Cemetery Details

Cemetery:	AMARA WAR CEMETERY
Country:	Iraq
Locality:	unspecified
Visiting Information:	NOTE: Whilst the current climate of political instability persists it is not possible for the Commission to manage or maintain its cemeteries and memorials located within Iraq. Alternative arrangements for commemoration have therefore been implemented and a two volume Roll of Honour listing all casualties buried and commemorated in Iraq has been produced. These volumes are on display at the Commission's Head Office in Maidenhead and are available for the public to view. The Commission continues to monitor the situation in Iraq and once the political climate has improved to an acceptable level the Commission will commence a major rehabilitation project for its cemeteries and commemorations. THE COMMISSION STRONGLY ADVISES THAT THE FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE SHOULD BE CONTACTED BEFORE ATTEMPTING TO VISIT IRAQ. Their details are as follows: Travel Advice Unit Consular Division Foreign and Commonwealth Office Old Admiralty Building London SW1A 2AF Tel: 0207 008 0232/0233 Fax: 0207 008 0164 Website: http://www.fco.gov.uk/ Opening Times: Monday to Friday 09.30 - 16.00
Location Information:	Amara is a town on the left bank of the Tigris some 520 kilometres from the sea. The War Cemetery is a little east of the town between the left bank of the river and the Chahaila Canal.
Historical Information:	Amara was occupied by the Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force on 3 June 1915 and it immediately became a hospital centre. The accommodation for medical units on both banks of the Tigris was greatly increased during 1916 and in April 1917, seven general hospitals and some smaller units were stationed there. Amara War Cemetery contains 4,621 burials of the First World War, more than 3,000 of which were brought into the cemetery after the Armistice. 925 of the graves are unidentified. In 1933, all of the headstones were removed from this cemetery when it was discovered that salts in the soil were causing them to deteriorate. Instead a screen wall was erected with the names of those buried in the cemetery engraved upon it. Plot XXV is a Collective Grave, the individual burial places within this are not known. There are also seven non-war graves in the cemetery.
No. of Identified Casualties:	3703