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| General view of the cemetery in Haidar Pasha Cemetery, Istanbul. |
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| Crimean Memorial in Haydarpasa Cemetery, Istanbul. |
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| O'Conor Memorial Chapel in Haidar Pasha Cemetery, Istanbul. |
Can you tell the relationship between two countries by
graveyards of fallen soldiers? When you set foot on the Haydarpaşa Cemetery in
Istanbul and see the tombstones of British soldiers, you can. Indeed, pointing out to the fluidity of diplomatic alliances, Georges
Young is to have said that in Haydarpaşa (located at the entrance of the
Bosphorus) you have British soldiers who died to close the Straits to Russians
while in Gallipoli they died trying to open them.
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| Born in Tripoli, died in Pera (Beyoğlu) in Istanbul as Her Majesty's Consul in Crete, truly British. |
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| History lessons from the Balkans: death in Shipka Pass today's Bulgaria during Russian-Ottoman War. |
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| Born in Pera, died in Bebek, lies in Haydarpaşa, not bad. |
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| She died in Büyükada, Istanbul and lies in Haydarpasa Cemetery. |
It all started with the Crimean War (1853-1856). The war is important for being one of the few
(possibly only) acts of British alliance with the Ottomans to stop the Russians from reaching out to warm seas. Further, the war
lasted 2,5 years and bankrupted the Ottoman state, literally. It led to the
establishment of a debt collection agency for the debts borrowed by the Ottoman
state payment of which lasted long after the establishment of the Republic of
Turkey. It led to sympathy for the Italians who rendered assistance to the
Allies and were soon to establish their unified Italy.
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| These English soldiers died in Istanbul during Occupation and lie in Haidar Pasa Cemetery. |
The cemetery was established for the burial of 6000
British soldiers who died in the Crimean War.
According to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, they apparently died
mostly as a result of the cholera epidemic. Their consolation may be that their
death was at least in the first organized military hospital in modern history that
was established by Florence Nightingale. The military hospital was in today’s Selimiye
military barracks imposing itself to the left of the cemetery on the hill with its
four towers. Apparently her presence led the media of the time to show interest
in the locale. There is also a memorial to her in the cemetery.
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| In the background is the Haydarpasa Train Station in Istanbul. |
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| Down the fence is the Haydarpaşa pier full of containers waiting shipment, Istanbul. |
The cemetery also holds more than 700 civilians. Judging by
their birth places such as Tripoli, Adrianapolis (today’s Edirne) and Brussels and place of death in Constantinople as a British citizen, they surely had interesting
life stories. The cemetery is interesting also for the history of Istanbul. The
tombstones use the old names of neighborhoods such as Pera (for Beyoğlu),
Prinkipo (Büyükada) and Therapia (Tarabya). You see that names such as Bebek
and Büyükdere didn’t change. You see Levantines with English roots from Izmir settling in next
door Moda such as the Whittalls. There is the tombstone of one
American, one German and even a French woman. When
looking at soldiers’ graves, I even learned that during the Crimean War there was a military camp in Demirciköy close to where I currently live that I have never heard of.
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| Loyal shipmates from HMS Imogene laid this in Haidar Pasha cemetery in Istanbul. |
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| HMS Actaeon's seman lying in Istanbul. |
Similarly, one sees merchant marine officers whose tombstones
were erected by their shipmates. In other words, it’s like every British subject between 1853
until today left a mark here. You learn names of war ships: HMS Devonshire, HMS
Actaeon, HMS Vulture. You get geography lessons from Crimea: Balklava, Shipka
Pass and Sevastopol. In addition, the graveyard has some 450 Commonwealth war dead of
both World Wars. 400 of them are from 1914-18. They apparently died in Turkey as prisoners
of war and some after occupation of Istanbul following the Armistice. Other graves
were brought from smaller cemeteries. Some were those whose bodies were washed
up on the Turkish coast during the Second World War who were taken prisoner of
war during operations in the Aegean but died while attempting to escape from
camps, awaiting transport to Germany and Italy. There are also Indians who were
cremated and other Muslims who died serving the British army. For more about them: click here. There are also
about 74 unidentified men. Tombstones have Masonic and Buddhist symbols and are also in German, Hungarian and French in addition to English.
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| His place of death Balaklava is in Crimea, today's Ukraine at Istanbul Haydarpaşa cemetery. |
The best way to get to the cemetery is by ferry from Karaköy near the Galata Bridge during which you can enjoy wonderful scenery.
Take the ferry to Kadıköy on the Asian side (be careful Karaköy and Kadıköy are
two different places). Take a taxi to Selimiye, and tell them to take you to the GATA military hospital. Once you are at the hospital, ask around, it is very close to the entry of the hospital. When I was walking around the cemetery I figured why old
people are so scared of dying in far away places. Few people can make it to
your grave, you are lying in a place alien to your life and surrounded by
unfamiliar sites. Luckily for the dead soldiers from the Crimean War, they are
at least lying in a spot they died for: at the entrance of the Bosphorus. For
the others, on their left side is the main train station of Istanbul (Asian
side) while on the right the busy pier with its maritime traffic. With train
travel and maritime business, it can’t get more English than that in Istanbul!
Rain is not guaranteed:-).
Special thanks to Commonwealth War Graves Commission
and Önder Kaya from Gezgin Dergisi.
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| He died at camp in Demirciköy in 1855 and lying in Haydarpaşa, Istanbul. |
