QUICK TAKE | Why Cairo’s Heliopolis Cemetery Bears the Names of Over 3,700 Indian Soldiers. Seven Things to Know

1. Who is remembered at Heliopolis?

The Heliopolis (Port Tewfik) Memorial commemorates more than 3,700 men who served in the British Indian Army and died in Egypt and Palestine during World War I. Their names are recorded at the cemetery entrance so they can be remembered even though their burial places are unknown.

2. Why is a memorial named after a Suez port in Cairo?

The original memorial was built at Port Tewfik, at the southern end of the Suez Canal, in 1926. It was destroyed during fighting between Egypt and Israel in the 1970s. The names are now commemorated at Heliopolis in Cairo.

3. Why did the cemetery itself open in 1941?

Cairo was a major hospital centre in World War II. Heliopolis War Cemetery opened in October 1941 for burials from those hospitals, which treated many of the sick and wounded from the Western Desert campaigns. After the war, 125 graves were transferred there from Mena Camp Military Cemetery.

4. How far from home did Indian troops serve?

Around 15 lakh Indians served in the British Indian Army during World War I. They were deployed across Europe, Africa and the Middle East. The names in Cairo record the cost of the campaigns in Egypt and Palestine.

5. Why did Modi pay tribute to more than 4,300 soldiers there?

When Narendra Modi visited in June 2023, his tribute covered Indian soldiers who died in Egypt and Aden. Heliopolis houses a separate Aden Memorial at the rear of the cemetery, along with the Port Tewfik memorial at the entrance.

6. Why did the timing of Goyal’s visit matter?

He visited three days after Armistice Day. November 11 marks the 1918 ceasefire that ended fighting on the Western Front. The memorial in Cairo recalls the Indian soldiers who died on other fronts in the same war.

7. What took Goyal to Egypt?

He is due to co-chair the seventh India–Egypt Joint Trade Committee meeting in Cairo on November 15 with Egyptian minister Mohamed Farid Saleh. His official programme also includes a business forum focused on trade, investment and joint ventures.