Freetown (King Tom) Cemetery
- Country Sierra Leone
- Total identified casualties 393 Find these casualties
- Identified casualties from First & Second World War
- GPS Coordinates Latitude: 8.49255, Longitude: -13.24653
Please note
Please bear the following in mind when considering visiting this cemetery:
Avoid visiting during the rainy season, between June and November.
There may be lizards present. It is important not to provoke or corner them, as they may bite.
The Gabian sea wall is at the far end of the site
Cemetery Spotlight - Freetown (King Tom) Cemetery
Set on the edge of the Atlantic at the north‑eastern shore of the King Tom Peninsula, Freetown (King Tom) Cemetery is one of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s most distinctive coastal sites.
Enclosed today by the old King Tom Dockyard, it sits only a short journey from central Freetown, yet feels far removed from that particular metropolis, a quiet, windswept space shaped as much by the ocean as by the memory it preserves.
The cemetery reflects Sierra Leone’s strategic importance in both world wars. During the Second World War, West African ports became vital to Allied convoy routes linking Britain with the Middle East, India, South Africa and South America.
By late 1942, coastal defence artillery had been installed across the region, and Freetown with its deep harbour and position on Atlantic shipping lanes, became a major naval base. Today, King Tom contains 248 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War, including two unidentified casualties, and 129 burials from the First World War.
A further 135 non‑war burials and 21 war graves of other nationalities lie in CWGC care, and a memorial within the cemetery commemorates 35 casualties whose graves elsewhere in Sierra Leone were deemed unmaintainable.
King Tom’s greatest challenge has always been its geography. The site sits just 10 metres above sea level, exposed to a hot, humid coastal climate with annual rainfall approaching 3,000 mm and temperatures typically between 23°C and 33°C. This combination of heavy rainfall, high humidity, and maritime exposure places constant pressure on the landscape.
That vulnerability became acute in 2016, when extreme rainfall and flash flooding destroyed the old sea defences. The cemetery was suddenly at risk of collapsing into the Atlantic. CWGC responded with one of its most complex engineering projects: a complete rebuild of the sea wall using rubble‑filled gabion baskets, designed to dissipate wave energy and stabilise the ground above. Completed in 2018, the new sea wall remains one of the defining features of the site’s long‑term preservation.
Horticulture at King Tom is shaped by three dominant forces: salt‑laden winds, intense seasonal rainfall, and low‑lying coastal soils. These conditions demand a horticultural approach that is resilient, adaptive, and deeply attuned to the rhythms of the environment.
The long rainy season, typically May to October, accelerates turf growth but also increases the risk of erosion, waterlogging, and fungal stress.
Regular mowing, edging, and aeration help maintain healthy turf, while careful monitoring of drainage channels prevents standing water from damaging root systems.
In the dry season, when humidity drops and soils harden, irrigation is used sparingly to avoid stressing the turf while conserving water.
Shrub pruning and border maintenance follow the seasonal cycle, with heavier work carried out before the rains to prevent vegetation from becoming overgrown or wind‑damaged.
Coastal soils in Freetown can be sandy, compacted, or prone to saturation. The team uses:
- Mulching to retain moisture and suppress weeds
- Organic composting to improve soil structure
- Regular clearing of drainage channels to prevent erosion and protect graves from runoff
These practices align with broader environmental challenges in Freetown, where drainage blockages and flooding are persistent issues.
Sustainability is increasingly central to cemetery management in Sierra Leone, where climate change, deforestation, and coastal erosion pose growing risks. Its preservation depends on engineering ingenuity, horticultural skill, and a deep respect for the dramatic environment in which it sits.
Every week, the team works against the challenges of salt, rain, wind, and shifting ground to maintain a place of dignity and calm amongst the climate, a coastal sanctuary where the memory of those who served is held with care and resilience.
CIVIL WAR TO CIVIL ENGINEERING
KING TOM WAR CEMETERY
Location: Freetown, Sierra Leone Language: English Altitude: 10m Rainfall: 2,945mm
Temperature: 23°c - 33°c Biggest challenge: Site at risk of collapsing into sea
“I spent most of Sunday morning lying on the floor of my room with the mattress propped against the window in case of flying glass. Throughout the morning there were repeated visits to the hotel from the rebel soldiers who shot at and robbed guests.”
This was the account of David Richardson, then a Commission horticulture manager, on a working visit to Freetown, Sierra Leone in 1997. Partway through his trip to oversee replanting and renovations at our war cemeteries, civil war broke out.
He and other foreign visitors were holed up in their hotel for days until UN planes were able to evacuate them.
Due to the sheer global scale of our work, world events occasionally impact us. Thankfully staff have never had as close a call as this since. The priority is always to ensure people’s safety. Stones and planting can be replaced. The long-term nature of our work allows us to bide our time when things become unsafe.
By the noughties a gradual return to Sierra Leone was possible.
Despite the forced absence, the main site in Freetown, King Tom Cemetery, was still in relatively good condition. Until a new threat emerged from the weather.
The old sea wall at King Tom Cemetery seen to be collapsing after flash flooding.
Record rainfall in 2016 saw a deluge of water hit the cemetery. The sea defences were destroyed and the site was at risk of collapsing into the ocean.
Against a backdrop of flooding and an outbreak of Ebola, we had to balance complex needs.
One option only considered in extreme circumstances, would have been to exhume the war dead away from the coast to higher ground.
But it would have been near impossible to get approval to dig up human remains during an epidemic, regardless of when they had died. Almost a quarter of the war dead buried in King Tom were killed by Spanish flu during the First World War. No one was going to question people’s nerves in the face of this new contagious disease – we had our own reminder of their costs.
“The mayor also told us the cemetery had become part of Freetown’s heritage. So we respected local wishes and stuck to an engineering solution,” said area director Rich Hills.
It took time, but an answer to the problem was found, as well as an excellent local partner to completely rebuild a brand new sea wall.
“It was one of the Commission’s most complicated engineering projects and we couldn’t have done it without local support. Making such a huge achievement in a country that we’d been evacuated from only a few decades earlier made it all the more poignant.”
The complicated rebuild begins.
The work went right up to the water's edge.
Preparing the metal baskets.
The rubble-filled baskets protect the ground above while dissipating the force of the waves.
King Tom's Cross of Sacrifice, now protected from collapse into the sea.
Workers celebrate the completion of the new sea defences in 2018.
Location information
Freetown (King Tom) Cemetery is enclosed by the old King Tom Dockyard, now the Police Mechanical Repair Workshop, on the north-eastern shore of King Tom Peninsula. It is about 10 minutes by taxi from the main centre of Freetown to the cemetery area.
Visiting information
Freetown (King Tom) Cemetery is open every day between 06:00 and 18:00.
History information
During the Second World War the four territories in West Africa - including Sierra Leone - became bases for recruiting and training men for the armed forces and their ports and harbours were of great value to convoys bound for the Middle East, India, South Africa and South America. By the end of 1942, coastal defence artillery had been installed and manned in all the principal West African ports. Freetown became a naval base.
FREETOWN (KING TOM) CEMETERY contains 248 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War, two of which are unidentified. There are also 129 First World War burials, many of them due to an epidemic of sickness in September - October 1918. The cemetery also contains 135 non-war burials and 21 war graves of other nationalities which are in the Commission's care.
A MEMORIAL located in Freetown (King Tom) Cemetery commemorates 35 casualties from both World Wars whose graves elsewhere in Sierra Leone were deemed unmaintainable.