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You are here: Home / History / There’s Some Corner Of A Foreign Field

There’s Some Corner Of A Foreign Field

July 12, 2014 By Mike Sedgwick 4 Comments

“…That there’s some corner of a foreign field
That is for ever England…”

(Poem by Rupert Brooke)

A heavy tropical rainfall had snarled-up the traffic on the road so my driver took an unfamiliar detour. The narrow road twisted and turned alongside the river and was hemmed in by jungle trees and elephant grass. Here and there a space had been made for a small dwelling.

Visiting Pitakande Military Cemetery (Kandy War Cemetery) in Sri Lanka

Round yet another corner there was a clearing which looked familiar. It was orderly, trimmed and bordered by railings. Within was an unmistakable Cross of Sacrifice as designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield on its traditional octagonal base.

Surrounding there were rows of headstones from Portand marking the graves of 203 servicemen and one woman. We were passing Pitakande Military Cemetery, one of the 2500 Commonwealth War Grave Cemeteries. We determined to visit the site later.

Cross of Sacrifice, Pitakande Military Cemetery, Sri Lanka
Cross of Sacrifice, Pitakande Military Cemetery, Sri Lanka

November had arrived and we arranged to visit on the 11th day at the 11th hour. It was raining heavily again; we were the only visitors and we were conducted around by the groundsman. The servicemen buried there include Australians, Canadians, East Africans, Ceylonese, Indians and of course, the British.

There is the grave of an Italian prisoner of war; I wondered how he managed to be in Sri Lanka at that time. There are also a few Chinese who happened to be servicing Royal Navy ships.

The grounds are immaculate and follow the layout prescribed with Gertrude Jekyll’s influence shown in the planting. Even she would not have realised how large and colourful the poinsettias would be. The inscriptions on the headstones are traditional as advised by Rudyard Kipling. A separate section for Muslims had inscriptions in Arabic.

Headstones in the military Cemetery at Kandy, Sri Lanka.
Headstones in the military Cemetery at Kandy, Sri Lanka.

Sombre yet beautiful

It had not been easy to find poppies but we managed to obtain a small wreath. We laid them at the base of the cross and Sword of Honour and stood, entirely alone, in the steady rain.

We gazed from the cemetery, across the river to the jungle clad mountains beyond.

It was a beautiful, peaceful but melancholic moment.

I had not been aware that Sri Lanka, then called Ceylon, had seen any action in World War II. After the fall of Singapore, Ceylon became the headquarters of the British fleet in the Far East. Colombo and Trincomalee had become important harbours and Lord Louis Mountbatten was Commander in Chief with an HQ in the Botanical Gardens of Kandy.

ROYAL AIR FORCE OPERATIONS IN THE FAR EAST, 1941-1945. Air Command, South East Asia, Kandy, Ceylon. © IWM (CI 1571)
A view of the buildings at Headquarters, Allied Air Command, South East Asia, Kandy, Ceylon.
© IWM (CI 1571)

The sinking of HMS Hermes in 1942

On Easter Sunday, 5th April 1942, the Japanese launched a pre-emptive air strike on Colombo Harbour and a week later on Trincomalee. It was a successful raid for them as they sank an aircraft carrier and several other ships. The allied air defences were disorganised and ineffectual.

However a Canadian, Squadron Leader Leonard J Birchall was hero of the hour as he spotted the Japanese aircraft carriers while on a reconnaissance flight in a Catalina. He managed to get a message back before being shot down; he survived the war. The Royal Navy was able to disperse its ships but without air cover, many, including the aircraft carrier HMS Hermes were sunk.

The Japanese had prevented any counter-attack on Singapore and secured their shipping lanes from Singapore to Rangoon.

HMS Hermes, the world's first purpose built aircraft carrier, sinking off Ceylon in 1942
HMS Hermes, the world’s first purpose built aircraft carrier, sinking off Ceylon in 1942

This happened over 70 years ago and few relatives of the fallen make their way to the graves. The groundsman keeps a record of all the visitors and our names are inscribed in his ledger.

VJ Day parade at Columbo, Ceylon. Lord Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander, South East Asia, takes the salute during the VJ Day Parade on the Galle Face Green, Columbo, Ceylon. © IWM (SE 4578)
VJ Day parade at Columbo, Ceylon. Lord Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander, South East Asia, takes the salute during the VJ Day Parade on the Galle Face Green, Columbo, Ceylon.
© IWM (SE 4578)

The Soldier

If I should die, think only this of me:
That there’s some corner of a foreign field
That is for ever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,
A body of England’s, breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.
And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
A pulse in the eternal mind, no less
Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;
Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;
And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,
In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.

Rupert Brooke

Post Series: Dispatches from Sri Lanka, by Mike Sedgwick:

  • Dispatches From Sri Lanka
  • Kandy Lake vs Chandler’s Ford Lakes
  • Self-Employment In Sri Lanka
  • Sri Lankan Wedding
  • Sri Lankan Food
  • There’s Some Corner Of A Foreign Field
  • The Cultural Triangle of Sri Lanka
  • This Is the Record Of John
  • Tuk-tuk: My Transport Of Delight
  • Life On The Road
  • Commonwealth Games In Kandy
  • A Temple For A Tooth?
  • Dawn Train Down The Mountain To Colombo
  • Traditional And Modern Medicine in Sri Lanka
  • Ancient Vedda Tribe Becoming Extinct
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Self-Employment In Sri Lanka Poisonous snakeThe Cultural Triangle Of Sri Lanka Devout Buddhist in Sri Lanka.A Temple For A Tooth? Dawn Train Down The Mountain To Colombo Ancient Vedda Tribe Becoming Extinct
Tags: culture, education, history, memory, Sri Lanka, storytelling, travel, war memorial

About Mike Sedgwick

Retired, almost. Lived in Chandler's Ford for 20 years. Like sitting in the garden with a beer on sunny days. Also reading, writing and flying a glider. Interested in promoting science.

I work hard as a Grandfather and have a part time job in Kandy, Sri Lanka for the winter months. Married to a beautiful woman and between us we have two beautiful daughters and 3 handsome sons.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. GLYNNE JONES says

    March 9, 2015 at 7:20 pm

    Our (I have TWO older brothers) uncle is interred at Pitakande Military Cemetery.

    I never knew him, being born 1940. He was away in the RAF and died Nov 10th 1945 in Ceylon.

    It was very pleasing to see how well the cemetery is being kept. Quite an emotional moment actually.

    There is a memorial plaque in the local chapel, Porth, Rhondda where he was born and lived.

    Reply
    • Mike Sedgwick says

      March 9, 2015 at 7:59 pm

      Glynne Jones
      It really is a beautiful place. We have been there again since and will no doubt visit again next time we are in Kandy in November.
      Just across the road from the cemetery you can go down steps to the river bank and enjoy a cool beer beside the water.
      If you let me know your uncle’s name, I expect the groundsman could take us straight to the grave. There is another military and civilian cemetery there in another part of town. It has the graves of the military and governors from 1815 when the Brits first got a foothold in Kandy.

      Reply
  2. Hugh Karunanayake says

    July 10, 2017 at 10:52 pm

    Are you any relation of Wendy Sedgwick whose parents/g parents were well known planters in the Moneragala District-the Gourlays. If so please would you send me Wendy’s contact details as I just discovered a family photo which may interest her.
    Hugh

    Reply

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  1. From The Fall Of Singapore To Prosperity - Chandler's Ford Today says:
    July 12, 2014 at 2:30 pm

    […] Singapore was supposed to be an impregnable fortress. […]

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