British First World War Graveyard Found at Al Amara

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[Arkinsaw]

First World War graveyard found at Al Amara

The Royal British Legion are welcoming news a lost graveyard has been discovered by the banks of the Tigris river.

The cemetery at Al Amara, built for the dead of the Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force during the First World War, has been tended by keeper Hassan Hatif Moson Ali in the face of death threats from local Baath officials.

It was found by the men of the Royal Irish Regiment whose forebears, the Connaught Rangers, are among the names carved into the simple granite memorial.

They are honoured by an unadorned cross which has, remarkably, withstood Baghdad's hatred of the West.

The cemetery had to be abandoned by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission after the last Gulf War.

On Easter Sunday however, Royal Irish padre Phil Bosher will lead prayers within its palm shaded walls both for those who died and the new generation of British troops stationed there.

Mr Hassan has kept the memorial polished and preserved, saved surviving fragments of monumental masonry from local looters and cut the grass from where the headstones were plundered by an earlier Iraqi regime in 1937.

[Arkinsaw]

Sounds like Mr. Hassan needs back pay and a permanent job. One honorable man can do a lot even in the heart of evil.

[Arkinsaw]

ping

[anniegetyourgun]

Wow.

[FreedomPoster]

You need to see this; this is really something!

[SwinneySwitch]

Amen!

[Dubya]

bump

[maxwellp]

To Mr. Hassan - a heartfelt "thank you" from an American for our British allies. May you live and prosper because you are an honorable man.

[aristeides]

Are these the dead from the siege and surrender of Kut, or from other fighting in Mesopotamia? I didn't know Irish soldiers were involved in this theater. Wasn't the fighting mainly done by the Indian Army?

[NormsRevenge]

Bump

[kayak]

What a great story. Thanks for posting this!

[ellery]

Bless you, Mr. Hassan. I am more and more amazed by the common decency and goodness our Iraqi friends have nurtured in the face of 30 years of terror.

[MinuteGal]

Remarkable story!

If you find and post any more details on this, please ping me. I've been a WW1 history "buff" as long as I can remember. Thanks,

Leni

[F-117A]

To Mr. Hassan - a heartfelt "thank you" from an American for our British allies. May you live and prosper because you are an honorable man.

Amen!

Thanks for posting this Arkinsaw!

[Wilhelm Tell]

Mr. Hassan is a brave, decent man in a time and place where it took courage to be a decent human being. I hope they make him a British citizen. Surely Britain could make room for him by kicking out some jihadist.

[DeepInEnemyTerritory]

What a remarkable man. He deserves a big official thanks from Britan along with some type of gift(s).

[Molly Pitcher]

Very interesting: another bonus of the war.