Commemorations

Yokohama War Cemetery has four mainsections. There is one section each forcasualties from the United Kingdom,Australia and India, plus a combined plotfor New Zealand and Canadian forces. Intotal there are 1,555 Second World Warburials, including one Dutch war grave.The British plot also contains one FirstWorld War grave. There is a further plotcontaining 171 servicemen who diedduring the Allied occupation.

The Yokohama Cremation Memorialhouses an urn containing the ashes of 335Commonwealth, American and Dutchcasualties who died as Prisoners of War inJapan. Of these, the names of 284 areknown and are inscribed on the walls ofthe memorial. The Yokohama Memorial,which also stands in the cemetery, bearsthe names of 20 Indian casualties whodied in Japan and whose places of burialare unknown.

A guide to the Second W

ar Commemorations in Yokoham

a, Japan

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission(CWGC) is responsible for the commemoration ofalmost 1,700,000 members of the Commonwealthforces who gave their lives in the two world wars. Thegraves and memorials of these men and women, whocame from all parts of the Commonwealth and whowere of many faiths and of none, are found around theglobe in 153 countries.

Enquiries on the location of individual burials orcommemorations can be directed to the offices belowor to the Commission’s website at www.cwgc.orgwhere there is an online searchable database.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission2 Marlow Road MaidenheadBerkshireSL6 7DXUnited KingdomTel: +44 (0) 1628 634221Fax: +44 (0) 1628 771643E-mail: aapaoffice@cwgc.org

www.cwgc.org

captured large numbers of Allied service personneland local civilians who were put to work for theJapanese war effort. One third of Japaneseprisoners of war did not survive theirimprisonment.

Naval Bombardments And Air Raids

After the surrender of Singapore in February 1942,the Japanese began transferring prisoners of war toJapan. The prisoners arrived at a camp in Ofuna,near Yokohama and were sent to work in mines,factories and dockyards. During 1945, as Japan’sposition weakened, many prisoners of war in Japanlost their lives in Allied naval bombardments and airraids on military targets.

T H E I R N A M E L I V E T H F O R E V E R M O R E

Liberation

The survivors were finally released when EmperorHirohito announced the surrender of Japan on 15August 1945. Post-war, Japan was occupied by Alliedforces until 1952. The land for the cemetery wasfreely given as part of the Commonwealth-JapaneseWar Graves agreement of 1955.

Cemetery Origins

The cemetery was created by an Australian WarGraves Unit in 1945. The graves of prisoner of warcasualties from throughout Japan were concentratedinto this cemetery, the only Commonwealth WarGarves Cemetery in the country. It is located sixmiles south of Yokohama, in Yuenchi Park, Hodogaya.

Commemorations to the Common-wealth casualties of the Second WorldWar who died in Japan can be visited atYokohama War Cemetery. Japanese prisoners of war from the UK, Australia,India, New Zealand and Canada areamong those remembered at the ceme-tery, set in nearly 20 acres of woodland.

Japanese Occupation Of SouthEast Asia

Japan entered the Second World War inDecember 1941. It swiftly achieved aseries of victories which resulted in itsoccupation of most of South East Asia –along with large areas of the Pacific – byMarch 1942. During its advance, Japan

“Yokohama War Cemetery is located six miles south of Yokohama, in Yuenchi Park, Hodogaya.”