Ramleh War Cemetery

Ramleh Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery and Memorial to the Missing is for personnel of both World Wars, and the period of the British mandate of Palestine located in the town of Ramla (Ramla, Ramleh) in Israel .¹ The cemetery grounds were assigned to the United Kingdom in perpetuity by the municipality of Ramla in recognition of the sacrifices made by the British Empire in the defence and liberation of Palestine during the war. It is the largest cemetery for Commonwealth forces in Israel. The cemetery dates from the First World War , when Ramleh was occupied by the 1st Australian Light Horse Brigade on 1 November 1917. Field ambulances, and later casualty clearing stations , were posted at Ramleh and Lydda from December 1917 onwards. The cemetery was begun by the medical units, but some graves were brought in later from the battlefields and from Latron, Sarona and Wilhema Military and Indian Cemeteries. During the Second World War , this cemetery was used by the Ramla Royal Air Force Station and by various Commonwealth hospitals posted in turn to the area for varying periods. Within Ramleh War Cemetery will be found the Ramleh 1914-18 Memorial, erected in 1961 to commemorate more than 300 Commonwealth, German and Turkish servicemen of the First World War who lie buried in cemeteries elsewhere in Israel where their graves could no longer be maintained. Only 74 of the casualties are named. The Ramleh 1939-45 Memorial, commemorating 28 Jewish and non Arab servicemen of the Second World War, and six non-war casualties of the Palestine Police Force, who lie buried in cemeteries elsewhere in Israel where their graves could not be maintained in perpetuity.²