Grave Locations - Papua New Guinea
Total Australian commemorations in Papua New Guinea: 8,470
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.
Status Current as of the 28th August 2008
| Cemetery/Memorial | No. | Type | Volunteer | Status |
| Kavieng European Cemetery (Bagail Cemetery) | 2 | WWI | Greg and Marg Knight | Complete |
| Kieta Cemetery ,Bougainville | 1 | WWI | Jesse Owens - Australian Security Forces 2002 | Complete |
| Lae Memorial | 328 | WW2 | - |
Photos Required |
| Lae War Cemetery | 2,374 (Known 2,352,Unknown 22) | WW2 | Ian Priestly/Rotary Club | Complete |
| Madang Cemetery | 3 | - | Greg and Marg Knight | Part Complete |
| Port Moresby (Bomana) War Cemetery | 3,347 (Known 3,108 ,Unknown 239) | WWI & WW2 | Dave Conn/ Andy ??? | Complete |
| Port Moresby Memorial | 740 | WW2 | Dave Conn/ Andy ??? | Complete |
| Rabaul (Bita Paka) War Cemetery | 452 (Known 263,Unknown 189) | WWI & WW2 | Greg and Marg Knight | Complete |
| Rabaul Memorial | 1,222 | WW2 | Greg and Marg Knight | Complete |
| Samarai Cemetery | 1 | WW2 | - |
Photos Required |
Cemetery/Memorial Details
KAVIENG EUROPEAN CEMETERY, Papua New Guinea
Visiting Information:
KAVIENG EUROPEAN CEMETERY, NEW IRELAND Index No. PNG. 1
KIETA CEMETERY, BOUGAINVILLE, Papua New Guinea
LAE MEMORIAL, Papua New Guinea
Location:
Lae is a town and port at the mouth of the Markham River on the Huon Gulf, and Lae War Cemetery, where the Lae Memorial is situated, is located adjacent to the Botanical Gardens in the centre of Lae. The Lae Memorial was designed to commemorate officers and men of the Royal Australian Army, the Australian Merchant Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force who lost their lives in operations in the area, and who have no known grave. Men of the Royal Australian Navy who lost their lives in the south-western Pacific region, and have no graves but the sea, are commemorated on the Plymouth Naval Memorial in England, along with many of their comrades of the Royal Navy and of other Commonwealth Naval Forces. The Lae Memorial, contained within the entrance building of Lae War Cemetery, takes the form of bronze tablets fixed to walls linking the end columns of the building, upon which are engraved the names of members of the Australian Armed Forces. Above the tablets is an inscription which reads: AD MAJOREM DEI GLORIAM 1939 - HERE ARE RECORDED THE NAMES OF THE OFFICERS AND MEN WHO DIED IN NEW GUINEA, ON LAND, AT SEA AND IN THE AIR, BUT TO WHOM THE FORTUNE OF WAR DENIED THE KNOWN AND HONOURED BURIAL GIVEN TO THEIR COMRADES IN DEATH - 1945.
Historical Information:
The Japanese attack on New Guinea, a necessary preliminary to the projected invasion of Australia, commenced with heavy air raids on Lae and Salamaua, followed by the landings of troops. At Lae, a town and port at the mouth of the Markham River on the Huon Gulf, 3,000 Japanese landed on 7 March 1942. There were landings, too, at Salamaua. The enemy did not however immediately attempt the conquest of the island, but on 21 July he landed troops at Buna and Gona on the east coast in preparation for a drive through the Owen Stanley Mountains across the Papuan peninsula to Port Moresby. The vital stage of the New Guinea campaign dates from that time. Lae and Salamaua became bases from which this southward drive was launched until it was stopped at Ioribaiwa Ridge, a point within 35 miles of Port Moresby. When in January 1943 the Japanese renewed their attempts to reach Port Moresby, this time by the Markham and Bulolo valleys, their first objective was Wau, with its airfield. With reinforecements landing on the airfield only 800 yards from the enemy, the attack was held and the Japanese withdrew in February. Thereafter the initiative passed to the Australian troops who steadfastly forced the Japanese back. On 11 September 1943 Salamaua was captured and on 16 September, after attack by seaborne and airborne forces, Lae was taken.
