CynthiaBegg56 at 05:31, 15 December 2025

2025-12-15T05:31:08Z

New page

{{Short description|CWGC cemetery in New Delhi, India}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2018}}

{{Infobox military memorial
| name = Delhi War Cemetery
| body = [[Commonwealth War Graves Commission]] [[Government of India]]
| image = File:Delhi War Cemetery.jpg
| use_dates =
| established = {{start date and age|1951}}
| designer = H. J. Brown {{small|(associate member of the [[Royal Institute of British Architects]])}}
| coordinates = {{coord|28.61624|77.14542|display=inline,title}}
| nearest_town = New Delhi, India
| total = 1154
| commemorates = service personnel who fought for the British Empire during the First and Second World Wars
| by_country = United Kingdom: 941 Indian: 152 Dutch: 30 Canadian: 15 Australian: 10 New Zealand: 5 Polish: 1
| by_war = [[World War I]]: 101 [[World War II]]: 1053
| source = [https://www.cwgc.org/find/find-war-dead/results/?cemetery=DELHI%20WAR%20CEMETERY Commonwealth War Graves Commission]
}}
The '''Delhi War Cemetery''', in the [[Delhi Cantonment]], [[Delhi|Delhi, India]], is the site of the graves of 1,154 service personnel who served the [[British Empire]] during the [[World War I|First]] and [[World War II|Second World Wars]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cwgc.org/find/find-cemeteries-and-memorials/92000/delhi-war-cemetery|title=Delhi War Cemetery|website=Commonwealth War Graves Commission|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181221015422/https://www.cwgc.org/find/find-cemeteries-and-memorials/92000/delhi-war-cemetery|archive-date=21 December 2018|url-status=live|access-date=24 December 2018 }}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/society/In-search-of-the-dead/article11634637.ece|title=In search of the dead|last=Pisharoty|first=Sangeeta Barooah|date=18 May 2014|work=[[The Hindu]]|access-date=14 February 2018|issn=0971-751X}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Sharma |first=Manimugdha S |date=9 November 2015 |title=On Remembrance Day, Delhi honours war heroes |work=[[The Times of India]] |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/On-Remembrance-Day-Delhi-honours-war-heroes/articleshow/49716893.cms |url-status=live |access-date=14 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180215235413/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/On-Remembrance-Day-Delhi-honours-war-heroes/articleshow/49716893.cms |archive-date=15 February 2018}}</ref> The cemetery was established in 1951 to ensure the permanent preservation of the remains of soldiers across various cemeteries in northern India.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://issuu.com/indiandiplomacy/docs/iwm_book|title=Last Post – Indian War Memorials Around the World|last=T.S. Chinna|first=Rana|publisher=United Service Institution of India|year=2014|isbn=9788190209793|pages=90}}</ref>

At the entrance to the cemetery is the [[#Delhi 1939–1945 War Memorial|Delhi 1939–1945 War Memorial]] honouring the efforts of Indian forces during both world wars.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UxQiAQAAIAAJ&q=Delhi+1939-1945+War+Memorial|title=Courage remembered: the story behind the construction and maintenance of the Commonwealth's military cemeteries and memorials of the wars of 1914–1918 and 1939–1945|last1=Gibson|first1=T. A. Edwin|last2=Ward|first2=G. Kingsley|date=June 1989|publisher=[[H.M.S.O.]]|isbn=9780117726086|pages=171|access-date=14 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180215024045/https://books.google.com/books?id=UxQiAQAAIAAJ&q=Delhi+1939-1945+War+Memorial&dq=Delhi+1939-1945+War+Memorial&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj2r9r4gabZAhVBNY8KHTyADQAQ6AEILjAB|archive-date=15 February 2018|url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cwgc.org/find/find-cemeteries-and-memorials/92000/delhi-war-cemetery|title=Delhi War Cemetery|website=Commonwealth War Graves Commission|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180215023658/https://www.cwgc.org/find/find-cemeteries-and-memorials/92000/delhi-war-cemetery|archive-date=15 February 2018|url-status=live|access-date=14 February 2018 }}</ref> The Delhi 1914–18 Memorial, commemorating 153 individuals buried in the [[Meerut Cantonment]], where graves could no longer be cared for, is also on the site.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ww1cemeteries.com/ind-delhi-war-cemetery.html|title=IND. Delhi War Cemetery|website=WW1 Cemeteries.com A photographic guide to over 4000 military cemeteries and memorials|access-date=5 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181221175307/https://www.ww1cemeteries.com/ind-delhi-war-cemetery.html|archive-date=21 December 2018|url-status=live }}</ref> The cemetery was commissioned by the [[Commonwealth War Graves Commission]] and is now jointly maintained with the [[Government of India]] and its [[Ministry of Defence (India)|Ministry of Defence]].[[File:Delhi War Cemetery Left View.jpg|thumb|240x240px|Visible on the right side of the image is the Delhi 1939–1945 War Memorial.|alt=]]

