TRINCOMALEE WAR CEMETERY
Trincomalee
Sri Lanka
GPS Coordinates: Latitude: 8.61513, Longitude: 81.21345
Image above © Frits Leenders
Location Information
From the main A6 road, just south of the town of Trincomalee, turn left onto the North East Coast Road, also known as the Nilaveli Road. The cemetery is approximately 6 kilometres along this road on the right (eastern) side.
Visiting Information
Before considering a visit to Sri Lanka the Commission strongly recommends that you check the advice given by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office on the travel section of their website:
www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/
This site is open between 07:00 and 16:00 every day. Access outside these hours can be made via the resident caretaker. Wheelchair access possible via main entrance.
Please be aware of the following:
Parking and the Cemetery entrance are located on a busy main road.
Malaria is widespread in areas of Sri Lanka. Trincomalee is a very high risk area.
Historical Information
Trincomalee is a seaport on the north-eastern coast of Sri Lanka (Ceylon) and was formerly a naval station. After the fall of Singapore it became a naval base of importance to our command of shipping in the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean.
The cemetery was originally the Combined Services Cemetery, but was taken over by the Admiralty from the military authorities in April 1948 for use as a permanent naval cemetery. On the withdrawal of United Kingdom Forces from Ceylon it became the property of the Ceylon Government who have granted the Commission security of tenure in perpetuity.
Save for a few post-war and non-war graves it is purely a war cemetery, and service war graves were transferred to it from Trincomalee (St. Mary) Churchyard; Trincomalee (St. Stephen's) Cemetery, Kottadi Cemetery, Jaffna; and Vavuiyna Combined Cemetery. A special memorial commemorates a naval man buried in Trincomalee (St. Stephen's) Cemetery whose grave could not be found.
The non-war graves are those of men of the Merchant Navy whose death was not due to war service, and of civilians, of whom some were employees of the Admiralty; while the post-war graves were dependents of servicemen, civilian employees of the Admiralty and dependents of such employees.
Total Burials: 366.
Identified Casualties: United Kingdom 243, India 48, The Netherlands 7, New Zealand 5, Canada 4, Italy 4, Australia 2, South Africa 1. Total 314.
Cemetery images in gallery below © Frits Leenders
Trincomalee, Ceylon. 1944. Group portrait of the crew from the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) destroyer HMAS Nizam. Identified: fourth row, sixth from left: Maurice Bolin; seated behind the life buoy, left, Commander Brooks and right, Lieutenant Savage. At the time of the photograph the ship had returned to port for supplies and refuelling before departing on convoy duties. (Donor M. Bolin)
Sub-Lieutenant
Jasper Murray (Mudge) Anderson
F. A. A. 1830 Squadron, Royal New Zealand Naval Volunteer Reserve
14th April 1944, aged 22.
Plot 2. C. 8.
Son of Sidney and Geraldine Anderson, of Napier, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand.
Jasper Murray (Mudge) Anderson
F. A. A. 1830 Squadron, Royal New Zealand Naval Volunteer Reserve
14th April 1944, aged 22.
Plot 2. C. 8.
Son of Sidney and Geraldine Anderson, of Napier, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand.
N/6809138 Nursing Sister
Margaret Maud Bridge
Indian Military Nursing Service
20th August 1947, aged 27.
Plot 1. D. 8.
Daughter of William Richard and Elsie Maud Bridge, of Battersea, London.
Her headstone bears the inscription "A Short But Tremendously Useful Life"
Margaret Maud Bridge
Indian Military Nursing Service
20th August 1947, aged 27.
Plot 1. D. 8.
Daughter of William Richard and Elsie Maud Bridge, of Battersea, London.
Her headstone bears the inscription "A Short But Tremendously Useful Life"
RME/10567 Lance Corporal
David Vernon Jones
Royal Marine Engineers
14th March 1943.
Plot 2. A. 5.
The following information is courtesy of the Home Front Museum:
"Remembering Lance Corporal David Vernon Jones of Tyn-y-Coed Road, Great Orme who accidentally died 14th March 1943 in Ceylon, now Sri Lanka. He was married with a ten-year-old son, David. Known as Vern, before the war he was employed at his father's Colwyn Bay bakery before enlisting with the Royal Marine Engineers. The RME received training in assault engineering and demolitions from the Royal Engineers while some were trained as divers by the Royal Navy. In Sri Lanka they were concerned mainly with constructing and defending the island's military bases. Vern died alongside Sergeant Arthur Cherry of Middlesex [ Memorial ID: 237536781 ] and both are buried at Trincomalee War Cemetery.