LAE WAR CEMETERY, Papua New Guinea
Location:
Lae is a town and port at the mouth of the Markham River on the Huon Gulf. Lae War Cemetery is located adjacent to the Botanical Gardens in the centre of Lae. Within the cemetery will be found the Lae Memorial, commemorating officers and men of the Royal Australian Army, the Australian Merchant Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force who lost their lives in operations in the area and who have no known grave.
Historical Information:
In the air Japan enjoyed a crushing superiority in the early months of 1942, and it was Lae and its neighbouring airfields that were the objects of the first Japanese attack on New Guinea. Lae and Salamaua were bombed on 21st January, 1942, by 100 planes, but the land forces did not enter the territory until 7th March, when 3,000 Japanese landed at Lae. There were landings too, at Salamaua, followed on 21st July by further landings at Buna and Gona on the east coast in preparation for a drive through the Owen Stanley Mountains across the Papuan peninsula to Port Moresby. The vital stage of the New Guinea campaign dates from that time. Lae became one of the bases from which the southward drive was launched and maintained until it was stopped at Ioribaiwa Ridge, a point within 60 kilometres of Port Moresby. Lae War Cemetery was commenced in 1944 by the Australian Army Graves Service, from whom it was taken over by the Imperial War Graves Commission in September 1947. This 1939-1945 War Cemetery contains the graves of men who lost their lives during the New Guinea campaign. They were brought here from the temporary military cemeteries in areas where the fighting took place. The Indian casualties were soldiers of the army of undivided India who had been taken prisoner during the fighting in Malaya and Hong Kong. The great majority of the 420 who are unidentified were recovered between But airfield and Wewak, where they had died while employed in working parties. Of the two men belonging to the army of the United Kingdom, one was attached to 2/9th Australian Infantry Battalion and the other was a member of the Hong Kong-Singapore Royal Artillery. The naval casualties were killed, or died of injuries received, on H.M. Ships King George V, Glenearn and Empire Arquebus, and the four men of the Merchant Navy were killed when the S.S. Gorgon was bombed and damaged in Milne Bay in April 1943. In this cemetery is the Lae Memorial, which commemorates officers and men of the Australian Army, the Australian Merchant Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force who lost their lives in these operations and have no known grave. It takes the form of bronze tablets fixed to walls linking the end columns of the colonnade, upon which are engraved the names. Casualties of the Royal Australian Navy who lost their lives in the south-western Pacific region, and have no known grave but the sea, are commemorated on Plymouth Naval Memorial in England along with many of their comrades of the Royal Navy and of other Commonwealth Naval Forces. Prior to the 1914-1918 War north-eastern New Guinea and certain adjacent islands were German possessions, and were occupied by Australian Forces on 12th September 1914. Several cemeteries in New Guinea contain the graves of men who died during that war. There is one such grave in Lae War Cemetery, brought in from a burial ground where permanent maintenance could not be assured.
MADANG CEMETERY, Papua New Guinea
Visiting Information:
MADANG CEMETERY, NEW GUINEA Index No. PNG. 4
PORT MORESBY (BOMANA) WAR CEMETERY, Papua New Guinea
Location:
Port Moresby (Bomana) War Cemetery lies approximately 19 kilometres north of Port Moresby on the road to Nine Mile, and is approached from the main road by a short side road called Pilgrims Way. Within the cemetery will be found the Port Moresby Memorial. This memorial commemorates members of the Australian Army (including Papuan and New Guinea local forces, the Australian Merchant Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force who lost their lives in the operations in Papua during the 1939-1945 war and who have no known grave.
