Bradford Council apologises for overgrown graves on D-Day anniversary

On Thursday, the country and wider world commemorated those who made the ultimate sacrifice on June 6, 1944 when landing on the beaches of Normandy at the height of the Second World War.

It was the largest seaborne invasion in history and marked the beginning of the liberation of France and Western Europe during that tumultuous period of history.

But T&A reader Kevin Brian had raised issue about overgrown war graves at Scholemoor Cemetery in the weeks leading up to the D-Day anniversary and when the Telegraph & Argus visited the area on Thursday many were still swamped by long grass, despite the council promising to cut it.

Some areas of grass were freshly mowed but large patches were still overgrown (Image: Telegraph & Argus)

Some of the gravestones were barely visible.

Speaking before the anniversary, Mr Brian said: “It’s coming up to the 80th D-Day landings anniversary and this is how Bradford’s war dead are remembered.”

An overgrown war grave on the 80th anniversary of D-Day at Scholemoor Cemetery (Image: Telegraph & Argus)

An overgrown war grave on the 80th anniversary of D-Day at Scholemoor Cemetery (Image: Telegraph & Argus)

A spokesperson for Bradford Council said: “We are really sorry that grass around some of the war graves was not cut in time for the D-Day commemorations, as had been planned.

“There are 238 war graves in different areas of Scholemoor Cemetery and unfortunately the mowing is still being carried out.

“We are working closely with the contractor to ensure the grass is cut in a timely manner.” 

A picture of one of the gravestones at the end of May (left) and two weeks later on the 80th anniversary of D-Day (right) (Image: Telegraph & Argus)

The local authority originally said on Tuesday that the reason the graves were overgrown was because “at this time of year, with the weather being warm and wet, the grass is growing really fast.”

The statement continued: “This is planned to be cut before Thursday to ensure that the people who lost their lives in the wars and D-Day landings can be respectfully remembered.”

An overgrown war grave on the 80th anniversary of D-Day at Scholemoor Cemetery (Image: Telegraph & Argus)

An overgrown war grave on the 80th anniversary of D-Day at Scholemoor Cemetery (Image: Telegraph & Argus)

One area of grass where war graves are situated looked to have been freshly mowed when the T&A visited the cemetery on Thursday but there were still large patches of long grass sticking out in that area.

Other gravestones around the perimeter of the cemetery looked to be in a similar state to when Mr Brian first contacted the T&A, at the end of May.

One of those was almost completely covered by surrounding foliage.