Kandy War Cemetery
Sri Lanka
During World War II, the city of Kandy hosted the Headquarters of the South East Asian Command and was a key location for the war effort. The graveyard that used to be known as the Pitakande Military Cemetery was taken over by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission as a permanent war cemetery, and it is now the final resting place of soldiers of the British Empire killed during the war. This British military cemetery includes: 107 British soldiers; 35 East African soldiers; 26 Sri Lankan soldiers; 23 Indian soldiers; 6 Canadian soldiers; 3 Italian soldiers; and 1 French soldier. Of these, more than 75% served the army, with the rest belonging to the Air Force, Navy and National Fire Service.
Contents
8 sections · tap a section for its opening lines1Kandy War Cemetery
Welcome to the Kandy War Cemetery. Step through the entrance gates and you will immediately notice a profound shift in atmosphere. …
Listen in the app2The Architectural Blueprint of Memory
As we advance down the central pathway, the overarching architectural philosophy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission becomes immediately apparent. This philosophy was famously codified by eminent British architects such as…
Listen in the app3The Unknown Soldier and WWI Commemoration
We pause now before a deeply moving historical marker. While the vast majority of the graves in this cemetery date from the Second World War, there is a special memorial that demands our scholarly attention. …
Listen in the app4The Royal Air Force and the Defense of Ceylon
Let us examine a cluster of headstones belonging to the personnel of the Royal Air Force. As we read the names and dates, a specific, critical chapter of Sri Lankan history begins to emerge from the marble. …
Listen in the app5Local Contributions: The Ceylon Medical Corps
It is a common historical fallacy to view the defense of the British Empire as an enterprise undertaken solely by white European soldiers. As we examine this next headstone, we encounter a crucial corrective to that narrative. …
Listen in the app6The Infantrymen from Distant Lands
Moving along this row, we encounter the grave of an infantryman, offering us yet another perspective on the vast machinery of war. Here is the marker for Dennis Hata Groves, a soldier of the Leicestershire Regiment, who died on…
Listen in the app7The Caretakers and the Living Landscape
Let us shift our analytical focus from the individuals buried beneath the soil to the very soil itself, and to the living hands that tend it. It is impossible to visit the Kandy War Cemetery without being profoundly struck by its…
Listen in the app8Kandy War Cemetery
As our historical and spatial analysis of the Kandy War Cemetery draws to a close, we return to the entrance gate where a small, often overlooked artifact awaits our attention: the visitor's register. I strongly encourage you to…
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What is Kandy War Cemetery?
Kandy War Cemetery is a place in Sri Lanka with 8 story sections on Tellby. You can read the opening of each section on this page; the sound plays in the app.
| Location | Sri Lanka |
|---|---|
| Type | Heritage |
| Story sections | 8 |
| Text language | English |
| Coordinates | 7.2816, 80.6084 |
| Last updated |
Nearby places
within a 5-minute walk
Royal Botanic Gardens, PeradeniyaActivity8 sections