Grave Locations - Ethiopia
Total Australian War Graves in Ethiopia - 1 Grave
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.
Cemetery/Memorial
|
No.
|
Volunteer
|
Status
|
ADDIS ABABA WAR CEMETERY
|
1
|
Bob Patterson |
Complete
|
ADDIS ABABA WAR CEMETERY, Ethiopia
Location:
Addis Ababa is the capital of Ethiopia. The war cemetery lies on sloping ground 2 kilometres north-west of the town on the right of the Lechempti road. It can be reached by car or taxi and is approached through the adjoining civil cemetery, which is just off the main road.
Historical Information:
Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, stands 8,500 ft. (2,600 M) above sea level, on the central plateau. The cemetery is surrounded by a wall and on the south-east side there is a small gate through which the city is glimpsed in the distance. The Cross of Sacrifice, made of local sandstone, stands at the crossing of the two main axis paths and faces the main entrance. The cemetery contains 294 Commonwealth burials of the 1939-1945 war. The remains of European servicemen removed from isolated graves and cemeteries lying near the battlefields in other parts of Ethiopia are now buried here. The graves of the civilians, marked by private memorials, are in Plot 1 in the south-east corner of the cemetery. Among them is the grave of Brigadier Sandford who died on 22nd January 1972. The largest group of graves lies in Plot 2 to the east of the Cross, where most of the Europeans are buried; the others are in smaller plots to the north and west. There is a stone seat in a recess in the back wall facing the far side of the Cross and fixed to the wall above the seat is a plaque erected in commemoration of the Ethiopians who died while serving in the British Forces. It bears the following inscription: 1939-1945 HERE ARE REMEMBERED AMONG THEIR FALLEN COMRADES OF THE BRITISH COMMONWEALTH AND EMPIRE THE VALIANT SONS OF ETHIOPIA WHO SERVED AND DIED WITH THEM IN THE SAME CAUSE.
(Details: Courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission)
Please contact the Archive Director for details and photographic requirements
australianwargraves@bigpond.com