One man’s mission to campaign for cemetery restoration

This Remembrance Sunday, Ben Soppitt will commemorate his grandfather’s sacrifice at Basra War Cemetery in Iraq. He will be among the few who honor the many.

His small service will be a stark contrast to the large, solemn ceremony at the Cenotaph in London. Nor do the monuments in Iraq bear any resemblance to the carefully guarded war memorials and well-tended cemeteries throughout Europe.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) has “catastrophically failed” in its duty to honor the dead in Iraq, Ben Soppitt said. He says it “brings shame to the men and women who gave their lives in Iraq.”

More than 50,000 soldiers from the United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries lost their lives in Iraq in both World Wars. Many of these were those who died in the Mesopotamian Campaign during the First World War, in which British and Commonwealth troops fought against the Ottoman empire. And most of those who died were Indian citizens.

Ben Soppitt’s grandfather, Artilleryman Joseph Soppitt, is among those buried in the Basra War Cemetery. He died of dysentery in 1941 while British forces briefly fought there during the Second World War. His grave – like the nearly 3,000 other men buried there – has no official marker. Others buried there include Victoria Cross recipient George Wheeler and Sapper Harris Johnson Rampling, grandfather of actress Charlotte Rampling.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission cleared the site of all headstones after many were destroyed or fell into disrepair. There is a long-term plan to replace them, but the CWGC withdrew from Iraq for security reasons in the 1990s. Since then, the Basra War Cemetery has become a desolate wasteland used by locals to play football or throw garbage. Basra is not alone. There are more than a dozen such sites across the country.

Some areas withstood Iraq’s heat and dust better than others. Giant Basra War Memorial The nearby world’s third largest is still largely intact. It commemorates more than 40,000 soldiers. 7,385 people are named individually in the panels; These are all British personnel and Indian officers. However, the 3,256 Indian citizens serving in the ranks are listed only by unit and number.

The CWGC has promised to address this “memorial inequality” in favor of British citizens. “This historical mistake cannot be completed without addressing Indian losses in Iraq,” says Ben Soppit. He argues that this is another compelling reason why he should continue his studies there.

Over the past fortnight Ben Soppitt has visited many of the CWGC facilities in Iraq to honor the dead – but also to highlight what he believes the UK has failed to do the same. it happened He documented what he saw on social media.

He found that the CWGC facility in Mosul was in a similar situation to that in Basra.

“There is nothing left but the bases of the monuments and a few stones,” he wrote online. “If my opinion of CWGC was low before reaching a new depth”.

The Commonwealth War Grave Commission said it had detailed plans to restore the sites in Iraq. He says he is already carrying out some renovation work, but adds that “determining the right time to carry out the full restoration is a complex decision.” It is stated that one of the main determinations is safety and security in the region. This follows UK foreign office advice for Iraq, which currently advises against travel to the country. He says he informs the public about his work. on its website.

But there is clearly frustration with the pace of progress. Baroness Emma Nicholson also noted the state of CWGC facilities in Basra during one of her visits in 2007. He says he understands that as a government body, the CWGC must heed the State Department’s travel advice. But he adds that “they need to do more.”

For Ben Soppitt and his family, the campaign for the CWGC to do more is deeply personal. He hoped to visit the site of his grandfather’s grave in Basra with his own father. But now he passed away.

“I don’t plan on passing this on to my own sons,” Ben says. “That’s why I’m doing everything I can to ensure these men and women are properly remembered before I die.”