Historical Information:
After the landings at Lae and Salamaua, Port Moresby was the chief Japanese objective. They decided to attack by sea, and assembled an amphibious expedition for the purpose, which set out early in May 1942. They were, however, intercepted and heavily defeated by American air and naval forces in the Coral Sea, and what remained of the Japanese expedition returned to Rabaul. After this defeat they decided to advance on Port Moresby overland and the attack was launched from Buna and Gona in September 1942. On Bougainville, the largest and most northerly of the Solomon Islands, the enemy, early in 1942, established a considerable force almost without resistance and developed a useful base. This they held until Americans and Australians commenced offensive operations towards the end of 1943, when Bougainville was the only one of these islands remaining in Japanese hands. By August 1945, when the Japanese surrendered, most of the island had been recovered. Those who died in the fighting in Papua and Bougainville are buried in Port Moresby (Bomana) War Cemetery, whither they were brought by the Australian Army Graves Service from burial grounds in the areas where the fighting had taken place. The unidentified soldiers of the United Kingdom forces were all from the Royal Artillery and captured by the Japanese at the fall of Singapore; they died in captivity and were buried on the island of Bailale in the Solomons. These men were later re-buried in a temporary war cemetery at Torokina on Bougainville Island before being transferred to their permanent resting place at Port Moresby. On a hill above and behind the cemetery, to the right of the centre, stands a rotunda of cylindrical pillars which is the memorial to those men of the Australian Army (including Papua and New Guinea local forces), the Australian Merchant Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force who lost their lives in the operations in Papua and who have no known graves. Men of the Royal Australian Navy who lost their lives in the south-west Pacific region, and have no known grave but the sea, are commemorated on Plymouth Naval Memorial in England, along with many of their comrades of the Royal Navy and of other Commonwealth Naval Forces. Bougainville casualties who have no known graves are commemorated on a memorial at Suva.
PORT MORESBY MEMORIAL, Papua New Guinea
Location:
The Port Moresby Memorial is situated in Port Moresby (Bomana) War Cemetery, which is located approximately 19 kilometres north of Port Moresby on the road to Nine Mile. It is approached from the main road by a short side
road called Pilgrims Way. The memorial commemorates over 700 officers and men of the Australian Army (including Papuan and New Guinea local forces), the Australian Merchant Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force, who gave their lives during the operations in Papua and who have no known grave. Men of the Royal Australian Navy who lost their lives in the south-western Pacific region, and who have no graves but the sea, are commemorated on Plymouth Naval Memorial in England, along with many of their comrades of the Royal Navy and of other Commonwealth Naval Forces. The Memorial consists of a rotunda of cylindrical pillars enclosing a circle of square pillars bearing on their inside bronze panels upon which the names are engraved. In the centre is a low circular stone table on which is a bronze compass.
Historical Information:
Port Moresby has a good harbour on the Gulf of Papua and its situation close to the Australian mainland made it eminently suitable as a naval and military base for operations in the south-west Pacific. It became a vital point to hold when the Japanese invaded the north-facing coast of New Guinea in July 1942. Their advance overland succeeded in reaching a ridge within 56 kilometres of Port Moresby, where they were stopped on 27 September 1942 following which the counter offence started.
RABAUL (BITA PAKA) WAR CEMETERY, Papua New Guinea
Location:
Rabaul lies on Blanche Bay inside the hook-nosed north-eastern tip of the Gazelle Peninsula of New Britain, the largest and most important island of the Bismarck Archipelago. The War Cemetery is located approximately 50 kilometres south of Rabaul, and approximately 5 kilometres south-west of Kokopo. Within the cemetery, taking the form of an avenue of stone pylons leading from the cemetery entrance building to the Cross of Sacrifice, is the Rabaul Memorial. This memorial commemorates members of the Royal Australian Army (including personnel of the New Guinea and Papuan local forces and constabulary) and Royal Australian Air Force who lost their lives in the area in January and February 1942 and from November 1944 to August 1945, and who have no known grave.
