The POWLESLAND Homepage

An introduction

It was during a visit to the Commonwealth War Cemetery in Becklingen, Germany, (I was stationed nearby at Fallingbostel) that I was prompted to try and research the family name (a job I haven't done very well).

Quite by coincidence, of all the headstones there, ONE was inscribed with my family name, Powlesland, and he was aged only 19!!

Since then I have been able to visit the Russian War Graves in Berlin, before the fall of the WALL, the Commonwealth War Grave at Munster Heath, and finally a brief visit to the war graves in France and Belgium. My idea was to compile a list of all the Powlesland's who fell during the Great Wars along with photos of their headstones. But, more importantly, to trace back my name and see how I, and my children, fitted in.

To locate all the Powlesland war dead I used the web site of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission

http://www.cwgc.org

A search of the surname Powlesland, under the Casualty section, returned a list of 15 names.  All are located in Commonwealth War Graves around Europe.  Details of each are given by country under the War Dead section of this web site.

Statistics

The 15 Powlesland war dead are located in 10 cemeteries or memorials in 5 European countries.

10 died in the First World War, the remaining 5 in the Second World War.

11 were from the Army, the remaining 4 from the Navy.

The eldest was 41 and the youngest 19.

Interestingly there are no War Dead from the Air Force!