Taiping War Cemetery

While walking along Jalan Bukit Larut from Taiping Lake Garden towards Maxwell Hill, I came across a war cemetery on both side of the road.

The Taiping War Cemetery serves as the final resting place for the Allied personnel who were killed during World war II, especially during the Malayan Campaign and the Japanese occupation of Malaya.

The war cemetery was erected and maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. I was amazed at how neat and clean this cemetery is.

 

Taiping was on the British line of retreat during the Japanese invasion of Malaya which usually host a garrison of one Indian Army infantry batallion. The town was also used as a rest and refitting centre for the 6th and 15th Indian Infantry Brigade during the ongoing northern Malaya with numerous medical units being stationed there before retreating to Singapore.

 

The cemetery is divided into two parts by Jalan Bukit Larut with Christian graves on the southeastern side of the road while non-Christian graves being located on the opposite side.

A Cross of Sacrifice can be seen stands at the centre of the Christian section cemetery.

For the non-Christian section, a Stone of Remembrance was erected.

The cemetery was designed by J.H. Ingram as permanent maintenance is not feasible for graves from numerous temporary burial grounds and from village and other civil cemeteries