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Gaza War Cemetery

Coordinates: 31°30′44″N 34°28′55″E / 31.5121°N 34.4820°E / 31.5121; 34.4820
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Gaza War Cemetery
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Entrance to the cemetery
Used for those deceased 1917–1918, 1943–1945, 1956–1967
Established1920
Location31°30′44″N 34°28′55″E
near 
Gaza City
Total burials3,691
Statistics source: Cemetery details. Commonwealth War Graves Commission.Gaza War Cemetery at Find a Grave Edit this at Wikidata

The Gaza War Cemetery is a cemetery administered by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission on the Salah al-Din Road, Tuffah, Gaza City, Palestine.[1]

Graves

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The majority of burials at the cemetery are of Allied soldiers who lost their lives in the First World War, principally in the First, Second and Third Battles of Gaza, all in 1917. Some 3,217 British and Commonwealth servicemen are buried in the cemetery; nearly 800 of the graves lack identification, and are inscribed "A Soldier of the Great War, known unto God".[2] 234 graves of non-Commonwealth soldiers are also present in the cemetery.[2] A further 210 Commonwealth soldiers were interred in the cemetery following their deaths in the Second World War. The post-war period saw 30 more burials.[2]

Aerial photo of the cemetery, taken 2019
Gardeners working at the cemetery, 1940s

The majority of the graves (3082 of 3691) are British, but there are also the graves of 263 Australians, 50 Indians, 23 New Zealanders, 23 Canadians, 36 Poles, and 184 Ottoman-era Turkish graves, plus small numbers of South African, Greek, Egyptian, German, French and Yugoslavian graves.[3] Among the graves is that of Stanley Boughey (1896–1917), who received the Victoria Cross for action against the Ottoman Army at El Burff, Palestine.[4]

The cemetery also includes memorials for United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) personnel who died during deployment to the Gaza Strip and Sinai Peninsula from 1956 to 1967. 22 Canadian and 8 Indian personnel are commemorated. The Canadian headstones are located in a separate section of the cemetery;[5] while the Indians are commemorated in the Indian section of the main cemetery, alongside Indian personnel of the First World War.[6]

History

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Second World War Australian graves in the cemetery, photographed 1942

The cemetery was completed by 1920, and has been tended by three men from the same family ever since.[2] For 45 years, the cemetery was tended by Ibrahim Jeradeh, who was employed by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.[2] Jeradeh's father was the cemetery's initial head gardener, and he himself was succeeded by his son.[2] Jeradeh was awarded an MBE in "grateful recognition of outstanding contribution to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission".[2][3] The MBE's accompanying certificate was signed by the Duke of Kent.[2]

In 2004, 33 headstones were vandalised in the cemetery, allegedly in retaliation for the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal.[7]

The cemetery was struck by Israeli shells on two occasions in the 2000s: damage caused by an Israeli airstrike led to £90,000 in compensation being paid to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in 2006; and some 350 headstones needed repair following damage from Israeli shells in Operation Cast Lead in 2008–2009.[2] It was reported to have been damaged again in the early stages of the Israel–Hamas war in 2023.[8]

Media appearances

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British journalist and writer Mark Urban, whose great-uncle is buried in the cemetery, visited it in 2009 for BBC 2's Newsnight, and wrote an article for The Observer detailing his experiences there.[9]

In 2018, a short Arabic-language documentary film about the cemetery, The Strange Neighbour, was released on YouTube by Gaza-based Ain Media,[10] followed by an English-language subtitled version in 2024.[11]

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  • Graves of unidentified soldiers, "Known unto God"
    Graves of unidentified soldiers, "Known unto God"
  • View of the cemetery from its south-west end
    View of the cemetery from its south-west end
  • Grave of Corporal T. Primrose, Highland Light Infantry
    Grave of Corporal T. Primrose, Highland Light Infantry

References

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  1. ^ Gaza War Cemetery at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harriet Sherwood (18 August 2013). "Tending the war graves of Gaza City". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  3. ^ a b Wright, Tony (13 October 2023). "This is where war always ends, said the gardener of Gaza's graveyard". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
  4. ^ Boughey, Stanley Henry Parry, Commonwealth War Graves Commission
  5. ^ "A quiet remembrance in Gaza". The Globe and Mail. The Globe and Mail. 11 November 2009. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
  6. ^ "Gaza War Cemetery". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
  7. ^ Lynfield, Ben (11 May 2004). "Palestinians vandalise UK war graves". The Scotsman. Archived from the original on 24 April 2005. Retrieved 15 September 2006.
  8. ^ "Damage to Gaza War Cemetery shows challenge of caring for monuments in conflict zones". The Canadian Press. 10 November 2023. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  9. ^ Urban, Mark (22 February 2009). "Battle still rages where my brave great-uncle fell in Gaza back in 1917". The Observer. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  10. ^ "The Strange Neighbour". Ain Media. Retrieved 24 March 2024 – via YouTube.
  11. ^ "The English Cemetery of Gaza – The Strange Neighbor". Ain Media. Retrieved 18 March 2024 – via YouTube.

Further reading

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gaza War Cemetery.

31°30′44″N 34°28′55″E / 31.5121°N 34.4820°E / 31.5121; 34.4820

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