Museums And Archives

Film Freezing: Preserving the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s visual archive collection

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission is a global leader in commemoration, and we work on behalf of the Governments of Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, South Africa and the United Kingdom to commemorate the 1.7 million men and women from the Commonwealth who lost their lives in the two World Wars. We hold a rich archive collection of various assets as well as manage the casualty database for the six member countries. Our visual archive collection of photographic negatives, glass plates and 35mm film is currently in heritage storage but the National Conservation Service (NCS) has identified the need to repackage and freeze these significant assets to halt the natural degradation process. Our Film Freezing project will ensure that the important organisational information and pictures of the fallen will be safely stored, catalogued and preserved for future generations.