Page 57 - Who Was Sapper Brown

Note the gridded military camp and cemetery (incorrectly referred to as that of the 71st Royal Highland
Infantry / 20th Regiment of Foot by M Given in his 2004 thesis) to east of Mathiati.18 See modern map below

(2013) for comparison.

Location of Mathiatis Cemetery (marked by green circle with dot)

In subsequent correspondence on 4 November 1959 between the Governor of Cyprus and the Secretary
of State for the Colonies, detailing the financial position of each of the ‘English cemeteries’, the Governor

of Cyprus made this remark:

‘Mathiati. This very small plot of land (25 x 15 yards) is in an out-of-the-way part of the Nicosia district, and

according to a 1922 report contains only 2 graves [author’s emphasis]. The last record of any substantial
expenditure on it is dated 1923, when £38 was spent. It is nominally maintained by the Public Works

Department, but the amount expended annually must be very little. It is rarely visited by anyone, and it
seems hardly necessary to take it into much account. [author’s emphasis]’

It seems that the Governor of Cyprus was taken at his word. All further correspondence in the Colonial

Office files in The National Archives relating to the ‘English cemeteries’ in Cyprus makes no mention of
Mathiatis, but instead concentrates on the cemeteries containing graves maintained by the Imperial War

Graves Commission (renamed Commonwealth War Graves Commission on 1 April 1960).

The tiny cemetery at Mathiatis with its lone remaining grave of a British soldier has effectively been

airbrushed from the historical record since the independence of Cyprus, and lost to the memory of the
wider population – until now.

18 Given, M. (2004), ‘Maps, Fields, and Boundary Cairns: Demarcation and Resistance in Colonial Cyprus.’ International

Journal of Historical Archaeology Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 1 – 22. Original map by H H Kitchener (1885), reproduced from M Given’s
thesis. Spot heights in feet.

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