Historical Information:
New Britain was formerly a German possession, and Rabaul was the scene of the first fighting by Australian troops in the 1914-1918 War, when they seized the German wireless station on the site of which now stands the War Cemetery. In 1921, under mandate from the League of Nations, Australia established a civil administration throughout the territory, with headquarters at Rabaul. The active volcano Natupi overlooks the town, and in September 1941, because of the unpleasant consequences of an eruption, which covered the town with dust and fumes, the headquarters of the Administrator were moved to Lae, on the mainland of New Guinea. In January, 1942, after three weeks of air bombardment, Rabaul was attacked by the Japanese from the sea, and overwhelming odds soon broke the defence. It is estimated that against the original garrison of 1,500 the Japanese landed 17,000 men in the immediate vicinity of Rabaul. Though forced to withdraw, the garrison left between 3,000 and 4,000 Japanese dead on the shores of the bay and the harbour. The defenders split into small groups and while some managed to escape by sea, a great number were killed or captured. Of the latter many were murdered and most of the remainder were drowned when the ship Montevideo Maru taking them, together with some 200 civilians, to the Philippine Islands was torpedoed and sunk by an American submarine off Luzon on 1st July, 1942. Nevertheless, a number of the original garrison ran the gauntlet of the Japanese patrol and reached Australian territory in small vessels overlooked when the Japanese commander sent destroyers steaming up and down the coast smashing all the boats to be found. Small forces on New Ireland, which lies near and north-east of New Britain, had been attacked and overwhelmed on 21st January, 1942. In November, 1944, the 5th Australian Division landed at Jacquinot Bay and the 11th Division at Wide Bay. The two divisions cleared the north and south coasts and bottled up some 90,000 of the enemy in the Gazelle Peninsula, where they were contained until the final surrender in August, 1945. Rabaul was practically destroyed by Allied bombing and was never actually re-captured from the enemy, but fell into our hands when the Japanese surrendered. Rabaul (Bita Paka) War Cemetery was established by the Army Graves Service in 1945 and was taken over by the Commission in October, 1947. Rectangular in shape and entirely covered by closely mown grass, it is entered through wide bronze gates. Beyond these stands an open colonnaded building containing a lectern for the register and visitors' book, from which a turfed avenue leads to the Cross of Secrifice between an avenue of bronze-panelled stone pylons which forms the memorial to those who died in New Britain and New Guinea and have no known grave. In the Indian section, instead of a cross, a specially designed monument in the form of a pylon with four faces domiantes the plots of graves. This is inscribed on two faces "Indian Forces 1939-1945" with "India" on one side and "Pakistan" on the other. The area is subject to severe earthquakes, and instead of traditional Commission headstones each grave is marked by a bronze plaque on a low concrete pedestal. Throughout the cemetery indigenous trees provide both shade and colour, and groups of colourful tropical shrubs add to the beauty of the scene. To this last resting place were brought from isolated graves, from temporary military cemeteries and from camp burial grounds those who lost their lives during the operations in New Britain and New Ireland, or who died in the area while prisoners of war. It appears to have been the Japanese plan to remove Europeans taken prisoner on these islands to areas from which it would have been harder to escape and to replace them by labour forces of Indian and other Asiatic troops captured in Malaya and elsewhere. This explains the large number of Indian troops recovered by the Australians during the 1945 campaign in New Britain and New Ireland, and the preponderance of Indian Army casualties buried here. This cemetery also contains 1914-1918 War graves and Non-War graves. In 1950, 26 war graves (1 United Kingdom and 25 Australian) and 2 Australian non-war graves were exhumed from Rabaul Cemetery. In 1961 two further Australian 1914-1918 War graves were exhumed from Kokopo Old German Cemetery and reburied here. A special memorial commemorates one Australian sailor and two Australian soldiers who were buried in Rabaul Old Civil Cemetery, but whose graves could not be traced, the grave markers and the plans of the cemetery having been destroyed by the Japanese. The memorial, which is on the face of the lectern in the entrance building, records these facts and bears the quotation "Their glory shall not be blotted out."
