The Port Said War Memorial Cemetery is on the western edge of the township. The cemetery sits between two bodies of water, on one side the Mediterranean Sea and the other Lake Manzala. Travelling along the road to Damietta you will find the cemetery 200 metres before the Customs Post, at the end of the main Port Said cemetery complex. Of the 68 Australians buried in this cemetery, nearly all are from the First World War, with just 3 graves from the Second World War.
As a hospital centre Port Said received the wounded and sick from the Gallipoli in 1915. Later in the war, in its position at the northern end of the Suez Canal, it played a similarly important role in the Egypt and Palestine campaigns. During the First World War many hospitals were based nearby including the No 31 General Hospital, No 15 Stationary Hospital and No 26 Casualty Clearing Station, the New Zealand Stationary Hospital and the No 14 Australian General Hospital.
In the Second World War the defence of the Suez Canal was again crucial, so the Canal’s defence headquarters were established in Port Said. Burials from this war were again from surrounding hospitals as well as a nearby transit camp.
In addition to the 641 Commonwealth graves in the Port Said War Memorial cemetery, there are 430 burials from outside the Commonwealth and 7 non-war graves.
Image: Port Said War Memorial Cemetery.
Creator: Christopher Karykides