Visiting the Madras Commonwealth War Cemetery
An impression of the graves at the Madras Commonwealth War Cemetery.
Each Grave Is Evidence Of A Worldwide Conflict
This summer I was in India and I used the opportunity to visit several World War II related sites. There’s one site in particular that I wanted to write about the Madras Commonwealth War Cemetery in Chennai.
The grave of A. G. Collyer of the 3rd Madras Regiment. He died on 29 September 1944
Chennai wasn’t the site of many famous battles. During World War I, the harbor was shelled by the German cruiser Emden on 22 September 1914 and during World War II the city was bombed by Japanese fighters on 12 October 1943, but no other battles were fought there. However, the city also had a British World War II cemetery that I was eager to see.
The grave of Daphne Mary Margaret McKenzie of the Women's Auxiliary Corps (India) at the Madras Commonwealth War Cemetery. She died on 8 July 1944.
What made it so special for me, is that the Madras Commonwealth War Cemetery isn’t centered on a famous battlefield. No battle was fought here, yet each grave is testament of a worldwide conflict. Those who lie here gave everything in battle, died in accidents, or of injuries and diseases. In death, they form a unique community: diversity made permanent and visible.
During my visit to the Madras Commonwealth War Cemetery in the heart of Chennai, I was struck by how this small cemetery breaks the narrow lens through which we so often view World War II: a conflict between the American or British army against the German army in Europe. Instead, the soldiers were all in Commonwealth service, but came from all over the world and served in a variety of units. You won’t find trenches or bomb craters, but you’ll find history’s true breadth: the names and nations of fallen soldiers from every corner of the globe.
The grave of A. Malinowski of the Polish Forces at the Madras Commonwealth War Cemetery. He died on 22nd November 1944.
Names From All Over The World
As I walked between the rows, I didn’t just see British names, like for example A. G. Collyer of the 3rd Madras Regiment, but I saw the resting place of Christian African soldiers, like Samuel Kwaku Ayisi, and Muslim African soldiers, like Simeli Lagos, a Polish soldier, A. Malinowski, and even a woman with the Women’s Auxiliary Corps, India: Daphne Mary Margret McKenzie. There is also the headstone of the grave of H. W. Munro, a purser on the S.S. Chilka, who was buried at the Port Blair (Aberdeen) Cemetery on the Andaman Islands, but whose original grave is now lost.
The grave of Simeli Lagos of the Gold Coast Regiment. He died on 31 March 1945.
Their names reflect many countries of origin, reminding us that World War II is not the story of one people or one nation, but a mosaic of continents, beliefs, and backgrounds. Each stone here reflects a life interrupted far from home, bound together by their sacrifice for ideals greater than themselves. Many of these soldiers died in service far from their homelands, with the cemetery prepared to care for graves that could not be maintained in scattered sites across India’s southern and eastern regions. Here, in Chennai, is now their resting place, honoring a truly global legacy of sacrifice.
The grave of H. W. Munro. He died in July 1944 and his original grave on the Andaman Islands is lost.
As we remember World War II, let’s not reduce it to the familiar stories of European fronts or Pacific islands. Let’s remember the true global scale, the shared loss, the unexpected alliances, and the hope for peace that unites their memory. Because here, among these headstones, World War II reveals itself not just as a conflict, but as a story that spanned the whole world.
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