Niš Commonwealth Military Cemetery
| Commonwealth Military Cemetery | |
|---|---|
Ратно војно гробље Британског Комонвелта | |
| Details | |
| Location | |
| Country | Serbia |
| Coordinates | 43°18′27″N 21°55′45″E / 43.30742°N 21.92905°E |
| Type | Military |
The Commonwealth Military Cemetery (Serbian: Ратно војно гробље Британског Комонвелта, romanized: Ratno vojno groblje Britanskog Komonvelta) is located in Niš, Serbia in the municipality of Palilula. It is listed as a Protected Cultural Monument of the Republic of Serbia (Identification Number SK 689). The cemetery's address is 1 Miladina Popovića Street, in the district of Delijski of Niš and approximately 500 metres from the Skull Tower (Ćele kula). For that reason, it is also sometimes listed as Chele Kula Military Cemetery.
It was opened in 1915, when 19 soldiers of the British Army died at the Niš military hospital; in 1919, 21 other soldiers from the same detachment were buried there. According to V. Milić's account, there are a total of 41 British graves in the cemetery, of which 28 are army soldiers, three sailors, three marines and seven nurses who served in the Serbian army. However, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) lists 39 military graves and different numbers for the various services. Its full list can be read on the CWGC website. With the exception of the soldiers, all died in the flu epidemic that followed the end of the First World War.
The cemetery was laid out in 1929 and was built by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to a design by Sir Robert Lorimer. According to the historian Aleksandar Dinčić, the inauguration of the cemetery took place on 12 May 1929, in the presence of the British representative Howard William Kennard, the president of the municipality of Niš Dragiša Cvetković and General Miloš Nikodijević representing the king of Yugoslavia.