Massicault War Cemetery

• Country Tunisia
• Total identified casualties 1447 Find these casualties
• Identified casualties from Second World War
• GPS Coordinates Latitude: 36.72199, Longitude: 9.9105

Location information

Massicault War Cemetery is approximately 30 kilometres south-west of Tunis on Route GP5 to Medjez-el-Bab. GPS Co-ordinates: N 36° 43' 12", E 09° 54' 44"

Visiting information

ARRIVAL

All routes to the cemetery are signposted.

PARKING

There is no car park at the cemetery, but there is a small concrete area in front of the cemetery gates with space for two cars.

ACCESS, LAYOUT AND MAIN ENTRANCE

The cemetery is a large square shape, constructed on the side of a hill. The cemetery slopes upwards, away from the main entrance.

There is a low-level metal gate at the main entrance, approximately 1.5 metres wide, with no step changes from the parking area into the cemetery.

Towards the top part of the cemetery the Cross of Sacrifice stands in a central position. On both sides of the Cross of Sacrifice are two stone shelters with stone pergolas, all on an elevated grass platform, with stone floors inside the shelters. The upper area is accessed up stone steps from numerous locations in front of the Cross and shelters.

Access to the shelters without steps is possible by entering the pergola area at the far right of the cemetery and entering by the back side of the pergola.

The cemetery has a Register Box located in the shelter building to the right of the Cross of Sacrifice. The register and Visitors book are not available to view outside of gardener’s working hours. Please see Additional Information.

There are seating areas with stone benches on either side of the cemetery, level with the main entrance. There are stone benches on either side of the cemetery just below the elevated area, as well as stone benches inside the shelter buildings.

ALTERNATIVE ACCESS

There is no alternative entrance or access into the cemetery.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The cemetery remains unlocked and is permanently open.

The Register is only available to view during the gardener’s working hours, please see below for details:

SUMMER

July and August Mon to Thu 0630 to 1430

Fri 0630 to 1330

WINTER

September to June Mon to Thu 0700 to 1200 1300 to 1700

Fri 0700 to 1200 1300 to 1600

RAMADAN Mon to Fri 0700 to 1400

History information

In May 1943, the war in North Africa came to an end in Tunisia with the defeat of the Axis powers by a combined Allied force.

The campaign began on 8 November 1942, when Commonwealth and American troops made a series of landings in Algeria and Morocco. The Germans responded immediately by sending a force from Sicily to northern Tunisia, which checked the Allied advance east in early December. Meanwhile, in the south, the Axis forces defeated at El Alamein were withdrawing into Tunisia along the coast through Libya, pursued by the Allied Eighth Army.

By mid April 1943, the combined Axis force was hemmed into a small corner of north-eastern Tunisia and the Allies were grouped for their final offensive.

Many of those buried at Massicault War Cemetery died in the preparation for the final drive to Tunis in April 1943 and in that advance at the beginning of May.

The cemetery contains 1,576 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War, 130 of them unidentified.