Ramleh Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery

Ramleh Cemetery
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Used for those deceased 1917-1948
Established	1917
Location	31°55′47″N 34°53′08″E near Ramla, Israel
Total burials	• 3,300 (World War I) • 1,168 (World War II) • 525 (British_Mandate_for_Palestine)
Unknown burials	964 (World War I)
Burials by nation
Etente (WW1) and Allied (WW2) Powers: •United Kingdom 3,608 •India 528 •Poland 272 •New Zealand 94 •France 77 •Australia 71 •High Commission Territories 58 •Italy 41 •Africa 41 •South Africa 35 •British West Indies 23 •Arab 12 •Yugoslavia 11 •Czechoslovakia 7 •Belgium 3 •Seychelles 2 •Norway 2 •Canada 2 Central Powers: •Turkey 416 •Germany 31 •Austria 2

Ramleh Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery and Memorial to the Missing is for personnel of both World Wars, and the period of the British mandate of Palestine located in the town of Ramla (Ramla, Ramleh) in Israel.

The cemetery grounds were assigned to the United Kingdom in perpetuity by the municipality of Ramla in recognition of the sacrifices made by the British Empire in the defence and liberation of Palestine during the war. It is the largest cemetery for Commonwealth forces in Israel.

History

The cemetery dates from the First World War, when Ramleh was occupied by the 1st Australian Light Horse Brigade on 1 November 1917. Field ambulances, and later casualty clearing stations, were posted at Ramleh and Lydda from December 1917 onwards. The cemetery was begun by the medical units, but some graves were brought in later from the battlefields and from Latron, Sarona and Wilhema Military and Indian Cemeteries. During the Second World War, this cemetery was used by the Ramla Royal Air Force Station and by various Commonwealth hospitals posted in turn to the area for varying periods.

Within Ramleh War Cemetery will be found the Ramleh 1914-18 Memorial, erected in 1961 to commemorate more than 300 Commonwealth, German and Turkish servicemen of the First World War who lie buried in cemeteries elsewhere in Israel where their graves could no longer be maintained. Only 74 of the casualties are named. The Ramleh 1939-45 Memorial, commemorating 28 Jewish and non Arab servicemen of the Second World War, and six non-war casualties of the Palestine Police Force, who lie buried in cemeteries elsewhere in Israel where their graves could not be maintained in perpetuity. The vast majority of the 525 deaths from after World War II are from attacks mounted by the Irgun and Lehi.

Location

The cemetery lies on a plain looking towards the hills of Judea in the general direction of Jerusalem. The location is close to the site of the Battle of Junction Station (13 to 14 November 1917). The cemetery was in use throughout the period of the British mandate of Palestine including the Second World War up to the start of May 1948. British burials of the few troops who stayed until end of June 1948 in order to finish the evacuation are buried in Khayat Beach CWGC cemetery, Haifa.

Noted burials

One notable grave from the World War I period is that of Captain Neil Primrose MC (14 December 1882 – 17 November 1917), British Liberal politician and soldier, who was the second son of Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery and Hannah de Rothschild, and brother of the writer Lady Sybil Grant.

Among those buried in Ramleh are the two British sergeants, Mervyn Paice and Clifford Martin, who were hanged by the Irgun in 1947 in response to the death sentences carried out on three of their members by the British Mandate authorities.

The British pilot David Tattersfield killed 7 January 1949 is also buried here, in grave O36 of WW2.

In 2010, the grave of a British soldier named Harry Potter was listed on the Ramle’s tourism website after becoming a popular tourist spot following the worldwide fame of the fictional wizard with the same name.

External links

• Cemetery register: Details • Reports • Plans • Photographs. CWGC.