 From the start of the Second World War in 1939 , the Commission organised grave registration units and , planning ahead based on the experience gained from the First World War , earmarked land for use as <unk> . When the war began turning in favour of the Allies , the Commission was able to begin restoring its First World War <unk> and memorials . It also began the task of commemorating the 600 @,@ 000 Commonwealth casualties from the Second World War . In 1949 , the Commission completed <unk> Canadian War Cemetery , the first of <unk> new <unk> and 36 new memorials . Eventually , over 350 @,@ 000 new <unk> were erected . Many were made from <unk> Wood stone . The wider scale of World War II , coupled with manpower shortages and unrest in some countries , meant that the construction and restoration programmes took much longer . Following the war , the Commission implemented a five @-@ year <unk> renovation programme . The <unk> neglect was largely addressed by 1950 but there were necessary structural repairs to be made . These , together with the <unk> of maintenance tasks from before the war , took a further 10 years to complete and the programme was not completed until the 1960s . 
