The island of Hong Kong fell to the Japanese on Christmas Day 1941 following a brief but intense period of fighting. Most of those buried in this cemetery were killed at this time, or died later as internees or prisoners of war during the Japanese occupation. The remains of those who died as prisoners in Formosa (now Taiwan) were brought to Hong Kong for burial at Sai Wan in 1946. There are now 1,505 Commonwealth casualties of the Second World War buried or commemorated at Sai Wan War Cemetery. 444 of the burials are unidentified. There are special memorials to 16 Second World War casualties buried in Kowloon (Ho Man Tin) No 3 Muslim Cemetery, whose graves were lost. There are also 77 war graves of other nationalities from this period, the majority of them Dutch and 7 non-world war graves that the Commission maintains on behalf of the MoD. The cemetery contains special memorials to 12 First World War casualties buried in Kowloon (Ta Sek Ku) Mohammedan Cemetery, whose graves have since been lost. At the entrance to the cemetery stands the SAI WAN MEMORIAL bearing the names of more than 2,000 Commonwealth servicemen who died in the Battle of Hong Kong or subsequently in captivity and who have no known grave. Additional panels to the memorial form the SAI WAN CREMATION MEMORIAL, bearing the names of 144 Second World War casualties whose remains were cremated in accordance with their faith, and the SAI WAN (CHINA) MEMORIAL, commemorating 72 casualties of both wars whose graves in mainland China could not be maintained. Both the cemetery and memorial were designed by Colin St Clair Oakes.

Number of Identified Casualties: 1144