Centennial Park Cemetery is a large,

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

in the southern

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

suburb of Pasadena,

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

, located on Goodwood Road. It is the largest cemetery in the southern suburbs and one of the largest in the Adelaide metropolitan area. It is jointly owned by the local government areas of the

City of Mitcham The City of Mitcham is a local government area in the foothills of southern Adelaide, South Australia. Within its bounds is Flinders University, South Australia's third largest, and the notable, affluent suburb of Springfield which contains som ...

and the City of Unley, with a Board of Management that includes two serving councillors from each council.

History

The cemetery was opened in June 1936, during South Australia's centennial year, although the first burial was not until 1938, when there were only ten in that year. The cemetery contains a war graves plot known locally as Adelaide War Cemetery (marked on the plan as War Graves Plots), established by the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia. It is a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army ...

in 1942, holding the graves of 215 Commonwealth service personnel of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, primarily from local hospitals. Most of the graves are on either side of the central path from the Goodwood Road entrance. In 1946 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 ...

took over the plot and erected a Cross of Sacrifice, the first erected by the commission in the Southern Hemisphere. Near the cross is the South Australia Cremation Memorial to nine Australian service personnel who were cremated during the same war in the state of South Australia.CWGC Cemetery report
/ref> In 1955, the W.A. Norman Chapel was opened and included one of the state's first

crematoria Cremation is a method of final disposition of a corpse through burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India, Nepal, and Syria, cremation on an open-air pyr ...

(the first was opened at

West Terrace Cemetery The West Terrace Cemetery, formerly Adelaide Public Cemetery is a cemetery in Adelaide, South Australia. It is the state's oldest cemetery, first appearing on Colonel William Light's 1837 plan of the Adelaide city centre, to the south-west of ...

in 1903). Since that time, the various crematoria have been upgraded and in 1983, three new cremators were constructed and considered a highly modern design at that time.

Notable interments or cremations

Mahomet Allum Mohamet Allum ( – 21 March 1964), also known as Muhammad Alam Khan or Mahomad Allum and nicknamed "The Wonder Man", was an Afghan herbalist based in Adelaide, South Australia. He arrived as one of the Afghan cameleers brought into Australia ...

, herbalist and healer, originally one of the

Afghan cameleers in Australia Afghan cameleers in Australia, also known as "Afghans" () or "Ghans" (), were camel train, camel drivers who worked in Outback Australia from the 1860s to the 1930s. Small groups of cameleers were shipped in and out of Australia at three-ye ...

Sir Donald Bradman Sir Donald George Bradman (27 August 1908 – 25 February 2001), nicknamed "The Don", was an Australian international cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time. His cricketing successes have been claimed by Shane ...

, Australian cricket captain * Thomas Caldwell, World War I

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 * Cyril Chambers, South Australian federal MP *

Percy Correll Percy Correll (1892–1974) was a mechanic and an assistant physicist on Douglas Mawson, Sir Douglas Mawson's scientific expedition to Antarctica from 1911–1914, the Australasian Antarctic Expedition. Biography Percy Edward Correll (also known ...

, member of the

Australasian Antarctic Expedition The Australasian Antarctic Expedition was a 1911–1914 expedition headed by Douglas Mawson that explored the largely uncharted Antarctic coast due south of Australia. Mawson had been inspired to lead his own venture by his experiences on Ernest ...

* LT Thomas Currie "Diver" Derrick, World War II

recipient (

cenotaph A cenotaph is an empty grave, tomb or a monument erected in honor of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere or have been lost. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although t ...

) *

Charles Fenner Charles Albert Edward Fenner (18 May 1884 – 9 June 1955) was an Australian geologist, naturalist, geographer and educator. History Fenner was born in the town of Dunach, Victoria (near Ballarat), the fifth child of German-born Johannes Fen ...

, geologist, naturalist, geographer and educator *

Raymond Leane Brigadier General (Australia), Brigadier General Sir Raymond Lionel Leane, (12 July 1878 – 25 June 1962) was an Australian Army officer who rose to command the 48th Battalion (Australia), 48th Battalion then 12th Brigade (Australia), 1 ...

, Australian army officer and Police Commissioner *

Errol Noack Errol Wayne Noack (28 March 194524 May 1966) was a 21 year old Australian Army Private who was the first Australian National Service conscript to be killed in the Vietnam War, only ten days after he arrived in South Vietnam. Noack was the victim ...

, first

National Service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...

conscript to be killed in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

* Robert Richards, 32nd

Premier of South Australia The premier of South Australia is the head of government in the state of South Australia, Australia. The Government of South Australia follows the Westminster system, with a Parliament of South Australia acting as the legislature. The premier i ...

* Hermann Sasse,

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

theologian and author * James Cyril Stobie, design engineer and inventor of the

Stobie pole A Stobie pole is a Utility pole, power line pole made of two steel I-beams, joined by tie-bolts, and held apart by a slab of concrete. It was invented by Adelaide Electric Supply Company engineer James Cyril Stobie, who suggested the use of ...

Crawford Vaughan Crawford Vaughan (14 July 1874 – 15 December 1947) was an Australian politician, and the Premier of South Australia from 1915 to 1917. He was a member of the South Australian House of Assembly from 1905 to 1918, representing Torrens (190 ...

, 27th Premier of South Australia *

Frank Walsh Francis Henry Walsh (6 July 1897 – 18 May 1968) was the 34th Premier of South Australia from 10 March 1965 to 1 June 1967, representing the South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party. Early life One of eight children, Walsh was b ...

, 34th Premier of South Australia * Mary Alice Ward, teacher and pastoralist * Myrtle Rose White, author *

William George Murray William George Murray (1884 – 2 December 1975) was a constable in the Northern Territory Police force who, in 1928, led a series of punitive expeditions against Aboriginal Australians that became known as the Coniston massacre. Early life Murra ...

WWI soldier, Protector of Aborigines NT, police officer responsible for the

Coniston massacre The Coniston massacre, which took place in the region around the Coniston (Northern Territory), Coniston cattle station in the territory of Central Australia (territory), Central Australia (now the Northern Territory) from 14 August to 18 Octo ...

References

External links

Centennial Park Cemetery
{{Cemeteries in South Australia Cemeteries in South Australia 1936 establishments in Australia Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries in Australia