Taiping War Cemetery

The Taiping War Cemetery lies east of the town centre and is maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. The graves are arranged in long quiet rows under tall trees, and the site is kept in immaculate condition — green, orderly, and very still. It holds 865 graves, the majority of men who died during the Malayan Campaign of 1941-42, when Japanese forces swept down the peninsula and captured Taiping in December 1941.

Many of the men buried here died not in combat but from disease and mistreatment in the internment camp that the Japanese established in Taiping during the occupation. The cemetery is open to visitors at any time and takes no more than 30 minutes to walk through, but it is a sobering and worthwhile stop. A register of those buried here is maintained at the entrance gate.

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A story
The Taiping War Cemetery contains the graves of 865 Allied servicemen killed during the Malayan Campaign of 1941-42 and the subsequent Japanese occupation. Among those buried here are men from Britain, India, Malaya, and Australia, many of whom died not in battle but in the brutal conditions of the Taiping internment camp that the Japanese established in the town during the occupation.