This is one of three Commonwealth War Grave Cemeteries in Burma. Immaculately kept as all such sites are across the Commonwealth the cemetery is dominated by a huge circular colonnade bearing the names of those whose remains were never found. The number of names is not recorded but far outnumbers the remains of the 27,000 Allied soldiers buried here.
The cemetery was a very peaceful and calm place and today, being a National Holiday, visited by many Burmese families who wandered amongst the graves with reverence and respect. Each grave has a plaque (See photo) engraved with the apposite regimental crest below which is inscribed the name and a dedication. I found the inscriptions especially moving and more so when I read that this soldier who fought for my freedom was only 20 years old when he died.
I also learnt something today. I did not know that a team from the War Graves Commission accompanied troops and when a soldier was killed and buried by his colleagues the spot was marked on a map by this team. At the end of the War their remains were recovered and re-interred in one of these cemeteries.
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