Bomana War Cemetery

About

Situated on the fringes of Port Moresby lies the Bomana War Cemetery, a Commonwealth War Graves Commission landmark that honors the memory of nearly 4,000 brave Commonwealth soldiers who fell during WW2 in the former territory of Papua and Bougainville Island. The story goes back to 1942 when Japanese forces landed at Lae and Salamaua, launching several military campaigns and seizing control over Bougainville until their surrender in 1945. The graves of those who gave their lives in these battles were relocated to the Cemetery by the Australian Army Graves Service. Not only Australian and local soldiers found their eternal rest here, but also unidentified soldiers from the UK's Royal Artillery that were captured at Singapore's fall, unknown Indian soldiers who fought in the Great War, one Dutch national and one non-war burial. Behind the graveyard stands the Port Moresby Memorial, paying tribute to nearly 750 men from the Australian Army (including Papua and New Guinea local forces), the Australian Merchant Navy, and the Royal Australian Air Force. Photo by arthur_chapman, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons