Page 149 - Wish Stream Year of 2017

One of the few Crimean War graves marked by a stone
For those who were probably only commemo- rated with perishable wooden crosses and/ or buried elsewhere the large obelisk serves a potent and striking memorial. Carved into the stone is written:
“To the memory of the Officers and Men of the British Army and Navy who in the war against Russia in 1854, 1855 and 1856 died for their country this monument was erected by Queen Victoria and her people.”
The same inscription is translated on the three remaining sides of the obelisk into French, Ital- ian and Turkish – the languages of the allies with whom Britain fought the war. Known at the time as the Scutari Monument it was designed by Baron Carlo Marochetti (1805-1867) and consists of a granite obelisk on a square base with four identical angels on its upper part, each bearing a palm frond and a wreath, and serving as cary- atids to support a canopy. The memorial was the result of a government commission. Marochetti designed it in the fashionable Egyptian style of the time, and his model of it was unveiled with great fanfare at the Peace Fête of May 1856, held at the Crystal Palace at Sydenham, to mark the end of the Crimean War. The unveiling took place in the presence of the Queen and Prince Albert, with massed military bands, the Crystal Palace band (including stringed instruments) and 12,000 visitors in attendance. There was much cheering as the royal party descended from the
The author laying a RMA Sandhurst wreath at the Haidar Pasha Memorial
dais to the playing of “Rule Britannia.” The tough granite has weathered well and the definition of the features is still very sharp. On the south side of the pedestal is a plaque cast by the British residents in Turkey to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s work in the area (see picture).
A monument within the cemetery commemo- rates servicemen who died in the British Naval hospital at Therapia (Tarabya), and was brought here with the graves of 18 members of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines. German officers who fell fighting alongside British forces during the war are commemorated by the Jäger memorial obelisk, near the entrance to the cemetery.
Civilian Section
A large section of the cemetery is given over to British civilians who seem to be mostly associ- ated with the diplomatic and business communi- ties. Civilian use began in 1867 and continues up to the present day. Several graves are of British nationals who served in the Ottoman army. The image here of a Celtic cross bears the name of Lieutenant General James Maurice Frost Pasha of the Imperial Ottoman Artillery. Frost was born in Aberdeen in 1838 and was a skilful engineer in the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich. His prowess resulted in his being recommended to the Sul- tan of Turkey as an artillery advisor. He then fol- lowed a successful career in the Turkish Arsenal at Constantinople.
HISTORICAL 147