==Cemetery==
The [[Commonwealth War Graves Commission]] records 1,154 burials in the Delhi War Cemetery. The graves contain the remains of citizens of the United Kingdom, India, Netherlands, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Poland from [[World War I]] and [[World War II]]. 821 graves contain individuals from the army and 296 from the air force. The rest contain personnel from the navy and merchant navy as well as a nurse and a civilian. Some of the war graves belong to those from regiments such as: the [[King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry]], the [[3rd Gorkha Rifles|3rd{{Nbsp}}Queen Alexandra's Own Gurkha Rifles]], the [[Royal Northumberland Fusiliers]], the [[Royal Engineers]], the [[Gloucestershire Regiment]], the [[Royal Artillery]] and the [[Burma Rifles]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cwgc.org/find/find-war-dead/results/?cemetery=DELHI%20WAR%20CEMETERY|title=Delhi War Cemetery Records|website=www.cwgc.org|access-date=14 February 2018}}</ref>

There are also special memorials for thirty-two service personnel whose remains could not be traced, including Maureen Grundy, a [[Leading aircraftman|leading aircraftwoman]] in the [[Women's Auxiliary Air Force]].<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cwgc.org/find/find-war-dead/results/?cemetery=DELHI+WAR+CEMETERY&tab=wardead&pageSize=100&casualtypagenumber=6|title=Records, Delhi War Cemetery|website=Commonwealth War Graves Commission|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181206001549/https://www.cwgc.org/find/find-war-dead/results/?cemetery=DELHI+WAR+CEMETERY&tab=wardead&pageSize=100&casualtypagenumber=6|archive-date=6 December 2018|url-status=live|access-date=5 December 2018 }}</ref> Her Grave Registration Report by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission shows that while her ashes were deposited at St Martin's Church, Delhi, they could not be found later by Church authorities. Accordingly a special memorial in the form of a gravestone with her full service particulars was erected in commemoration.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2177921/grundy,-maureen-honor/ |title=Leading Aircraftwoman Grundy, Maureen |website=cwgc.org |access-date=9 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181205193452/https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2177921/grundy,-maureen-honor/ |archive-date=5 December 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> The youngest burials are four service personnel aged eighteen, while the oldest burial is Major Reginald Hamilton Richmond of the [[5th Gorkha Rifles (Frontier Force)|5th{{Nbsp}}Royal Gurkha Rifles (Frontier Force)]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2177652/richmond,-reginald-hamilton/|title=Major Reginald Hamilton Richmond|website=Commonwealth War Graves Commission|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181206053227/https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2177652/richmond,-reginald-hamilton/|archive-date=6 December 2018|url-status=live|access-date=5 December 2018 }}</ref>

