- Haydarpaşa Cemetery
Haydarpaşa Cemetery, also known as Haidar Pasha Cemetery, Istanbul ( _tr. Haydarpaşa İngiliz Mezarlığı), located in the Haydarpaşa neighborhood of
Üsküdar district in theAsia n part ofIstanbul ,Turkey , is aburial ground established initially for British military personnel, who took part in theCrimean War (1854-1856). [ [http://www.uskudar-bld.gov.tr/portal/rehber/t1.jsp?PageName=rehberAyrinti&ID=248 Üsküdar Municipality] tr icon] The cemetery holds also graves ofCommonwealth soldiers from the two World Wars, and civilians of British nationality.Crimean War graves
The cemetery was first established for British soldiers from the Crimean War, who died mostly as the result of
cholera epidemic in the first organized military hospital in modern history created byFlorence Nightingale . Around 6,000 soldiers died during the war in theSelimiye Barracks (akaScutari Barracks) in Istanbul, which was converted into a military hospital. The graves of the dead, of which only a few are marked today, were placed at two separate plots on a hillside close to theSea of Marmara next to the military hospital. The land, formerly owned by SultanSuleiman the Magnificent (1495-1566) [ [http://www.geliboluyuanlamak.com/makale_detay.php?haber_id=15 Understanding Gallipoli] tr icon] , was donated to the British Government in 1855. The two plots were linked in 1867 by a second land grant.An obelisk was erected in 1857 by Queen Victoria (1819-1901) within the cemetery to commemorate the British soldiers from the Crimean War. A bronze plaque, attached by the British community in Turkey on the plinth of the Crimean Memorial and unveiled on
Empire Day , 1954 to celebrate the 100th anniversary ofFlorence Nightingale ’s nursing service in this region, bears the inscription:"To Florence Nightingale, whose work near this Cemetery a century ago relieved much human suffering and laid the foundations for the nursing profession."
Other monuments in the cemetery include a symbolic broken column in memorial of German Jäger officers who fell in the
Crimea , and a British memorial, which was erected 1855 initially in the Therapia Crimean Cemetery (todayTarabya on theEurope an part of Istanbul) and later transferred here together with the graves of 18 personnel ofRoyal Navy andRoyal Marines who died in the sultan’s mansion, which was converted into a military hospital in Therapia . [ [http://www.geliboluyuanlamak.com/makale_detay.php?haber_id=15 Understanding Gallipoli, Section 2] tr icon]Civilian burials
Since 1867, more than 700 civilians are interred in a separate section within the cemetery. Among them is the grave of
Sir Edward Barton , British ambassador of Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603) to the Sublime Porte between 1588 and 1596, who died in 1598 on the island ofHeybeliada in the Sea of Marmara, and his remains were transferred later here. A chapel in memory ofSir Nicholas O’Conor-Don , British ambassador to theOttoman Empire from 1898 to 1908, is another historic monument in this plot.Some military graves outside of the World War periods are also located in this section.
World War graves
There are just over 400 graves of military personnel from
World War I , who died in Turkey mostly as prisoners of war or some during theoccupation of Istanbul (1918 to 1923) after theArmistice of Mudros .Two other memorials of World War I are found in the cemetery, one bearing the names of a little over 200 soldiers of United Kingdom and
Undivided India , who fell in various parts ofRussia or on the borders of Turkey, and whose burial grounds could not be maintained. The other memorial is dedicated to the servicemen of theIndian Army , who died between 1919 and 1920 in the prisoner-of-war camps in southern Turkey nearAdana and were interred in the Maslak and Osmaniye Indian Cemeteries. In 1961, when those cemeteries could not be further maintained, the earth with the ashes of the cremated remains of these men was transferred here and scattered near the monument, and the remains of theirMuslim comrades were re-interred.In addition to the burials of World War I, graves of 38 servicemen of the Royal Navy and
Royal Air Force and one pilot of theAustralian Imperial Force , who were all killed in action in theMediterranean Theatre of World War II at the borders of then neutral Turkey, are found in the Haydarpaşa Cemetery. [ [http://www.geliboluyuanlamak.com/makale_detay.php?haber_id=15 Understanding Gallipoli, 1939-1945 Deads of World War II] tr icon]Notable burials
* Count
Richard Guyon (aka Hurşid Pasha), TurkishPasha of French descent, Hungarian nationalist and general, hero of the Hungarian Revolution in 1848-49, born in England – killed in action onOctober 11 ,1856 in the Crimean War. [ [http://www.radikal.com.tr/haber.php?haberno=156195 Newspaper "Radikal"] tr icon]
* Dr.Alexander McGrigor – British physician, who worked together with Florence Nightingale in the Selimiye Barracks [ [http://www.geliboluyuanlamak.com/makale_detay.php?haber_id=15 Understanding Gallipoli, Section 2] tr icon]Administration
Until 1925, the
British Government was directly responsible for the maintenance of the cemetery. From then on, theCommonwealth War Graves Commission has taken over the duty on behalf of the British Government.Location
The Cemetery is situated today between the military hospital and the
Port of Haydarpaşa next to the marshalling yard down on the street Tıbbiye Caddesi from Üsküdar toKadıköy at coor dms|41|00|00.00|N|29|01|10.00|E|type:landmark_scale:50000.References
* [http://www.cwgc.org/admin/files/cwgc_haidar.pdf Commenwealth War Graves Commission Haidar Pasha Cemetery]
External links
* [http://www.levantine.plus.com/pdf/haidarpashacem.pdf Haidar Pasa cemetery Listing transcribed by Yollande Whittall]
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