Debt of Honour Register In Memory of A BAGGARLEY Private 6685 2nd
Battalion Dorsetshire Regiment
who died on Tuesday 27 March 1917 . Age 32 .
Additional Information: Son of Emma Baggarley, of 78, Pownall Rd.,
Queen's Rd., Dalston, London, and the late Benjamin Baggarley.
Cemetery: BAGHDAD (NORTH GATE) WAR CEMETERYIraq
Grave or Reference Panel Number: XXI. Y. 2.
Location: Baghdad (North Gate) War Cemetery is 800 metres beyond the
North Gate of the City of Baghdad on the south-eastern side of the road
to Baguba.
Visiting Information: THE COMMISSION STRONGLY ADVISES THAT THE FOREIGN
AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE SHOULD BE CONTACTED BEFORE ATTEMPTING TO VISIT
IRAQ. Their details are as follows: Travel Advice Unit Consular Division
Foreign and Commonwealth Office Old Admiralty Building London SW1A 2AF
Tel: 0207 008 0232/0233 Fax: 0207 008 0164 Website: http://www.fco.gov.uk
Opening Times: Monday to Friday 09.30 - 16.00
Historical Information: In 1914, Baghdad was the headquarters of the
Turkish Army in Mesopotamia. It was the ultimate objective of the Indian
Expeditionary Force 'D' and the goal of the force besieged and captured
at Kut in 1916. The city finally fell in March 1917, but the position
was not fully consolidated until the end of April. Nevertheless, it had
by that time become the Expeditionary Force's advanced base, with two
stationary hospitals and three casualty clearing stations. The North
Gate Cemetery was begun In April 1917 and has been greatly enlarged
since the end of the First World War by graves brought in from other
burial grounds in Baghdad and northern Iraq, and from battlefields and
cemeteries in Anatolia where Commonwealth prisoners of war were buried
by the Turks. At present, 4,142 Commonwealth casualties of the First
World War are commemorated by name in the cemetery, many of them on
special memorials. Unidentified burials from this period number 2,729.
The cemetery also contains the grave of Lieutenant General Sir Stanley
Maude, Commander-in-Chief of the Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force, who
died at Baghdad in November 1917 and the memorial to the 13th Division
which he commanded. A memorial to the 6th Battalion Loyal (North
Lancashire) Regiment was brought into the cemetery from the banks of the
Diyala River in 1947. During the Second World War, Baghdad was again an
objective of Commonwealth forces. The 20th Indian Infantry Brigade
reached the city from Shaiba by the Euphrates route on 12 June 1941 and
the 21st Indian Infantry Brigade, part of the 13th Duke of Connaught's
Own Lancers, together with the 157th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery,
arrived on 19 June via the Tigris. An advanced base was established
later near the city and remained in use until 1946. Most of the 296
Commonwealth servicemen of the Second World War buried in the cemetery
died of illness or by accident when serving with PAIFORCE. Again, a
number of the graves were brought in from other burial grounds. Within
the cemetery is the Baghdad (North Gate) (Khanaqin) Memorial,
commemorating 104 Commonwealth and 439 Polish servicemen of the Second
World War buried in Khanaqin War Cemetery which, owing to difficulty of
access, could not be properly maintained. A memorial has also been
erected at Khanaqin. The North Gate Cemetery also contains 127 war
graves of other nationalities from both wars, 100 of them Turkish, and
41 non-war graves.
Albert's Heritage
Parents: Benjamin Baggarley, Emma
Siblings: Emma Baggarley, Alice Baggarley, Jane Baggarley