Mazargues War Cemetery, Marseilles

• Country France
• Total identified casualties 1742 Find these casualties
• Region Bouches-du-Rhone
• Identified casualties from First & Second World War
• GPS Coordinates Latitude: 43.2491, Longitude: 5.40531

Location information

Marseilles is the chief town in the Department of the Bouches-du-Rhone. Mazargues is a southern suburb (the 9th Arrondissement), some 6 kilometres from the centre of Marseilles. The cemetery is located 200 metres south of the 'Rond-Point de Mazargues' on the main road (the D559) to Toulon via Cassis. The address of the cemetery is No.24 Avenue General de Lattre de Tassigny.

Visiting information

ARRIVAL

The cemetery is signposted. The Cemetery is located to the north of Mazargues Civil Cemetery.

PARKING

Approximately 125 metres south of the main entrance gate, on the D559, is a layby parking area with space for multiple vehicles.

A further parking area is a car park on the opposite side of the road D559, south of the cemetery, approximately 200 metres from the main entrance. There is a pedestrian crossing opposite the main entrance for those visitors who use this car park.

The ground is flat and firm with a concrete or tarmac surface.

There is a dedicated concrete footpath along the side of the road, separated with a raised concrete kerb.

ACCESS LAYOUT AND MAIN ENTRANCE

The main entrance gate to the cemetery is over 2 metres wide with tall (over 2 metre high, black metal gates). The gates have twist and turn handles in the middle of the 2 panels; the gates open into cemetery.

There are three stone steps up to the main gate from the pavement and three stone steps on the inside of the main gate going down to a circular paved area leading into the cemetery.

The Register Box is mounted into the left-hand side pillar inside the main entrance.

The Cross of Sacrifice is located just inside the cemetery at the main entrance.

There is a large stone memorial building at the rear of the cemetery, with stone bench seating areas under the shelter of the roof. Three steps lead up to the interior of the building from either end of the shelter.

There is a wooden bench along the southern side of the cemetery, against the wall separating the cemetery from the civil cemetery.

All internal paths are stone paving or grass. The cemetery has several ornamental water features next to the paths and among the sculptured garden areas of the cemetery.

The water feature stone boundaries are approximately 200 to 300 mm higher than the grass. The paving around the Stone of Remembrance located in front of the memorial building at the rear of the cemetery is level with the water feature surrounding the Stone of Remembrance, with no barriers between the steps down to the water.

ALTERNATIVE ACCESS

To the left of the main entrance is the service entrance, there is a 3.5 metre wide, tall green metal gate. The gate may be locked and during working hours, cemetery staff may be available to open the gate. Step-free access into the cemetery is possible through the paved service area.

There is an additional access into the cemetery, through a door in the wall of the civil cemetery. A green metal door, approximately 1 metre wide opens outwards into the civil cemetery. The door is in the southern boundary wall, approximately 70 metres from the main road, close to the pathway running in front of the Stone of Remembrance and memorial building. There is a narrow metal doorknob that is turned counterclockwise to open. There are five deep steps leading down into the cemetery. The ground drops off either side of the steps

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The cemetery is open Monday to Friday 0830 hrs to 1700 hrs.

Due to vandalism in the area, the cemetery is closed outside working hours.

Access into the cemetery on weekends is possible through the alternate entrance from the civil cemetery.

History information

Marseilles was the Base of the Indian troops in France during the 1914-18 war and throughout the War the Royal Navy, the Merchant Navy, British troops and Labour units worked in the port or passed through it.

Four of the town cemeteries were used, in the main, for the burial of officers and men of the Commonwealth forces who died at Marseilles. At ST. PIERRE CEMETERY, on the East side of the town, the bodies of Hindu soldiers and labourers were cremated in 1914-16. LE CANET OLD CEMETERY and LE CANET NEW CEMETERY, on the North side, were in 1917-19, the places of burial for Indian soldiers and Indian, Egyptian and Chinese labourers.

MAZARGUES CEMETERY, on the South-East side, was used less in the War, but before the Armistice an Extension was made, to which were removed, a little later, the bodies or ashes from the four Town cemeteries and from PORT ST. LOUIS-DU-RHONE COMMUNAL CEMETERY.

There are now 1,487, 1914-18 and 267, 1939-45 war casualties commemorated in this site. 205 of the Indian casualties, who were cremated, are commemorated on a memorial at the rear of the cemetery. The Mazargues Indian Memorial was unveiled by Field Marshal Sir William Birdwood in July 1925. In addition, 8 members of the Egyptian Labour Corps, who were buried in Le Canet New Communal Cemetery at the time, but whose graves were later lost, are commemorated on a stone tablet on the left hand wall of the war cemetery.

The cemetery covers an of 9,021 square metres.