South Africa War Graves Project

Cemetery	SA War Dead #	SA serving in Non-SA units War Dead #	Rhodesia War Dead (includes Non-Rhodesia Units) #	Total	Status - Complete, Underway, Part Done	Volunteer
Addis Ababa War Cemetery	68	3	8	79	Complete	Markus and Gail Rothlin
Dire Dawa African War Cemetery	2	.	2	4	.	.
Harar War Cemetery	.	.	1	1	.	.

Take the road from the airport to Dire Dawa. Go past the Ministry of Mining and Oil Exploration and St. Mary's church on the right. Cross the railway track, and then turn left at end of central reservation on to the road with Catholic Cemetery on right hand side and Public Court compound on left. Take the next right and the Commission cemetery is immediately on right behind large metal gates. When Italy entered the war in June 1940, Ethiopia, which had been part of the Italian East African empire since 1936, became a threat to British positions in Egypt and the link by sea to the Far East and Australasia. Commonwealth forces took up defensive positions on Ethiopia's borders with Sudan to the west and Kenya to the south, and in mid-December 1940, after initial skirmishes with the Italians, the first of a series of offensives was launched from Kenya. A strike east into Italian Somaliland secured the coastal port of Mogadishu in February 1941 which made possible an advance into the heart of Ethiopia. Within a month Harar had been taken and Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, was captured early in April, allowing the deposed Emperor Heile Selassie to return in May. Diminished Italian forces continued to withdraw north and the East African campaign in Ethiopia was not concluded until the end of November 1941 with the surrender of the last concentration of Italian forces at Gondar. Dire Dawa African War Cemetery contains 70 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War, five of which are unidentified. The are also three special memorials to airmen of the Royal Air Force who were originally buried in the civil cemetery at Dire Dawa but whose graves are now lost.

ABRAHAMS, Private, ABOBAKER, M/12826. Indian and Malay Corps, S.A. Forces. 25th January 1942. B. 1

DYSEN, Private, MOORA, M/12845. Indian and Malay Corps, S.A. Forces. 1st April 1942. B. 4

CHISONI MWALE, Private, NRA/14932. 5th Bn. Northern Rhodesia Regiment. 10th June 1943. A. 5.

KAYUGIRA MUGERA, Private, N/15589. Northern Rhodesia Regiment. 18th June 1943. A. 7.

The cemetery is off the Dire Dawa - Harar road, and is approached via a winding series of medieval alleys. When Italy entered the war in June 1940, Ethiopia, which had been part of the Italian East African empire since 1936, became a threat to British positions in Egypt and the link by sea to the Far East and Australasia. Commonwealth forces took up defensive positions on Ethiopia's borders with Sudan to the west and Kenya to the south, and in mid-December 1940, after initial skirmishes with the Italians, the first of a series of offensives was launched from Kenya. A strike east into Italian Somaliland secured the coastal port of Mogadishu in February 1941 which made possible an advance into the heart of Ethiopia. Within a month Harar had been taken and Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, was captured early in April, allowing the deposed Emperor Heile Selassie to return in May. Diminished Italian forces continued to withdraw north and the East African campaign in Ethiopia was not concluded until the end of November 1941 with the surrender of the last concentration of Italian forces at Gondar. Harar War Cemetery contains 45 burials and commemorations of the Second World War. The graves of 40 casualties could not be precisely located in the cemetery and these men are commemorated by special memorial marked "Buried near this spot". There are also special memorials to eight casualties buried in the adjacent civil cemetery whose graves are now lost.

JAMES CHONGO, Private, NRA/10621. 5th Bn. Northern Rhodesia Regiment. 27th January 1942. Alternative Commemoration - buried in Harar Civil Cemetery. Spec. Memorial. Grave 3.