Adelaide River War Cemetery

Adelaide River War Cemetery is a heritage-listed cemetery at 105 Memorial Terrace, Adelaide River, Northern Territory, Australia. It was added to the Australian Commonwealth Heritage List on 22 June 2004.

During World War II Darwin became a naval base. It suffered its first air attack on 19 February 1942, and within a month of the first air raid Darwin became the heart of the operational base. The Northern Territory contained the largest operational base in the South West Pacific. Adelaide River and Alice Springs were the headquarters of large base establishments and the main north south road from Darwin to the railhead at Alice Springs was built during the war. Nos. 107 and 129 Australian General Hospitals were based at Darwin; Nos. 101 and 121 at Katherine; No. 119 at Adelaide River and No. 65 Camp Hospital at Pine Creek. The Adelaide River War Cemetery was created for the burial of servicemen and women who died in this area of Northern Australia particularly those who died at the Australian General Hospitals 101, 107, 119, 121 and 129. The site was selected by Army chaplain Arch Grant who performed many of the early burials there. The cemetery was opened in February 1942 in the immediate aftermath of the first Japanese air raids on Darwin. The site was close to Australian General Hospital No. 119 and to forward military headquarters. After the war the Army Graves Service moved graves from civil cemeteries, isolated sites and temporary military burial grounds, into the Adelaide River War Cemetery. Graves were moved from the Bagot Hospital Cemetery, Berrimah Hospital and War Cemetery, Daly Waters Civil Cemetery, Darwin Public Cemetery, Gove War Cemetery, Hughes Cemetery Darwin, Katherine Civil and War Cemeteries, Larrimah War Cemetery, Milingimbi War Cemetery, Mount Isa War Cemetery in Queensland, South Goulburn Island Mission Cemetery and Truscott War Cemetery. In September 1947, the Adelaide River War Cemetery was taken over by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and is now maintained by staff of the Office of Australian War Graves. The Northern Territory Memorial to the Missing was erected in the cemetery, as a memorial to those who have no known grave. This Memorial was erected to commemorate those of the Australian Army, the Royal Australian Air Force and the Australian Merchant Navy who lost their lives in the South West Pacific region during World War Two. (Men of the Royal Australian Navy who lost their lives in this area and who have no known grave are commemorated on the Plymouth Naval Memorial in England, along with those of the Royal Navy and of other Commonwealth naval forces.) The Adelaide River Civil Cemetery adjoins the War Cemetery. In the Civil Cemetery are 63 civilians who died as a result of war service, including nine Post Office workers killed on 19 February 1942, as a result of a direct hit on the original Darwin Post Office by Japanese bombs. The cemetery entry building was constructed c. 1948. In 1984 the original erect synthetic marble headstones in the military section of the cemetery were removed and substituted with low concrete plinths, with metal plaques affixed. This was considered necessary as a result of deterioration to the plaques due to the tropical environment and is a standard practice of the CWGC in tropical areas.

Monument data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).