Views from the Cemetary
to the south
to the southeast

to the southwest
to the west
to the east

Views in the Cemetary
the memorial cross

the first level
inside the entrance

plaque

Major Pope

Lt.Col.

During the Sicily Campaign, the Eighth Army sustained 11,843 casualties, killed, wounded or taken prisoner. The Canadian war dead numbered 562 from all services. Of these 506 are interred in Sicily.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission which is charged with maintaining the graves of Commonwealth war dead created the Agira Canadian War Cemetery to place at one site the Canadian War dead of the Sicily campaign whose bodies were not repatriated to Canada for burial. With the exception of 12 Canadians who are buried at the Commonwealth Cemetery in Catania and 4 who are buried at Commonwealth Cemetery in Syracuse, all other Canadian war dead from the campaign are buried at Agira. There are 490 Canadians buried at the Agira cemetery. This cemetary contains only Canadians and is know as the Agira Canadian War Cemetary. It is the only exclusively Canadian War Cemetery in Italy.

The cemetery is located on the crest of Monte Campanelli the first hill to the east of, and dominated by, the medieval town of Agira. The geographic co-ordinates of the cemetery are N 37 deg 39.375 min, E 14 deg 32.967 min. The above photograph shows the view at the entrance of the cemetary.

The cemetary can be reached by taking the A19 motorway west from Catania towards Palermo. Take the Catenanuova exit and follow the signposts to Regalbuto, then pass Regalbuto, going in the direction of Agira. As you approach Monte Capanelli the pines of the cemetary stand alone as a green patch on a hilltop in an otherwise largely untreed and (at this time of year) brownish countryside. If one approaches from the west the view is similar, with the pines again standing out against the background.

The cemetary is located a few hundred feet off of highway 121. The geogrpahic co-ordinates of the cemetary are N 37 degrees, 39.375 minutes, E 14 degrees, 32.967 minutes.

These pictures and descriptions were taken on a visit to the cemetery on 19 May 1998. We made our visit to see the grave of a childhood friend of my father's, Robert Gunn (Robbie) Nicoll.