Immediately following the First World War , the British Army remained responsible for the exhumation of remains . The Western Front was divided into sectors and combed for bodies by 12 @-@ man exhumation units . Between the Armistice and September 1921 , the exhumation units reburied 204 @,@ 695 bodies . After 1921 , no further widespread search for bodies was undertaken and in February 1921 responsibility of the cemeteries was transferred to the Commission . Despite the rigorous searches , bodies continued to be discovered in numbers . In the three years following the conclusion of the general search 38 @,@ 000 bodies were discovered . In the mid 1920s , 20 to 30 bodies were being discovered weekly .