Grave Locations - Bangladesh
RED - this indicates those cemeteries that have been completed.
BLUE - this indicates those cemeteries that have been offered for completion
BLACK - this indicates those cemeteries that have yet to be completed.
Total Australian War Graves in BANGLADESH - 24 Graves
Cemetery/Memorial
|
No.
|
Volunteer
|
Status
|
CHITTAGONG WAR CEMETERY
|
9
|
STEPHANIE WALSH & DAVID BRIDGEAUX (of Canada)
|
Complete
|
MAYNAMATI WAR CEMETERY
|
12
|
Harry Troche
|
Complete
|
Australians in Allied Units
|
|||
CHITTAGONG WAR CEMETERY
|
1
|
STEPHANIE WALSH & DAVID BRIDGEAUX (of Canada)
|
Complete
|
KULPOTAK ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCHYARD |
1 |
Mr Abu Sayed/Mr Michael Long |
Complete |
MAYNAMATI WAR CEMETERY |
1 |
Mr Abu Sayed/Mr Michael Long |
Complete |
CHITTAGONG WAR CEMETERY, Bangladesh
Location:
Chittagong War Cemetery is in Dampara locality, No 19 Basha Mia Road, 22 kilometres north of the airport and 8 kilometres from the port on a site which was formerly paddy fields, but which has now been developed. It is near the arts college and close by Finlay's Guest Houses near Chatteshanry Road; a well known road leading to the Hindu Kali Bari Temple. There is no C.W.G.C. road direction sign. The Burial area is situated at the bottom of a slope directly behind Finlay's Guest Houses and is surrounded by a large area planted with a mixture of jungle trees,fruit trees and flowering trees. It is not easily seen from the road. A narrow tarmacked lane leads from the entrance gate to the burial area which is entered through a metal gate flanked by two small brick chapels. The cemetery gates
are open from 07.00 to 12 noon and 14.00 to 17.00. Within the cemetery will also be found the Chittagong Memorial which, together with the Bombay 1939-1945 War Memorial, to be found in the Indian Seamen's Hostel Bombay, commemorates over 400 sailors of the former Indian Navy and nearly 6,000 sailors of the former Indian Merchant Navy who were lost at sea during the war years. Each memorial takes the form of a finely bound volume containing the names of the dead.
Historical Information:
CHITTAGONG WAR CEMETERY Index No. PAK. 3 CHITTAGONG, a port on the Bay of Bengal, has a long history. It was a stronghold of pirates in the 15th century, and today is an important trading centre and the terminus of the Assam-Bengal Railway. It is the nearest port to Northern Burma and in May 1942, when a Japanese attack seemed probable, the port was closed and much of the equipment removed; but when the danger of the
invasion of India receded somewhat the port was reopened, and was later developed to meet operational needs in Burma. By November 1943 additional moorings for deep sea ships had been obtained from Calcutta, and most of the cranes taken away in 1942 had been replaced. After the retreat from Burma in 1942 the area was used as
a training centre, and towards the end of 1943 Chittagong became an advanced base for the Fourteenth Army which at that time was operating on the Arakan front. It was also a hospital centre, and among others No. 152 British General Hospital was at Chittagong from December 1944 until October 1945, when it moved to Ragoon.
Chittagong War Cemetery is 22 miles north of the town and 5 miles from the port on a site which was formerly paddy fields, but is now being rapidly developed. It is a quarter of a mile from the main road and is reached by a short road turning off the main road. It was created by the army, and there were originally about 400 burials.
Graves have since been transferred to this cemetery from the Lushai Hills (Assam) and other isolated sites, and from Chittagong Civil Cemetery; Chandragona Baptist Mission Cemetery; Chiringa Military Cemetery; Cox's Bazar New Military and Civil (Muhammadan) Cemeteries; Chittagong (Panchalaish) Burial Ground; Dacca Military Cemetery; Demagiri Cemetery; Dhuapolong Muslim Burial Ground; Dhuapolong Christian Military Cemetery; Dohazari Military and R.A.F. Cemeteries; Jessore Protestant Cemetery; Khulna Cemetery; Khurushkul Island
Christian and Muhammadan Cemeteries; Lungleh Cemetery (Assam); Nawapara Cemetery (Assam); Patiya Military Cemetery, Rangamati Cemetery; Tezgaon Roman Catholic Cemetery; Tumru Ghat Military Cemetery and Tumru M.D.S. Hospital Cemetery. There are now, therefore, 755 burials in this 1939-1945 War cemetery, which are classified on the opposite page. The two non-war graves are those of seamen of the British Merchant Navy whose death was not due to war service. The civilians mentioned in the footnotes to the classification are a member of the Indian Civil Service and a member of the Civil Affairs Staff (Burma). The site upon which this cemetery lies includes on the south-eastern side a horseshoe shaped hill which forms a natural amphitheatre. This is clothed by evergreen and flowering shrubs and is a charming background to the lawn-like plots of graves marked by bronze plaques mounted on low pedestals.
KULPOTAK ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCHYARD, Bangladesh OTHER UNITS
Location:
To reach the site it is necessary to drive from Dhaka to Mymensingh (this is a good road) thenon to Mohanganj (by reasonable road). You must then drive to the nearest road access (on apoor brick road) and walk for 30 minutes along a raised path through paddy fields to the villageof Kulpotak. A local guide is advisable.
Historical Information:
This site contains one 1939-45 war grave. It was originally located at the Birisiri AustralianBaptist Mission Burial Ground, Gobindasri, but in 1974 the grave was moved to its presentlocation by the Australian Baptist Missionary Society, who feared that the old site was indanger of being lost to river erosion.
MAYNAMATI WAR CEMETERY, Bangladesh
Location:
Maynamati is some 7 kilometres from the centre of Comilla, which is on the railway line linking Dhaka to Chittagong. It can be reached by train to Comilla railway station, 9 kilometres from the cemetery, or by the Dhaka - Chittagong highway. The cemetery is 1 kilometre down the road leading from Comilla to Sylinet and a short distance past the Cantonment Military Hospital. There is a C.W.G.C. road direction sign on a roundabout at the crossroad.
Historical Information:
Before the war Maynamati was a hamlet of a few dozen huts, but during the war a large military camp was established there. Several ordnance depots and a number of military hospitals, both British and Indian, were in the area, including Nos. 14 and 150 British General Hospitals; and the majority of the burials in Maynamati War Cemetery were from the various hospitals. Graves from isolated places in the surrounding country, and some from as far afield as Burma, were moved into the cemetery by the Army Graves Service and later on by the Commission; and it was found necessary to transfer also graves from small cemeteries at Dacca, Faridpur, Paksay, Saidpur, Santahan and Sirajgany, where they could not be maintained. The cemetery was started by the Army and laid out by the garrison engineer. It is dominated by a small flat-topped hill crowned with indigenous flowering and evergreen trees. Between the entrance and this hill lie the Christian graves, and on the far side of it are the Muslim graves. On a terrace about half-way up the hill, facing the entrance, stands the Cross of Sacrifice, and on the other side a shelter looks over the Muslim graves to a tree-framed view of the countryside beyond. There are now over 700, 1939-45 war casualties commemorated in this cemetery.
(Details: Courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission)
Please contact the Archive Director for details and photographic requirements
australianwargraves@bigpond.com