Walker's Ridge Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery Explained

Walker's Ridge
Body:Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Use Dates:Aug–Dec 1915
Established:1915
Coordinates:40.2417°N 26.2882°W
Total:92
Unknowns:12
By Country:Allied Powers
By War:World War I

92

Source: Battlefields 14–18

Walker's Ridge Cemetery is a small Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery located near Suvla Bay in Turkey. It contains the remains of Allied soldiers killed during the Battle of Gallipoli.

It was constructed on a spur which was named by the occupying troops after the headquarters of the New Zealand Infantry Brigade, under the command of Brigadier-General Harold Walker, which was located there. The cemetery was formed during the occupation in 1915 and is divided into two plots 20 metres apart and originally separated by a trench.

Notable graves

Amongst the graves is that of 23-year-old Trooper Harold Rush of the 10th Australian Light Horse regiment. Rush was in the third wave of troops to charge Turkish trenches at the battle of the Nek on 7 August 1915. Seeing that previous two waves had been slaughtered, just before his wave attacked he turned to a fellow soldier and said "Goodbye Cobber, God bless you". His parents had these last words recorded on his grave marker.

References