Quick answer
Heliopolis War Cemetery, in Cairo’s northeastern suburbs, is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery of the Second World War with around 1,700 burials, including Australians and New Zealanders who died in Cairo-area hospitals and base camps. It also holds the Heliopolis (Port Tewfik) Memorial to Indian soldiers of the First World War with no known grave. Entry is free; allow about an hour.
What is Heliopolis War Cemetery?
It is the main Commonwealth cemetery of the Second World War in Cairo, holding servicemen and women who died in the city's hospitals, depots and camps while the Western Desert, Greek, Crete and Middle East campaigns were fought. Egypt was the hub of the British Middle East Command from 1939, and Cairo filled with base units, training schools and general hospitals.
The Commission records around 1,700 Commonwealth burials here, plus a smaller number of war graves of other nationalities; take these as approximate and check the current figures on its site. Men badly wounded at El Alamein, Tobruk or in Greece were often evacuated to Cairo, and those who died there were buried at Heliopolis rather than near the battlefield.
What are the Australian and New Zealand connections?
Australians and New Zealanders are among those buried here, and Heliopolis itself has been bound up with the Anzac story since 1915. In the Second World War the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force had its main base at Maadi, south of Cairo, and New Zealand and Australian general hospitals operated in and around the city; soldiers, airmen and nurses who died in their care rest in this cemetery.
A generation earlier, the Heliopolis Palace Hotel served as No. 1 Australian General Hospital for the Gallipoli wounded, and the New Zealanders trained at Zeitoun camp nearby. Those First World War dead lie mostly at Cairo War Memorial Cemetery in Old Cairo. Our guide to the Anzacs in Egypt connects the two wars.
What do the Port Tewfik and Aden memorials commemorate?
The Heliopolis (Port Tewfik) Memorial names nearly 4,000 soldiers of the Indian Army who died in Egypt and Palestine in the First World War and have no known grave; the Heliopolis (Aden) Memorial names several hundred Commonwealth servicemen who died defending Aden in that war.
The original Port Tewfik Memorial stood at the southern end of the Suez Canal, near Suez, and was destroyed during the Arab–Israeli fighting along the canal in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The Commission then inscribed the names on new panels here, unveiled around 1980. Indian infantry and cavalry fought alongside the Light Horse and New Zealand Mounted Rifles in Sinai and Palestine, and Indian mule and mountain artillery units served at Gallipoli, so for many Anzac visitors this is a meaningful stop.
How do you get there?
Heliopolis is in Cairo's northeast, roughly 30–45 minutes from downtown and 15–20 minutes from the airport, depending on traffic. The cemetery sits among other burial grounds on the eastern side of the district, so give your driver the Commission's address and map location in advance.
Because it is so close to the airport, it works well on an arrival or departure day, or combined with the restored Baron Empain Palace, the centrepiece of the garden suburb the Belgian industrialist Édouard Empain founded in 1905. If you are visiting both war cemeteries in one day, allow about an hour's drive between Heliopolis and Old Cairo.
What will you see, and how do you find a grave?
Long rows of uniform pale headstones on watered lawns, a Cross of Sacrifice, and the memorial panels carrying thousands of names, all laid out to the Commission's standard design. Headstones are grouped in plots, each with a letter or number, and every grave has a reference such as plot, row and grave number that you can look up before you travel in the Commission's Find War Dead database.
Each stone carries the emblem of the man's country or regiment, so the Rising Sun badge of the Australian forces and the fern of New Zealand are easy to pick out. Many Australian and New Zealand families added a short personal inscription at the foot, chosen in the 1940s. Records at the Australian War Memorial, the National Archives of Australia and Auckland Museum's Online Cenotaph often add the unit, hospital and cause of death, which makes a visit far more personal.
Visiting: access, commemorations and etiquette
Entry is free, but access is through a gate that a caretaker may need to open, and you may be asked for your passport; check hours and arrangements before you go. The Commission's Find War Dead database gives every grave reference, and a register is usually kept at the site.
- Commemorations: Commonwealth embassies in Cairo mark Remembrance Day each November, and the Australian and New Zealand embassies hold an Anzac Day service in April; venue and public access vary by year, so ask the embassy.
- Respect: dress modestly, stay on paths, and keep photography discreet if others are present.
- Tributes: a poppy, a small wreath or a family photograph is fine to leave at a headstone.
- Weather: come early in the day from May to October, when Cairo regularly passes 35°C.
Check current travel advice on Smartraveller or SafeTravel, and our safety guide.
Heliopolis War Cemetery: FAQs
Are New Zealanders buried at Heliopolis War Cemetery?
Yes. New Zealand and Australian servicemen and nurses who died in Cairo during the Second World War are buried here. Auckland Museum’s Online Cenotaph and the CWGC Find War Dead database will confirm individual names.
Where is the Port Tewfik Memorial now?
The original memorial near Suez was destroyed during the conflicts of the late 1960s and early 1970s. The names it carried were re-inscribed on the Heliopolis (Port Tewfik) Memorial inside Heliopolis War Cemetery.
Is Heliopolis War Cemetery free to visit?
Yes. There is no entry fee. Opening is usually in daylight, but access arrangements change, so check before you go and carry your passport.
Can I visit on the way to Cairo airport?
Yes. The cemetery is about 15–20 minutes from the airport in normal traffic, so it fits well on an arrival or departure day. Allow plenty of buffer for check-in.
Which Cairo war cemetery has Gallipoli-era graves?
Mostly Cairo War Memorial Cemetery in Old Cairo, which holds the First World War dead from the Cairo hospitals of 1915–18.