RABAUL MEMORIAL, Papua New Guinea
Location:
Rabaul lies on Blanche Bay inside the hook-nosed north-eastern tip of the Gazelle Peninsula of New Britain, the largest and most important island of the Bismarck Archipelago. The Memorial is situated in Rabaul (Bita Paka) War Cemetery, which is located approximately 50 kilometres south of Rabaul, and approximately 5 kilometres south-west of Kokopo. The Rabaul Memorial commemorates over 1,200 members of the Australian Army (including personnel of the New Guinea and Papuan local forces and constabulary) and the Royal Australian Air Force, who lost their lives in New Britain and New Ireland in January and February 1942, and in New Britain from November 1944 to August 1945, and who have no known grave. Men of the Royal Australian Navy who lost their lives in the south-western Pacific region and who have no graves but the sea, are commemorated on Plymouth Naval Memorial in England along with many of their comrades of the Royal Navy and other Commonwealth Naval Forces. The Memorial takes the form of an avenue of stone pylons leading from the entrance building of the cemetery to the Cross of Sacrifice. Bronze panels bearing the names are affixed to the faces of the pylons. A central stone lectern at the commencement of the avenue carries a bronze plate with the following dedicatory inscription: AD MAJOREM DEI GLORIAM IN THIS PLACE ARE RECORDED THE NAMES OF OFFICERS AND MEN OF THE BRITISH COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS WHO DIED DURING THE 1939-1945 WAR IN THE NEW BRITAIN AREA, ON LAND, AT SEA AND IN THE AIR, BUT TO WHOM THE FORTUNES OF WAR DENIED THE KNOWN AND HONOURED BURIAL GIVEN TO THEIR COMRADES IN DEATH.
Historical Information:
New Britain was formerly a German possession. Rabaul was the scene of the first fighting by Australian troops in the 1914-1918 War, when they seized the German wireless station on the site of which now stands the War Cemetery. In January 1942, after three weeks of air bombardment, Rabaul was attacked by the Japanese from the sea, and overwhelming odds soon broke the defence. It is estimated that against the original garrison of 1,500 the Japanese landed 17,000 men in the immediate vicinity of Rabaul. Though forced to withdraw the garrison left between 3,000 and 4,000 Japanese dead on the shores of the bay and the harbour. The defenders split into small groups and while some managed to escape by sea a great number were killed or captured. Of the latter many were murdered, and most of the remainder were drowned when the ship taking them, together with some 200 civilians, to the Philippine Islands was torpedoed and sunk. Nevertheless a number of the original garrison ran the gauntlet of the Japanese patrol and reached Australian territory in small vessels, overlooked when the Japanese commander sent destroyers steaming up and down the coast smashing all the boats to be found. Small forces on New Ireland, which lies near and north-north-east of New Britain, had been attacked and overwhelmed on January 21st, 1942. It was not until November 1944 that New Britain was again the scene of fighting, when the 5th Australian Division landed at Jacquinot Bay, and the 11th Division at Wide Bay. The two Divisions cleared the north and south coasts and bottled up the enemy in the Gazelle Peninsula. Here the Japanese were contained until the final surrender in August 1945, when the number of their troops was found to be nearly 90,000. The Rabaul Memorial commemorates over 1,200 members of the Australian Army (including personnel of the New Guinea and Papuan local forces and constabulary) and the Royal Australian Air Force, who lost their lives in New Britain and New Ireland in January and February 1942, and in New Britain from November 1944 to August 1945, and who have no known grave. Men of the Royal Australian Navy who lost their lives in the south-western Pacific region and who have no graves but the sea, are commemorated on Plymouth Naval Memorial in England along with many of their comrades of the Royal Navy and other Commonwealth Naval Forces. The Memorial takes the form of an avenue of stone pylons leading from the entrance building to the Cross of Sacrifice. Bronze panels bearing the names are affixed to the faces of the pylons. A central stone lectern at the commencement of the avenue carries a bronze plate with the following dedicatory inscription: AD MAJOREM DEI GLORIAM IN THIS PLACE ARE RECORDED THE NAMES OF OFFICERS AND MEN OF THE BRITISH COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS WHO DIED DURING THE 1939-1945 WAR IN THE NEW BRITAIN AREA, ON LAND, AT SEA AND IN THE AIR, BUT TO WHOM THE FORTUNES OF WAR DENIED THE KNOWN AND HONOURED BURIAL GIVEN TO THEIR COMRADES IN DEATH.
SAMARAI CEMETERY, Papua New Guinea
Visiting Information:
SAMARAI CEMETERY Index No. N. Gui. 5 Samarai is an island lying south of Milne Bay, and is the southernmost point of the island of Papua New Guinea. The one war grave in this cemetery is marked by a permanent private memorial.
(Information: Commonwealth War Graves Commission)
Please contact the Archive Director for details and photographic requirements
australianwargraves@bigpond.com