Historical Information
The HAIDAR PASHA MEMORIAL stands within the war graves plot of Haidar Pasha Cemetery and commemorates more than 30 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War who died fighting in South Russia, Georgia and Azerbaijan, and in post Armistice operations in Russia and Transcaucasia, whose graves are not known.
An Addenda panel was later added to commemorate over 170 Commonwealth casualties who are buried in cemeteries in South Russia and Transcaucasia* whose graves can longer be maintained.
*Baku British Military Cemetery; Batoum British Cemetery; Batoum Russian Catholic Cemetery; Erivan Armenian Cemetery; Krasnodar Officers' Cemetery; Novorossisk (Chaikovski) Old Cemetery; Novorossisk New Cemetery; Odessa British Cemetery; Rostov (Bratski) Cemetery; Sevastopol British Cemetery; Sevastopol Russian Cemetery; Shusha Armenian Cemetery; Tiflis British Cemetery; Vladikavkas Hospital Cemetery; Yalta Russian Cemetery.
The war graves plot also contains the HAIDAR PASHA CREMATION MEMORIAL, which commemorates 122 soldiers of the Indian Army who died in 1919 and 1920 who were originally commemorated at Mashiak and Osmanieh Cemeteries. In 1961 when these cemeteries could no longer be maintained, the ashes of the Hindus, whose remains were cremated in accordance with their faith, were scattered near this memorial, while the remains of their comrades of the Muslim faith were brought here and re-interred.
HAIDAR PASHA CEMETERY was first established for Crimean war burials and was used during the First World War by the Turks for the burial of Commonwealth prisoners of war. After the Armistice, when Istanbul was occupied, further burials were made mainly from No 82 General Hospital and graves were brought in from other civil cemeteries in the area.
During the Second World War, Turkey retained her neutrality and those Commonwealth servicemen buried there were mainly men taken prisoner during operations in the Aegean, who died while attempting to escape from camps where they awaited transport to Germany and Italy, and whose bodies were washed up on the Turkish coast.
The war graves plot contains 405 Commonwealth burials of the First World War, 60 of them unidentified. Second World War burials number 39, 14 of them unidentified.
Also within the cemetery, which the Commission maintains as a whole, are about 6,000 Crimean graves, mostly unmarked, and numerous non war military and civilian graves and memorials.
http://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/49602/HAIDAR%20PASHA%20MEMORIAL
