"KRANJI WAR CEMETERY AND SINGAPORE MEMORIALS.." Kranji by DennyP

KRANJI WAR CEMETERY
Well, my visit to Kranji War Cemetery was a solemn one , as it was here on Anzac Day on April 25th 2009 that I attended the Anzac day "Dawn Service" to commemorate that historic day that is solemnly commemorated every year in Australia and New Zealand. and just so many different Military Cemeteries around the world. Anzac Day commemorates on this day every year as it was on this day in 1914 at the Landing on Gallipolli in Turkey that saw the unnecessary loss of so many brave men of many different nationalities.
While staying in Singapore at "The Beetel Box" Hostel and speaking with the manager a man of excellent local military History , I found that I could get out to the Cemetery and be part of the commemoration at dawn the next morning. I must confess at 5 am the air was so heavy with humidity I could hardly breathe and had some trouble climbing the hill to the Memorial..The Dawn Service Ceremony was an excellent Service and one That I will always remember.so many different military dignitaries from all the various foreign governments represented all taking part in the wreath laying ceremony at this huge memorial to the many fallen soldiers and prisoners of the Commonwealth Forces that died and were executed by their captors in the huge "Japanese" infamous Prison Camp here ..CHANGI.
To hear the Maori "Haka Powhiri"performed in the early dawn bought a lump to each and everyones throat ...I am sure ...and also many a tear was shed...

SOME OF THE MANY WONDERFULLY KEPT GRAVESITES

Maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves commission..This is an absolutely immaculately kept Military Cemetery with some 4.500+ individual gravesites..wonderfully manicured...This was an absolutely moving experience here in Kranji Cemetery ..Singapore..

The very first Anzac Day commemorative Dawn Service Ceremony was held at the top of the Mount Clarence overlooking King Georges Sound in Western Australia. The Service was conducted by Padre Arthur White at dawn on the 25th of April 1930 thus beginning a long time tradition of the Anzac legacy of fallen comrades.
King Georges Sound is located in Albany Western Australia and it was here at dawn, on November 1st 1914 where an armada of over 40 ships loaded with over 30,000 Australian and New Zealand Light Horsemen along with nearly 8,000 horses and thousands of tons of goods and war materials steamed out for the journey to the Middle East. This was the last view of their beloved Australia that most of these men would have..There is a wonderful monument to these brave men located in Albany looking down over King Georges Sound in memory of these men.
( if interested see my Albany page)

A SINGAPOREAN WAR VETERAN AT THE SERVICE...

Another Memorial lies within the bounds of Kranji Cemetery and bears the names of some 24,000 casualties of the Commonwealth Land and Air Forces who died during the Second World War.also to the many brave Asian peoples that perished, and have no known grave mostly from the campaigns in Malaysia,Indonesia and also the construction of the Burma -Thailand "death" Railway..

• Pros:SO WONDERFULLY MAINTAINED..SO SOLEMN A CEREMONY
• Cons:VERY SAD...