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Taukkyan War Cemetery

Taukkyan War Cemetery

Myanmar

Yangon

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Overview

The Taukkyan War Cemetery is a cemetery for Allied soldiers from the British Commonwealth who died in battle in Burma during the Second World War. The cemetery is in the village of Taukkyan, about 25 kilometres north of Yangon on Pyay Road. It is maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. The cemetery contains the graves of 6,374 soldiers who died in the Second World War, the graves of 52 soldiers who died in Burma during the First World War, and memorial pillars with the names of over 27,000 Commonwealth soldiers who died in Burma during the Second World War in the Burma Campaign but who have no known grave. There are 867 graves that contain the remains of unidentified soldiers. It is one of the most visited and high rated war sites of all Asia.

Driving between Yangon and Bago we stopped at the Taukkyan War Memorial. This is the largest of the three war cemeteries in Myanmar, dedicated to soldiers from both the First and Second World War.

The Taukkyan War Cemetery is a cemetery for Allied soldiers from the British Commonwealth who died in battle in Burma during the World War II. It is a tranquil and beautifully kept reminder, so worth a few minutes of your time as a place to rest whilst driving.
The cemetery is in the village of Taukkyan, about 25 kilometres (16 mi) north of Yangon on Pyay Road. The cemetery was opened in 1951. Its manicured grounds are extremely peaceful, but they also serve as a painful reminder of the cost of war. This is the largest of the three war cemeteries in Myanmar.

Twelve miles north of Yangon’s airport is this beautifully maintained cemetery, containing the graves of 6374 Allied soldiers who died in the Burma and Assam campaigns of WWII. There is also a memorial bearing the names of almost 27,000 soldiers who died with no known grave. Bago-bound buses from the Aung Mingalar Bus Terminal all pass Taukkyan. The cemetery was opened in 1951. As you walk around reading the names of those who died and the epitaphs commemorating them, the heat of the sun seems to fade and the noise of the road recedes, leaving you alone in the silence of your own thoughts.

About an hour or so’s drive from central Rangoon, this cemetery appears suddenly, and is seemingly in the middle of nowhere, surrounded only by a few small shops and a tiny village. It feels like a tiny bit of Britain that has been transported thousands of miles away to Myanmar.

The beautifully maintained cemetery holds the remains of Allied soldiers who died during World War I and World War II. It contains 6,374 graves from World War II alone, though only 5,576 are identified.

The Taukkyan War Cemetery also honors the soldiers for whom no known grave was found. Its memorial pillars hold the names of more than 27,000 Commonwealth soldiers who died within the country.

History
The cemetery was opened in 1951 and the remains of Commonwealth soldiers who died in Meiktila, Akyab (Sittwe), Mandalay, and Sahmaw were transferred here and the graves are grouped together by these battles. A large number of the 27,000 names of Commonwealth soldiers are of the Indian Army and African soldiers who fought and died in Burma. Of the total, 1,819 graves are Indian soldiers.

Since opening in 1951, Taukkyan War Cemetery has been administered by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in the United Kingdom – which currently cares for 23,000 such locations in 154 countries.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission spokesperson, Peter Francis told The Myanmar Times that this site started as the reception for graves from four battlefield cemeteries at Sittwe, Mandalay, Meiktila and Sahmaw that were “difficult to access and could not be maintained.”

Mr Francis said a place like Taukkyan War Cemetery is today among “the last physical reminders of what took place more than 70 years ago but also a deeply human reminder of the cost of war.”

“[These servicemen] paid a debt that we can never truly repay but [this goes] some way to saying ‘thank you’ and also ensures we never forget.”

“The cemetery reminds us of what happens when things go wrong. It reminds us that behind every name there is a human story waiting to be told and a family or community or country deeply touched by loss.”

The Taukkyan War Cemetery, Yangon

  • Address: Yangon - Pyay Rd, Yangon, Myanmar (Burma)
  • Hours: Closed ⋅ Opens 8AM Thu
  • Owner: Commonwealth War Graves Commission
  • No. of graves: 6,374
  • Established: 1951
  • Burials: George Albert Cairns, Michael Allmand, Frank Blaker

See Taukkyan War Cemetery on Map

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