Grave Locations - Australia
Total Australian War Graves in Australia - 12,177
Responsibility for graves situated on Australian soil falls with the Office of Australian War Graves. Under a formal agreement with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, they are responsible for the maintenance of 19,203 war graves and the erection and maintenance of standard memorials to 160,000 eligible men and women who have died post war. The authority for the OAWG Program was established by a War Cabinet Decision on the 10 march 1922. The OAWG also maintains, on behalf of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, War Cemeteries and other Commemorations in Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands (Guadalcanal) and Norfolk Island.
CLICK ON STATE OR TERRITORY FOR FULL LIST OF CEMETERY LOCATIONS
In Australia, the OAWG maintains 70 War Cemeteries and plots ranging from several hectares to small plots with as few as two graves, as well as individual war graves in over 900 civil cemeteries. The major cemeteries in Australia are located close to the capital cities. The largest are:
SYDNEY WAR CEMETERY, ROOKWOOD, NEW SOUTH WALES - 734 graves
SPRINGVALE WAR CEMETERY, VICTORIA - 611 graves
PERTH WAR CEMETERY, WESTERN AUSTRALIA - 493 graves
LUTWYCHE WAR CEMETERY, Queensland - 347 graves
TOWNSVILLE WAR CEMETERY, NORTH QUEENSLAND - 222 graves
CENTENNIAL PARK WAR CEMETERY, SOUTH AUSTRALIA - 198 graves
ADELAIDE RIVER WAR CEMETERY, NORTHERN TERRITORY - 434 graves.
SYDNEY WAR MEMORIAL, Sydney War Cemetery - 750 names
NORTHERN TERRITORY MEMORIAL, Adelaide River War Cemetery - 282 names
Each state contains a main cremation memorial, situated within the major war cemeteries. They record the names of those service man and women who were cremated and whose ashes were scattered or buried where proper commemoration was not possible.
The most interesting of all commemorations within Australia is that of the Unknown Soldier at the Australian War Memorial. Relocated from Adelaide Cemetery, Villers-Bretonneux, on the battlefields of the France, he now symbolizes all Australians who paid the supreme sacrifice in conflicts of the past, present and future.