Skew Bridge Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery

Last updated
Skew Bridge
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Skew Bridge Cemetery.jpg
Used for those deceased April–December 1915
Established1915
Location 40°03′15″N26°12′01″E / 40.05409000°N 26.2001900°E / 40.05409000; 26.2001900 Coordinates: 40°03′15″N26°12′01″E / 40.05409000°N 26.2001900°E / 40.05409000; 26.2001900
near 
Gallipoli, Turkey
Total burials607
Unknowns
351
Burials by nation
Burials by war
Statistics source: Battlefields 1914–1918

Skew Bridge Cemetery is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery containing the remains of Allied troops who died during the Battle of Gallipoli, including the youngest British soldier.

Contents

History

The battles at Gallipoli were an eight-month campaign fought by British Empire and French forces against the Ottoman Empire in an attempt to force Turkey out of the war and to open a supply route to Russia through the Dardanelles and the Black Sea.

The cemetery is 2 kilometres northeast of Seddülbahir on the Gallipoli Peninsula. Is named after a skewed wooden bridge which carried the road from Helles to Krithia across the Dere, a stream about 45 metres west of the cemetery and just behind the centre of the Allied lines. The cemetery was created during the fighting of 6–8 May 1915 and used until the Allied evacuation in January 1916. It originally contained only 53 graves, but now contains 607 graves, a consequence of its enlargement following the Armistice as graves were moved in from the surrounding including clearing Backhouse Post, Orchard Gully, R.N.D., and Romanos Well cemeteries. Special memorials record 125 British and 4 Australians who are known to be buried in the cemetery but the location of whose graves is not known more precisely.

Notable graves

Amongst those known to be buried in the cemetery is the youngest British soldier to be killed during the campaign and the youngest Allied serviceman to be buried on the peninsula. Drummer Joseph Aloysius Townsend of D Company, 1/4th Battalion of the East Lancashire Regiment was 15 when he was killed on 18 May 1915.

(The youngest Allied soldier to die on service was an Australian, Private James Martin, aged 14 years 9 months. He contracted typhoid and was evacuated to a hospital ship where he died and was buried at sea.)

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gallipoli</span> Peninsula in northwestern Turkey

The Gallipoli peninsula is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles strait to the east.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gallipoli campaign</span> Military campaign against the Ottoman Empire during World War I

The Gallipoli campaign was a military campaign in the First World War that took place on the Gallipoli peninsula, from 17 February 1915 to 9 January 1916. The Entente powers, Britain, France and Russia, sought to weaken the Ottoman Empire, one of the Central Powers, by taking control of the Ottoman straits. This would expose the Ottoman capital at Constantinople to bombardment by Allied battleships and cut it off from the Asian part of the empire. With Turkey defeated, the Suez Canal would be safe and a year-round Allied supply route could be opened through the Black Sea to warm-water ports in Russia.

Lancashire Landing Cemetery War cemetery in Cape Helles, Turkey

Lancashire Landing Cemetery is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery located on the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey. It contains the graves of some of the Allied troops killed during the Battle of Gallipoli.

Redoubt Cemetery is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery containing the remains of allied troops who died during the Battle of Gallipoli in Turkey. It is located near Krithia on the Gallipoli Peninsula.

Twelve Tree Copse Cemetery is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery containing the remains of Allied troops who died during the Gallipoli campaign. It is located about one kilometre (0.62 mi) south-west of Krithia on the Gallipoli Peninsula.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beach Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery</span>

Beach Cemetery is a small Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery containing the remains of allied troops who died during the Battle of Gallipoli. It is located at Hell Spit, at the southern end of Anzac Cove on the Gallipoli Peninsula.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shrapnel Valley Cemetery</span>

Shrapnel Valley Cemetery is a cemetery from World War I and is the second largest Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery in the former Anzac sector of the Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey, after Lone Pine Cemetery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quinn's Post Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery</span>

Quinn's Post Cemetery is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery from World War I in the former Anzac sector of the Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey. The battles at Gallipoli, some of whose participating soldiers are buried at this cemetery, were an eight-month campaign fought by Commonwealth and French forces against Turkish forces in an attempt to force Turkey out of the war, to relieve the deadlock of the Western Front (France/Belgium) and to open a supply route to Russia through the Dardanelles and the Black Sea.

Shell Green Cemetery is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery from World War I in the former Anzac sector of the Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey for soldiers killed during the Gallipoli campaign. The eight-month campaign was fought by Commonwealth and French forces against Turkish forces in an attempt to force Turkey out of the war, to relieve the deadlock of the Western Front (France/Belgium) and to open a supply route to Russia through the Dardanelles and the Black Sea.

Hill 10 Cemetery is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery in the former Suvla Bay sector of the Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey. The battles at Gallipoli, some of whose participating soldiers are buried at this cemetery, was an eight-month campaign fought by Commonwealth and French forces against Turkish forces in an attempt to force Turkey out of the war, to relieve the deadlock of the Western Front (France/Belgium) and to open a supply route to Russia through the Dardanelles and the Black Sea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hill 60 Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery</span>

Hill 60 Cemetery is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery dating from World War I at the Northern end of the former Anzac sector of the Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey and the location of Hill 60 Memorial, one of four memorials on the peninsula which commemorate New Zealanders killed in the campaign but who have no known grave.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johnston's Jolly Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery</span>

Johnston's Jolly Cemetery is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery containing the remains of some of the Allied troops who died during the Battle of Gallipoli.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Zealand No.2 Outpost Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery</span>

New Zealand No.2 Outpost Cemetery is a small Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery containing the remains of some of the Allied troops who died during the Battle of Gallipoli.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Courtney's and Steel's Post Cemetery</span>

Courtney's and Steel's Post Cemetery is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery located near ANZAC Cove on the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey. It contains the graves of some of the former British Empire troops who died during the Gallipoli Campaign.

The Farm Cemetery is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery on the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey. It contains the remains of some of the soldiers killed during World War I in the Battles at Gallipoli.

Baby 700 Cemetery is a World War I Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery on the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey. It contains the bodies of some of the soldiers killed during the battles at Gallipoli. During an eight-month campaign in 1915, Commonwealth and French forces sought to force Turkey out of the war, which would relieve the deadlock on the Western Front and open a supply route to Russia through the Dardanelles and the Black Sea.

Lala Baba Cemetery is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery on the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey. It contains the remains of some of the soldiers killed during World War I during the battles at Gallipoli. This was an eight-month campaign fought by Commonwealth and French forces against Ottoman Empire forces to try to force the Ottoman Empire out of the war which it was hoped would open a supply route from the Mediterranean to Russia through the Dardanelles and Istanbul and to relieve the deadlock on the Western Front.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lone Pine Cemetery</span> From Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Lone Pine Cemetery is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery dating from World War I in the former Anzac sector of the Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey and the location of the Lone Pine Memorial, one of five memorials on the peninsula which commemorate servicemen of the former British Empire killed in the campaign but who have no known grave.

Helles Memorial CWGC cemetery in Turkey

The Helles Memorial is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission war memorial near Sedd el Bahr, in Turkey, on the headland at the tip of the Gallipoli peninsula overlooking the Dardanelles. It includes an obelisk which is over 30 metres (98 ft) high.

References