Commonwealth War Cemetery, Maluku Islands, Indonesia
4.5 (13 reviews) Spent 1-2 hours Ranking #10 in Ambon Points of Interest & Landmarks • Cemeteries • Monuments & Statues
Poignant place for reflection
A beautifully kept cemetery in the shade of flamboyant trees, it is also known as the Australian cemetery due to the large numbers of Australian servicemen buried here. The cemetery on the site of a former Japanese Prisoner of War camp is the resting place for Australians who died in the Japanese invasion and in the camp itself. There are British servicemen too mostly from the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force . During my research I read the following which anyone planning to visit should bear in mind........ "Please be aware that there have been a number of instances recently where visitors have been charged to enter the site. We would like to state, categorically, that the Commonwealth War Graves Commission does not charge anyone for entering any cemetery, and visitors should not pay anyone, in order to gain access."
Address
, Indonesia.
Current local date and time now
Saturday, May 11, 2024, 17:48
User Ratings
4.5 based on (13 reviews)
Reviews
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4Tony M 5:00 PM Jan 1, 2020
A Peaceful & Well Kept Memorial
The well maintained and peaceful Commonwealth War Cemetery/Ambon War Cemetery. Built on the site of the Gull Force Barracks, which the Japanese turned turned into one of the most notorious POW camps in the Dutch East Indies - Tan Touy. Of the approximately 1,000 men of the Gull Force who capitulated in Feb 1942 to the 20,000 strong Japanese invasion force, 694 are buried here. More than 2,000 casualties from Australian, British, Dutch and Indian forces rest here. Casualties include army, airforce, artillery, cavalry, navy, marines, drivers, sappers, special forces, and at least one war correspondent - many of whom perished in the POW camp which once stood here, or in the Japanese atrocities which followed the Allied surrender of the island. Also resting here are large numbers of men from the cruiser HMS Exeter, and destroyer HMS Encounter - both lost in the second battle of the Java sea. A material number of Special Force 'Z' are also interred here.
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4Parosite 5:00 PM Apr 12, 2018
Read up on the history before going!
If you visit without prior research you will find over 2000 graves set in a tranquil park-like setting shaded by giant trees. Not much else, there is hardly any information on-site. I took the time to search the web after my visit and regretted not to have done so before. It is important to know that this cemetery was build in the location of one of the most notorious Japanese POW camps in the Dutch East Indies. Several hundred graves are dedicated to the members of the Australian Gull Force, trying to defend Ambon during the Japanese invasion. You will also notice many crew members from the British cruiser Exeter and destroyer Encounter that were sunk during the Second Battle of the Java Sea. If you read the dates carefully, you will deduce that the vast majority of the men buried here spent years in inhuman conditions of POW camps, often dying of sickness/starvation. Most were very young and died shortly before the end of WW2, what a shocking waste of life!
