Nanyuki War Cemetry
24th June 2022
To conclude their unit on World War Two in History, the Year 8s visited the Nanyuki War Cemetery this week. This is part of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, and contains the graves of about 250 soldiers who fought in or for East Africa, predominantly during World War Two.
The students were fortunate to be joined by Padre Nick Todd from BATUK, who shared with them a wealth of information about the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and its history, and about the Nanyuki Cemetery in particular. The students also spent a lot of time looking at the graves, and noticing interesting features on the tombstones and the reasons the well-maintained cemetery is arranged the way it is.
One of the aspects that children found most surprising was the fact that soldiers are buried with the regiment they fought under, rather than according to their rank - privates lie alongside senior officers. Also, there are a range of religions represented, but all the tombstones are designed to appear the same - they are all made from English limestone shipped to Kenya. One interesting section contains the bodies of four South African pilots who crashed on Mt Kenya in the 1940s, which were only recently recovered from the mountain.
The students were extremely respectful and engaged, and a minute’s silence at the end, along with the traditional readings, was a fitting end to their World War Two studies. Thank you to Padre Todd for his time.
