NARVIK NEW CEMETERY
Location Information
Narvik is a major port on the north west coast of Norway. Approaching from the south on the main E6 route follow this road through the town and over the railway bridge just past the tourist information centre on Rongensgate. The road bends sharply to the right then curves gently left. The cemetery is on the right side approximately 1 km past the bridge and the entrance is reached via a sliproad off the main road rising to a parking area outside the gates. From the entrance to the cemetery follow the main path for 70 metres to the second intersection and turn right. The Second World War plot is 30 metres straight ahead.
Historical Information
During the Second World War, Norway was of strategic importance to the Germans. Their invasion on 9 April 1940 was sudden and widespread and despite Allied intervention, the entire country was under German occupation by early June. Thereafter, Allied activity in Norway was confined to raids and special operations, with the Commonwealth air forces providing support to Norwegian resistance groups until the German capitulation in May 1945. There are no Commonwealth war cemeteries in Norway, those who died there being buried in civil cemeteries and churchyards. Narvik New Cemetery contains 34 Commonwealth burials, 24 of them seamen, the majority from HMS Hunter, who lost their lives in the First Battle of Narvik on 10 April 1940. Their graves were brought into this cemetery from scattered sites in the area. Seven burials are unidentified.