Chanuk Bair Cemetery

[john white]

Dear Members

                   Below are three photos of the above cemetery. Photo 1 shows a member of the Canterbury Mounted Rifles, who were on garrison duty in the Chunuk Bair area at that tiime,1919 saluting human remains waiting to be interred. A very stark Photo! Photo 2 shows the New Zealand Memorial in 1924, having been completed but not as yet opened. This did not happen until May of 1925. The car looks typical of that period. Photo 3 is a modern photo and two things in particular stand out for me personally. Firstly the names of 310 men from the Wellington Battalion remembered on the panel behind the cemetery, and in the cemetery itself the gravestone on the extreme left of the line . It is the grave of Robert Persson from Wellington, who was only 17 when he was killed in the August fighting.

                                                   Regards

                                                          John White

[woronora]

Hi Thank you for the post. Where did you obtain the first photo?

Cheers

John

[john white]

Dear Woronora I

                      If you go into "Chunuk Bair Cemetery 1918- Dead waiting to be interred" you should be able to reach it on the Images section.

                                         Regards

                                               John White

[Eceabat]

Hi John,

 

there is another thing that should stand out, in that your second photo shows nine headstones but in your more recent shot there are ten. 

 

The late addition to the ranks of the identified fallen was a havildar of the 10th Ghurka Rifles, by the name of Punahang Limbu.

 

Records show him as lying in grave number 7 in that line, out of the ten now buried there, though in earlier photos of the cemetery there are a line of six graves then a gap to the last three.

 

I don't know when his remains were found and he was interred, though obviously after the cemetery was completed. 

 

It also begs the question why his remains were buried, rather than cremated, as was the funerary practice for Hindus, though it has been suggested to me that there may have been some Christian Ghurkas in the ranks. 

 

Cheers

Bill Sellars

 

 

 

[keithmroberts]

If I remember rightly that is the only Gurkha grave in Gallipoli.

 

Keith

[Eceabat]

As ever, your memory is just fine, though there is at least one officer of the Gurkha Rifles with a headstone, a C W B Birdwood, a captain of the 6th Gurkha Rifles buried in Pink Farm, killed on 7/6/1915.

 

He was a nephew of General Birdwood, commander of ANZAC. 

 

Bill

[john white]

Dear Bill

             Nice to hear from you and I will send you a personal Email. Do you know when the  Turkish Statue was erected?

                                      Regards

                                             J W

[michaeldr]

8 hours ago, john white said:

Do you know when the  Turkish Statue was erected?

The Ataturk statue was errected on Chunuk Bair in 1993

[john white]

Dear Michael   

          Thanks for that..

                    Regards

                             John White

 

[alantwo]

On 11/06/2019 at 18:46, Eceabat said:

Hi John,

 

there is another thing that should stand out, in that your second photo shows nine headstones but in your more recent shot there are ten. 

 

The late addition to the ranks of the identified fallen was a havildar of the 10th Ghurka Rifles, by the name of Punahang Limbu.

 

Records show him as lying in grave number 7 in that line, out of the ten now buried there, though in earlier photos of the cemetery there are a line of six graves then a gap to the last three.

 

I don't know when his remains were found and he was interred, though obviously after the cemetery was completed. 

 

It also begs the question why his remains were buried, rather than cremated, as was the funerary practice for Hindus, though it has been suggested to me that there may have been some Christian Ghurkas in the ranks. 

 

Cheers

Bill Sellars

 

 

 

 

I happened to be in the area a couple of days ago and remembered Bill’s post.

 

Regards

Alan

Edited 27 June , 2019 by alantwo

[michaeldr]

Great to hear from you Alan

I hope that you and your family have enjoyed your visit to the peninsula

 

The grave and headstone of Havildar Punahang Limbu must be quite late in Gallipoli terms

The photograph below is from  Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections (AWNS-19390426-54-1) 

It is dated 26th April 1939, and yet it does not show this headstone in place

Does anyone know when this stone was erected?

 

Stephen Chambers (Krithia hereabouts) in his book 'Anzac - Sari Bair' mentions that on Gallipoli "it was not always possible to respect the rights of the dead and cremate"

This is very likely the case here. If no Hindu advice or assistance was available at the time, then rather than risk disrespect by not performing the ceremony in the correct fashion, the decision may have been made to bury the remains - a proceedure which was more well known and usual, and therefore have less chance of unintended offence being caused. 

 

edit to add: another possibility hinted at by Stephen (p.221) is that this man, although he may have been listed as a Hindu, might actually have been a Buddhist.

Edited 27 June , 2019 by michaeldr

[alantwo]

13 hours ago, michaeldr said:

Great to hear from you Alan

I hope that you and your family have enjoyed your visit to the peninsula

 

Hi Michael

 

Very much so, still here but last full day today.

 

With regard to Havildar Limbu, are there any clues with the CWGC Grave Registration? I tried to open the page but for whatever reason could not do so.

 

Alan

 

[michaeldr]

Enjoy your day and a safe journey home

 

6 hours ago, alantwo said:

I tried to open the page but for whatever reason could not do so.

 

The problem must be at the CWGC end, as I couldn't open it either

 

Best regards

Michael

[john white]

Dear Members

               I am glad that the topic is arousing interest.

                                       John White