Remains of plinth from Basra War Cemetery

Gravestone of Gunner Joseph Soppitt Royal Artillery 1941

The Basra War Cemetery is a military cemetery in

Basra Basra () is a port city in Iraq, southern Iraq. It is the capital of the eponymous Basra Governorate, as well as the List of largest cities of Iraq, third largest city in Iraq overall, behind Baghdad and Mosul. Located near the Iran–Iraq bor ...

, Iraq, built for soldiers killed during the

Mesopotamian campaign The Mesopotamian campaign or Mesopotamian front () was a campaign in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I fought between the British Empire, with troops from United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Britain, Australia and the vast major ...

in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. In 1935 the site was cleared of gravestones due to their deterioration and a Memorial Screen Wall was installed with the names of the men buried there – none of which survive. Opposite lies th
Indian Forces Cemetery
The combined two cemeteries contain the remains of almost 5,000 servicemen primarily from WW1, some civilian graves and a few from World War II. It was maintained by the

Commonwealth War Graves Commission The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mil ...

(CWGC) until 2007.Basra War Cemetery.
Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 27 April 2016. Those buried at the cemetery include

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

recipient

George Godfrey Massy Wheeler George Godfrey Massy Wheeler, VC (31 January 1873 – 13 April 1915) was a British Army officer, and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to Bri ...

, and

Henry Howard, 19th Earl of Suffolk Henry Molyneux Paget Howard, 19th Earl of Suffolk, 12th Earl of Berkshire (13 September 1877 – 21 April 1917) was a British peer, styled Viscount Andover until 1898. Early life The eldest son of Henry Howard, 18th Earl of Suffolk and Mary Elea ...

. ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'' reported on 10 November 2013 that the cemetery had been damaged, with a number of headstones knocked down and broken by looters and vandals. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission subsequently cleared the site of all grave markers before abandoning the site, the

cross of sacrifice The Cross of Sacrifice is a Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth war memorial designed in 1918 by Sir Reginald Blomfield for the Imperial War Graves Commission (now the Commonwealth War Graves Commission). It is present in Commonwealth War grave ...

and

plinth A pedestal or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In civil engineering, it is also called ''basement''. The minimum height o ...

. Local neighbors then started using the area as a football and games field. The graves themselves remain undisturbed and the sub bases remain in place making individual graves relatively easy to identify. As of July 2024 the CWGC has no plans to return to the country and renovate or maintain any of the cemeteries and monuments there representing approximately 100,000 British Forces casualties. In July 2024 a relative of a soldier buried there from 1941 visited the site and laid a new gravestone. The first new grave stone to be laid for over 80 years. Basra War Cemetery Gate

References

External links

Friends of Basra War Cemetery

Mesopotamia Campaign
*
Commonwealth War Graves Commission Basra War Cemetery
* Buildings and structures in Basra Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries in Iraq {{cemetery-stub

See also

References

External links