Vern's brother, Reg, served with the Royal Army Service Corps and was captured in Greece by the Germans and taken as a prisoner of war in February 1941. He spent the next two years at a prison camp that he described in a letter home as looking like the Lledr Valley. He was repatriated to Britain in a prisoner exchange scheme seven months after his brother's death. Reg also worked for the family bakery firm as a driver and on enlisting in the army, his wife took over and drove the delivery van.
David Vernon Jones
Royal Marine Engineers
14th March 1943.
Plot 2. A. 5.
The following information is courtesy of the Home Front Museum:
"Remembering Lance Corporal David Vernon Jones of Tyn-y-Coed Road, Great Orme who accidentally died 14th March 1943 in Ceylon, now Sri Lanka. He was married with a ten-year-old son, David. Known as Vern, before the war he was employed at his father's Colwyn Bay bakery before enlisting with the Royal Marine Engineers. The RME received training in assault engineering and demolitions from the Royal Engineers while some were trained as divers by the Royal Navy. In Sri Lanka they were concerned mainly with constructing and defending the island's military bases. Vern died alongside Sergeant Arthur Cherry of Middlesex [ Memorial ID: 237536781 ] and both are buried at Trincomalee War Cemetery.
Vern's brother, Reg, served with the Royal Army Service Corps and was captured in Greece by the Germans and taken as a prisoner of war in February 1941. He spent the next two years at a prison camp that he described in a letter home as looking like the Lledr Valley. He was repatriated to Britain in a prisoner exchange scheme seven months after his brother's death. Reg also worked for the family bakery firm as a driver and on enlisting in the army, his wife took over and drove the delivery van.
Trincomalee, Ceylon. 15th September 1941. View of the Queen Mary (left) And the Queen Elizabeth (Right), which comprised convoy U. S. 12a, Transporting Australian Troops To The Middle East. The Queen Mary Is Refuelling. The photograph was taken from the cruiser HMAS Canberra. (Naval Historical Collection"
J/20592 Flying Officer
James Douglas Macklem
47 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force
2nd August 1944.
Plot 2. G. 15.
James Douglas Macklem
47 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force
2nd August 1944.
Plot 2. G. 15.
J/21249 Squadron Leader
Albert John Smith
47 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force
21st August 1944, aged 22.
Plot 2. J. 12.
Son of Albert G. Smith and Rose Smith, of Port Burwell, Ontario, Canada.
His headstone bears the inscription In Loving Memory Of A Dear Son. Ever Remembered By Father. "Rest In Peace"
Albert John Smith
47 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force
21st August 1944, aged 22.
Plot 2. J. 12.
Son of Albert G. Smith and Rose Smith, of Port Burwell, Ontario, Canada.
His headstone bears the inscription In Loving Memory Of A Dear Son. Ever Remembered By Father. "Rest In Peace"
1177563 Sergeant
John Wilfred Walton
261 Squadron, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
9th April 1942, aged 28.
Plot 2. G. 13.
Son of Tom Taylor Walton and Jessie Camilla Walton, of Paddington, London.
His headstone bears the inscription "There's Some Corner Of A Foreign Field That Is For Ever England"
John Wilfred Walton
261 Squadron, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
9th April 1942, aged 28.
Plot 2. G. 13.
Son of Tom Taylor Walton and Jessie Camilla Walton, of Paddington, London.
His headstone bears the inscription "There's Some Corner Of A Foreign Field That Is For Ever England"
Port side view of the destroyer HMS Express (H61). She retains her original main armament of four 4.7 inch Mark IX guns on Mark XVII mountings but has surrendered her after bank of torpedo tubes where a single 3 inch AA gun is now mounted. A Type 286 radar is mounted on the masthead. She is painted in a Western Approaches (WA) camouflage scheme designed by Sir Peter Scott. This photograph was likely taken in the second half of February 1942 when HMS Express was an escort for a convey that sailed from Batavia on 14 February bound for Trincomalee. HMS Express was not involved in the Battle of the Java Sea as she had suffered a serious boiler fire and after temporary repairs in Singapore she was only capable of 19 knots and was despatched to Ceylon with a convey of empty troopships. (Naval Historical Collection)
