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Adelaide River War CemeteryPrint Page ![Print this page Print this page](https://monumentaustralia.org.au/images/print.jpg)
The Adelaide River War Cemetery serves as a symbol of the scale, intensity and human sacrifice of Australian and Commonwealth personnel in northern Australia during World War Two. The cemetery contains a Cross of Sacrifice and Cenotaph.
Established in 1942, the cemetery is the last resting place for service men and women who lost their lives in northern Australia during the war. Adjoining the war cemetery is a Civil Cemetery, which houses the graves of 63 civilians who lost their lives as a result of war service, including nine postal workers killed in the initial Japanese bombing of Darwin.
Location
Address: | Memorial Terrace, Adelaide River, 0846 |
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State: | NT |
Area: | AUS |
GPS Coordinates: | Lat: -13.231499 Long: 131.114363 Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate. |
Details
Monument Type: | Cemetery |
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Monument Theme: | Conflict |
Sub-Theme: | WW2 |
Actual Event Start Date: | 03-September-1939 |
Actual Event End Date: | 15-August-1945 |
Dedication
Approx. Monument Dedication Date: | 1942 |
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ADELAIDE RIVER WAR CEMETERY
Plaque:
Adelaide River War Cemetery
The Darwin area, with its naval base and surrounding group of airfields, was the largest operational base in the south-west Pacific. During 1942 and 1943 it suffered numerous air raids. The first, against Darwin itself and the naval base, on the 19th February, was the most damaging, killing some 240 people including many civilians.
The war cemetery at Adelaide River was created for the burial of those service-men who died in the Darwin area and at other military installations in the Northern Territory of Australia. It contains the burials of 18 sailors, 182 soldiers, 215 airmen and 19 merchant seamen of which 407 are Australian, 26 British and 1 Canadian.