Maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, the Taukkyan War Cemetery is the resting place for 6,374 allied soldiers from British Commonwealth who died during the Second World War and 52 soldiers who died in Burma during the First World War. Out of the total, 867 graves in the cemetery have unidentified soldiers buried in them.
Within the premises is The Rangoon Memorial where the names of over 27,000 Commonwealth soldiers, who died during the Second World War but who have no known grave, are written.
History
The cemetery was opened in 1951 to bury the soldiers who died in the battles of Meiktila, Akyab (Sittwe), Mandalay, and Sahmaw during World War II. Amongst the soldiers buried here, 1,819 were Indians. Seven of the Victoria Cross (VC) holders are entombed at this site.
On the Rangoon Memorial, the words ‘they died for all free men’ have been inscribed in English, Hindi, Gurumukhi and Burmese.