Kut Memorial Cleaned up by US Marines!

[Neil Clark]

Not sure where to post this so I decided on Battlefields in danger...

I came across this interesting story whilst searching the worldwide web for a GOOD online memorial to fallen British soldiers in Iraq and Afganistan.

http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/archi...php/t-9271.html

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British cemetery in Iraq rededicated

Submitted by: Headquarters Marine Corps

Story Identification Number: 20035191268

Story by deployed forces

AL KUT, Iraq(May 8, 2003) -- Marines from Service Platoon, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade Headquarters Group, held a rededication ceremony at Kut Cemetery in Al Kut May 8.

In April, Marines from Task Force Tarawa visited the small plot of land believed to be the final resting place for soldiers who fought in World War I as British troops sought an alternative route to the center of the Ottoman Empire. With Gallipoli a failing battle - the British decided to approach via Mesopotamia - now modern day Iraq.

The troops landed in Umm Quasr and moved north to Baghdad through the Tigris River valley. North of Al Kut but south of the capital, the British troops found they could push no further. They fell back to Kut where they were besieged for approximately six months. Many found their final resting place here.

The cemetery was overgrown with weeds and littered with trash. The headstones have been weathered and damaged; some were not visible due to the dense vegetation, some had toppled over and were broken.

The Marines of Task Force Tarawa felt the condition of the cemetery was appalling and decided to do something about it.

Eventually, the Marines restored headstones, cut the grass, removed the weeds and picked up the trash.

Lt. Gen. James T. Conway participated in the May 8 rededication. Some British soldiers also attended the event.

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Does anyone know of a good quality online site that I can visit. The Americans seem to have quite a few but us Brits seem to be lacking in this respect. Luckily a few of the US memorial sites do record British casualties as well.

[Jim Clay]

Neil

"Not sure where to post this so I decided on Battlefields in danger..."

Why not Cemeteries & Memorials?

Nice story though.

Jim