The British Military Cemetery
The British cemetery in Beersheba was built at the end of World War I. 1240 Anzac soldiers who were killed in World War I in the battle for Beersheba are buried there.
As far as the number of fallen soldiers is concerned, this is the largest British military
cemetery in Israel. 78.9% of the soldiers were from Britain, and the rest mainly from Anzac forces (Australia, New Zealand, and India). 54 of the soldiers were not identified. On their gravestones, you can read the following words, "The great war soldier, God knows his identity." The soldiers buried here include a Jewish officer, a son of the founder and owner of the largest dairy company in England. You can see a Magen David on his tombstone.
In the cemetery there is a tomb erected by the Turks for the eight citizens who were killed at the train station during the attack of a British airplane. Most of the victims were Jewish workers. When the plane crashed, it turned out that one of the pilots was a Rothschild.
The cemetery is designed symmetrically, as a large square of 8.6 acres, divided into four quarters by two main paths intersecting in the center and each quarter is divided into four quarters. In front of the main gate, there is a paved prayer area, and behind it there is a high stone wall with a stone cross. In 2017, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the battle for Beersheba, the government of Australia built a museum shaped as a giant horse head.
The Municipality of Beersheba holds a memorial ceremony every year on October 31st to honor the memory of those who fell in World War I. Important people from Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Turkey and Germany come to the memorial ceremony.
This year we celebrated 100th anniversary of the battle for Beersheba. This battle is known as the last successful horse battle in war history. It is interesting to note that thousands of horses were killed in the wartime in Beersheba and around it and only one returned home safe and sound.
