michaeldr Posted 10 March , 2007 Share Posted 10 March , 2007 SONGHURST, SYLVIA B., S B Civilian 26/09/1921 Unknown Plot C Row 16 Grave 1. As far as I can tell, this lady was the last WWI burial in Haifa War Cemetery before Plot D was added in WWII. Does anyone have any info or know why she was buried there? regards Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Strawbridge Posted 13 March , 2007 Share Posted 13 March , 2007 SONGHURST, SYLVIA B., S B Civilian 26/09/1921 Unknown Plot C Row 16 Grave 1. As far as I can tell, this lady was the last WWI burial in Haifa War Cemetery before Plot D was added in WWII. Does anyone have any info or know why she was buried there? regards Michael The Indian contingent captured Haifa in September 1918 and the 33rd Clearing Hospital was moved there. The Haifa War Cemetery was used for hospital burials which included some civilians. Sylvia Songhurst was one of these. Her grave is classified as a non-War grave and is cared for by the CWGC as a matter of goodwill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaeldr Posted 13 March , 2007 Author Share Posted 13 March , 2007 Jim, Thanks for your thoughts on this regards Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Strawbridge Posted 14 March , 2007 Share Posted 14 March , 2007 Jim, Thanks for your thoughts on this regards Michael Michael, Not thoughts but fact, Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaeldr Posted 14 March , 2007 Author Share Posted 14 March , 2007 (edited) quote: "which included some civilians. Sylvia Songhurst was one of these" Jim, I think that Ms Songhurst is the only WWI civilian buried here however I agree that it is not easy to follow the figures quoted by the CWGC in the case of this cemetery quote from the CWGC site: "Haifa War Cemetery now contains 305 Commonwealth burials of the First World War, 86 of them unidentified. Second World War burials number 36. No. of Identified Casualties: 257" 305 - 86 = 219 WWI identified + 36 WWII = 255 identified casualties but, "No. of identified casualties 257" Including Ms Songhurst, 256 are named by the CWGC in their A to Z list which suggests that the missing name can only be that of Mrs Alice Oliphant whose burial dates from the 19th century edit - If I have read Terry's post #8 correctly then the missing burial is in fact that of a Turkish soldier - RIAD MOHD AHMED And that was the reason why I enquired after a little more information than was already provided. Prior to WWI at least 3 English (or Anglican) burials were made in the existing German cemetery. After WWI the English opened their own burial ground [Haifa (Jaffa Road) Cemetery] which is also adjacent. It may be that this latter was opened after this burial [26 Sep '21] however I was wondering if there was any other special reason for Ms Songhurst being buried where she was. regards Michael Edited 14 March , 2007 by michaeldr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Denham Posted 14 March , 2007 Share Posted 14 March , 2007 Michael Do not rely on the figures given on the CWGC website. The stats programme is not fully working and the numbers are often wrong. Also, the numbers given in the 'Cemetery Description' section are rarely updated and can also be inaccurate especially when it comes to 'unidentifieds'. If you try to access the SONGHURST record you will see that you cannot indicating that (as Jim said) it is a Non-World War Grave in CWGC Care. Another glitch in the program awaiting a fix means that her name appears in the alpha list when it should not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaeldr Posted 14 March , 2007 Author Share Posted 14 March , 2007 Terry, Thank you for the advice best regards Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Denham Posted 14 March , 2007 Share Posted 14 March , 2007 The actual numbers at Haifa War Cemetery are... WW1 Commonwealth War Graves (Named) - 219 WW1 Commonwealth War Graves (Unknowns) - 86 WW2 Commonwealth War Graves (Named) - 36 Non-World War Grave in CWGC Care - 1 WW1 Foreign National War Grave in CWGC Care - 1 The last of these is a Turkish soldier - RIAD MOHD AHMED The only accurate cemetery figures on the CWGC site are currently those shown at the top of the alpha list of names on the cemetery search section. HOWEVER, this figure includes all ALIAS names, Foreign Nationals and Non-World War Graves in CWGC Care. The first being a duplication of a 'real name' and the latter two not being Commonwealth War Graves and whose names should not appear on the site. BUT the figure does not include Unknowns. It is actually a total of the records in the system rather than of burials. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaeldr Posted 14 March , 2007 Author Share Posted 14 March , 2007 Thanks once again Terry. I shall have to keep an eye open for your last mentioned which I seem to have missed until now regards Michael Thanks yet again Your edit was quicker than my 2-finger typing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now