagonism is often the focus, examining burial and remembrance “from below” reveals many postwar relationships built on empathy and commonality, not just division.
  • Quote [39:00]:

    “You actually find that often the war was less of an ultimate kind of break … It also left opportunities for people to come together and to find shared history.” — Tim Grady

Notable Moments & Quotes

• [08:30]
  “We want to demonstrate, look, we’re an honourable country … we also hope you will deal with our dead in a similar kind of fashion.”
  — Tim Grady

• [17:37]
  “It was that personal effect of the enemy getting so close and touching into her lives that led to that response.”
  — Tim Grady (on egg-throwing at Zeppelin funeral)

• [21:15]
  “That’s quite common that people start to take the graves into, almost into their own community. I guess some of that’s based on a sense of common humanity, perhaps.”
  — Tim Grady

Final Thoughts

Tim Grady’s research reframes the enemy dead not just as symbols of “the other,” but as catalysts for compassion, reconciliation, and even friendship in the wake of immense tragedy. The process of burial, memory, and commemoration is revealed to be as complex as war itself—marked by practical necessity, propaganda, grief, and sometimes unexpected humanity.

Guest Bio:
Tim Grady is Professor of Modern European History at the University of Chester and author of Burying the Enemy: The History of Those Who Cared for the Dead in the Two World Wars.

Host: Emily Briffett

For Further Reading:

• Burying the Enemy by Tim Grady

[End of Summary]