Three [[major general]]s are also buried at the memorial, [[Charles Hertzberg|Charles Sumner Lund Hertzberg]] of the [[Canadian Army]], George Grant Tabuteau of the [[Royal Army Medical Corps]] and Thomas George Gordon Heywood.<ref name="gov">{{cite web|url=http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/detail/2177313|title=In memory of Major General Charles Sumner Lund Hertzberg|publisher=[[Veterans Affairs Canada]]|accessdate=31 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150411084317/http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/detail/2177313|archive-date=11 April 2015|url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/71843/Tabuteau-George-Grant.htm|title=Tabuteau, George Grant|website=Traces of War|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181206002114/http://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/71843/Tabuteau-George-Grant.htm|archive-date=6 December 2018|url-status=live|access-date=5 December 2018 }}</ref> Hertzberg was commander of the [[Canadian Military Engineers|Royal Canadian Engineering Corps]] as chief engineer and died at age fifty-seven after contracting [[smallpox]] on a special assignment in India,<ref name="thegenerals">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vgTaIWgPYm4C&q=charles+sumner+lund+hertzberg&pg=PA42|title=The Generals: The Canadian Army's Senior Commanders in the Second World War|last1=Granatstein|first1=G.L.|date=1993|publisher=[[University of Calgary Press]]|isbn=9781552381762|access-date=5 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180802102002/https://books.google.ca/books?id=vgTaIWgPYm4C&pg=PA42&lpg=PA42&dq=charles+sumner+lund+hertzberg&source=bl&ots=iJ7xP8yQU4&sig=sQxXpm7jQyZ9hEaZ1YRbFPJWhjs&hl=en&sa=X&ei=PBbNVPqJGYz4yASH0oHAAg&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=charles%20sumner%20lund%20hertzberg&f=false|archive-date=2 August 2018|url-status=live }}</ref> Tabuteau died while commandeering the position of the director of medical services at General Headquarters India,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.generals.dk/general/Tabuteau/George_Grant/Great_Britain.html|title=Biography of Major-General George Grant Tabuteau (1881–1940), Great Britain|website=www.generals.dk|access-date=5 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181206001915/http://www.generals.dk/general/Tabuteau/George_Grant/Great_Britain.html|archive-date=6 December 2018|url-status=live }}</ref> and Heywood died when the Royal Air Force transport plane he was in crashed at [[Allahabad]] in 1943.

[[File:Delhi War Cemetery Front View.jpg|left|thumb|The [[Stone of Remembrance]] visible in the foreground as well as the [[Cross of Sacrifice]] in the background.|alt=]]
A [[Stone of Remembrance]], engraved with the words '[[their name liveth for evermore]]' is also present at the cemetery, as well as a [[Cross of Sacrifice]]. The Stone of Remembrance, designed by British architect [[Edwin Lutyens]], and the Cross of Sacrifice, designed by [[Reginald Blomfield]], are two standard architectural features of Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries and memorials.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dva.gov.au/commems_oawg/OAWG/remembering_war_dead/Pages/stone%20remembrance.aspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090712191403/http://www.dva.gov.au/commems_oawg/OAWG/remembering_war_dead/Pages/stone%20remembrance.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-date=12 July 2009|title=Stone of Remembrance|last=Affairs|first=Department of Veterans’|access-date=4 December 2018}}</ref> The cemetery covers approximately {{Convert|10000|m2|yd2|abbr=off}} and was designed by H. J. Brown, an associate member of the [[Royal Institute of British Architects]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cwgc.org/find/find-cemeteries-and-memorials/92000/delhi-war-cemetery/design|title=Design, Delhi War Cemetery|website=www.cwgc.org|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180215023728/https://www.cwgc.org/find/find-cemeteries-and-memorials/92000/delhi-war-cemetery/design|archive-date=15 February 2018|url-status=live|access-date=14 February 2018 }}</ref><ref name=":1" />

