[nickle]

I have every respect for war graves of every branch of every service and every nation that I've ever stood by. People have differences of opinion on when they can plunder something for shards of what's left and others find revulsion in it because it's a "War Grave". It's starting to seem as if it's a phrase to either open a door or keep it firmly shut.

I learnt the story of HMS Hampshire which went down having struck a mine off Orkney in 1916 which took Lord Kitchener with it. Now there are conspiracy theories which suggest that Hampshire was deliberately sunk by the BRITISH because Kitchener was on board. Yet nobody's allowed to dive it and try to find out because it's a "war grave" and a protected site. I'm also positive I've heard the same of ships from pre WW1. Yet we can't leave ships, aircraft or the western front alone for good TV and I can't see where the boundaries are. We're intent on protecting the integrity of graves, yet on the other hand, we're digging others up and plundering/researching them for whatever financial/scientific/historical/TV goal has funded them.

Ex of the Royal Navy, I'm fascinated by our navy's history, and also with Time Team. When it's a military subject, that's all the more interesting to me. During WW1 and WW2, Camp Witley, near my home was a sprawling Canadian camp, for thousands and thousands of soldiers. But Time Team can't dig any of it up, because it's National Trust land. Yet for "Nelson's Hospital" they CAN go down to Haslar in Pompey and dig up thirty graves of sailors buried after they died either of wounds or disease in the 17 and 1800s. And I'm thinking "What the ****!?" They might be unmarked sailors graves, whose last posessions were sold off to pay for their burial, but just because they don't have a headstone, doesn't mean they didn't fight and eventually die in the commission of their King and Country? Don't they come under the same protection as other graves? Every single First World War grave over here, other than a very few pilots who died in action against the Zeppelins, are of soldiers, sailors and airmen who came back as wounded men and either died of their wounds or of disease. Even those who died as a result of accidents. Only the Unknown Soldier was brough back and reburied. We can't go digging them up, so how come the sailors at Haslar can?

Will Time Team in 200 years time go digging up WW1 and WW2 graves because it's far enough back in history, or will it be deemed that they still can't be dug up, yet it'll still be ok to dig up the Royal Navy graves at Haslar as well as any other Gucci little grave that'll make a profit or good TV?

Can anyone explain it, because although the programme was really interesting, I'd have been vehemently against digging up the graves of our sailors for TV, no matter how long ago they were lost.

I realise these boards are about Air Forces, but wait till they find an interesting aircraft, who was on it, what was it carrying, can we make good TV...? War grave or not, they'll dig it up! My question's about war graves and that covers all the services.