Experiencing battlefields: Tyne cot in three words

Abstract

Tyne Cot is the largest and most well-known of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries, which contains close to 12,000 dead, (of whom 8,000 are unknown), and a memorial wall listing 35,000 names of the missing. Short interviews were conducted with tourists on-site, and asked to cite three words that come to mind when they thought about their visit. In most cases, tourists expressed traditional sentiments such as paying their respects, experiencing sadness, being overwhelmed by their experience and being grateful to the dead for their sacrifice. Approximately 30% of comments related to the experience of visiting. A comparison with comments written in the visitor book during August-September of 2017, reveals many similarities, but the interviews showed tourists’ willingness to be critical of the war and to express their visitation experience.