On the second Saturday of November, [[Remembrance Day]], the [[British High Commission]] and others visit the memorial and place wreaths in memory of the dead.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /> On 11 November 2018, [[Tom Tugendhat]], a British member of parliament, paid his respects at the Delhi War Cemetery where he laid wreaths of [[Remembrance poppy|poppies]] made from red [[Khadi]] which [[The Royal British Legion]] chose in 2018 to acknowledge India's role in the war.<ref>{{Cite news |title=To soldiers of the Great War |work=[[The Tribune (Chandigarh)|The Tribune]] |type=Photo Album |url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/photo/to-soldiers-of-the-great-war/22092.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181205003329/https://www.tribuneindia.com/photo/to-soldiers-of-the-great-war/22092.html |archive-date=5 December 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.timesnownews.com/international/article/uk-honours-sole-indian-aviator-hardutt-singh-malik-who-survived-world-war-i/311452|title=UK honours sole Indian aviator who survived World War I|access-date=4 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181204195126/https://www.timesnownews.com/international/article/uk-honours-sole-indian-aviator-hardutt-singh-malik-who-survived-world-war-i/311452|archive-date=4 December 2018|url-status=live }}</ref>

==Delhi 1939–1945 War Memorial==
The Delhi 1939–1945 War Memorial forms the front entrance to the Delhi War Cemetery. It is identical to the memorial at the [[Karachi War Cemetery]]. There are no names engraved on the memorial, but a [[War memorial|Roll of Honour]] in Hindi and Urdu can be found at the site which has names of the 25,000 service personnel of the forces of undivided India who died during World War II.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cwgc.org/find/find-cemeteries-and-memorials/92000/delhi-war-cemetery/history|title=History|website=www.cwgc.org|access-date=14 February 2018}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Delhi War Cemetery – The Canadian Virtual War Memorial – Veterans Affairs Canada |url=http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/cem?cemetery=92000 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180215143630/http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/cem?cemetery=92000 |archive-date=15 February 2018 |access-date=14 February 2018 |website=www.veterans.gc.ca}}</ref> Since the last rites and disposal or keep of remains varies by religion and country, the memorial is a commemoration for those who are not buried.<ref name=":0" />

<gallery mode="packed" heights="200">
File:Delhi 1939-1945 War Memorial.jpg|Delhi 1939–1945 War Memorial. The Cemetery is visible in the background.
File:Delhi 1939-1945 War Memorial Closeup.jpg|A closeup of one of the engravings on the Delhi 1939–1945 War Memorial.
File:Delhi 1939-1945 War Memorial Delhi Cemetery.jpg|A closeup of another one of the engravings on the Memorial.
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[Madras War Cemetery|Madras War Cemetery, India]]
* [[Kirkee War Cemetery|Kirkee War Cemetery, Pune, India]]
* [[Kohima War Cemetery|Kohima War Cemetery, Nagaland, India]]
* [[Nicholson Cemetery, New Delhi]]
* [[Lothian Cemetery|Lothian Cemetery, India]]
* [[Victory Tunnel|Victory Tunnel, Shimla]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
* Gilbert, Martin (2014). [https://books.google.com/books?id=DIwBAwAAQBAJ&dq=Delhi+1939-1945+War+Memorial&pg=RA1-PR5 ''The Routledge Atlas of the Second World War'']. Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group. {{ISBN|9780415397094}}
* T. A. Edwin Gibson, G. Kingsley Ward (1989). [https://books.google.com/books?id=UxQiAQAAIAAJ&q=Delhi+1939-1945+War+Memorial ''Courage remembered: the story behind the construction and maintenance of the Commonwealth's military cemeteries and memorials of the wars of 1914–1918 and 1939–1945'']. Her Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO). {{ISBN|9780117726086}}
* Great Britain, Imperial War Graves Commission. (1957) [https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/725907 ''The war dead of the British Commonwealth and Empire, 1939–1945 : the Delhi and Karachi 1939–1945 war memorials.''] [[Imperial War Graves Commission]].

==External links==
* {{Find a Grave cemetery}}
{{Cemeteries in India}}
[[Category:Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries in India]]
[[Category:Cemeteries in India]]
[[Category:Military cemeteries]]
[[Category:Monuments and memorials in Delhi]]

Delhi War Cemetery - Revision history

CynthiaBegg56 at 05:31, 15 December 2025