Kranji War Cemetery

Infobox Military Cemetery
name= Kranji War Cemetery
body= Commonwealth War Graves Commission


use_dates= 1942-1945
established= 1946
designer= Colin St Clair Oakes
coordinates= coord|1|25|05|N|103|45|29|E|
nearest_town= Kranji, Singapore
total= 4461
unknowns= 850
by_country=Specific figures are not available
by_war=
World War I: 64
World War II: 4394
source= [http://www.cwgc.org/search/cemetery_details.aspx?cemetery=2004200&mode=1 Commonwealth War Graves Commission] The Kranji War Cemetery (Chinese: ; Malay : "Tanah Perkuburan Perang Kranji") is located in Kranji, Singapore, and is the final resting place for Allied soldiers who perished during the Battle of Singapore and the subsequent Japanese occupation of the island from 1942-1945 and in other parts of Southeast Asia during World War II.cite web|url=http://sg.pagenation.com/sin/Kranji%20War%20Memorial_103.7581_1.4182.map |title=Pagenation.com | accessdate = 2006-09-09]

There are 4,461 World War II casualties buried or commemorated at this cemetery, of which more than 850 of these are unidentified. There are 64 World War I headstones, of which three commemorate casualties known to have been buried elsewhere but whose graves could not be found on concentration.cite web|url=http://www.cwgc.org/search/cemetery_details.aspx?cemetery=2004200&mode=1 |title=Commonwealth War Graves Commission: KRANJI WAR CEMETERY | accessdate = 2006-09-09]

History

The Kranji area was previously a military camp. At the time of the Japanese invasion of Malaya, the area was in use as an ammunition magazine. After the fall of Singapore, the Japanese established a prisoner-of-war camp at Kranji and a hospital nearby at Woodlands. After the war, the small cemetery at Kranji was developed into a permanent war cemetery.cwgc]

The site was expanded by the concentration of graves from surrounding areas and from Saigon in then-French Indochina (now Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam).cite web|url=http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-cemeteries/kranji.htm |title=Digger History | accessdate = 2006-09-09]

pecial memorials

Special memorials exist to commemorate specific deaths or graves that could not be found. These memorials are mainly clustered around the main Singapore Memorial.cite web|url=http://www.petrowilliamus.co.uk/kranji/plan/plan.htm |title=Kranji Cemetery Plan | accessdate = 2006-09-09]

ingapore Memorial

The Singapore Memorial, known locally as the Kranji War Memorial,cite web|url=http://www.visitsingapore.com/publish/stbportal/en/home/what_to_see/world_war_ii_sites/kranji_war_memorial.html |title=Uniquely Singapore | accessdate = 2006-09-09] stands over the war cemetery with the names of 24,346 Allied soldiers inscribed on its walls.cite web| url=http://infopedia.nlb.gov.sg/articles/SIP_183_2004-12-27.html| title=Kranji Memorials | publisher=National Library Board, Singapore | accessdate=2007-01-07]

ingapore (Unmaintainable Graves) Memorial

This memorial commemorates over 250 troops killed in action in British Malaya whose graves, whilst known, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission were unable to maintain and whose bodies could not be moved due to religious conviction.cwgc]

ingapore Cremation Memorial

This memorial is to almost 800 casualties, mostly from Undivided India, who were cremated as part of their religious beliefs.cwgc]

ingapore Civil Hospital Grave Memorial

At the end of the occupation of the island, wounded civilians and servicemen were brought to the hospital in large numbers. Many of these died and a mass grave was established for more than 400 of the bodies. After the war, rather than disturb the grave in a largely futile attempt to identify any single casualties, a cross was built over the grave and the site was consecrated by the Bishop of Singapore.cwgc]

Chinese Memorial

This memorial, located further from the Singapore Memorial, is a collective grave for 69 Chinese servicemen serving with the Commonwealth forces who were killed at the start of the occupation.cwgc]

References

External links

*
* [http://www.twgpp.org The War Graves Photographic Project (photo archive of all graves in Kranji War Cemetery)]
* [http://www.petrowilliamus.co.uk/kranji/kranji.htm Petrowiliamus guide]
* [http://www.myfareast.org/SingaporeMemorials/kranji.html Pictures at My Far East]
* [http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-cemeteries/kranji.htm Digger History: an unofficial history of the Australian & New Zealand Armed Forces]
*Peter Chou's PBase Gallery [http://www.pbase.com/kepha/kranji/ Kranji War Memorial]
* [http://www.roll-of-honour.com Roll of Honour - Details of the men buried in Kranji in several databases]

Bus services

Alight from Kranji MRT Station and take these busses: