Location
There are four cemeteries / memorials in this vicinity that commemorate Commonwealth service personnel.
Chatby is a district on the eastern side of the city of Alexandria, between the main dual carriageway to Aboukir (known as Al Horaya) and the sea. The Cemetery is located centrally within the main Alexandria Cemetery complex, which is bordered by Al Horaya on the south and the electric tramway which is parallel with Sharia Champollion on the north. Visitors can reach the entrance to the cemetery along the road Sharia Anubis, which lies centrally north/south through the cemetery area. This cemetery has a central front entrance building with a metal gate/grill-secured archway leading into it from two small grassed areas which form part of the roadside in front of the cemetery, which is bounded by a rendered wall.
History
Chatby Military & War Memorial Cemetery (originally the Garrison cemetery) was used for burials until April 1916, when a new cemetery was opened at Hadra.
Only 3 of Chatby’s 464 Australian WWI graves came after that time, although there are a further 47 Australian graves interred here from WWII. After April 1916 burials were infrequent, yet some graves were brought into the cemetery, after the war, from other burial grounds in the area.
During WWII, Alexandria was again an important hospital centre, taking casualties from campaigns in the Western Desert, Greece, Crete, the Aegean Islands and the Mediterranean. Rest camps and hostels were also established there together with a powerful anti-aircraft base. Alexandria was the communications centre for the Middle and Near East and became the headquarters of the Military Police.
There are now 2,259 WWI burials in the cemetery and 503 from WWII.
The cemetery contains war graves of other nationalities and many non-war and military graves, some of which date from 1882.
The Chatby Memorial stands at the eastern end of the cemetery and commemorates almost 1,000 Commonwealth servicemen who died during WWI and were lost when hospital ships or transports were sunk in the Mediterranean, sailing to or from Alexandria. Others died of wounds or sickness while onboard and were buried at sea.
Sourced and submitted by Julianne T Ryan. 14 October 2014. Lest we forget.
