United Nations Memorial Cemetery

The only United Nations cemetery in the world, this memorial cemetery in Korea is a burial ground for United Nations Command casualties of the Korean War.

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Korean War

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Honouring the fallen

In January 1951, various battlefield cemeteries that had grown up behind the lines were concentrated at Tanggok, a suburb of Busan. The land for the cemetery was granted to the United Nations by the Republic of Korea as a tribute to all those who had laid down their lives in combating aggression and in upholding peace and freedom. There are national sections marked by flags, and the graves have permanent headstones, each with a bronze plaque bearing the name and unit of the deceased.

Canadian sacrifice

There are 2,300 servicemen buried in the United Nations Memorial Cemetery. Of these, 1,588 were Commonwealth soldiers, including 376 Canadians.

Unknown soldiers commemorated

A stone memorial with bronze panels was erected to commemorate Commonwealth soldiers who died and whose burial places are unknown. Twenty-one Canadians are listed on the bronze plaques of the memorial on which the following inscription appears:

On this memorial are inscribed the names of men from Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa who died in the Korean War and have no known grave. They died with men of other countries fighting to uphold the ideals of the United Nations.

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