Kilchoman Military Cemetery

A mournful burial ground on the west coast of Islay, Argyll and Bute, the Kilchoman Military Cemetery represents the last resting place of the victims of the sinking of HMS Otranto which went down on 6th October 1918 in Machir Bay following a collision. The cemetery contains 74 graves; 71 from the Otranto (of whom 43 remain unidentified) and 3 other casualties brought from elsewhere. The grave markers are identical, except for the captain of the ship who has a more ornate plot. A large memorial cross stands on the seaward side of the cemetery.

The remains of the American troops being carried by the ship were also once buried here, but in 1920 the US Government exhumed the bodies and these were either repatriated or reburied in the American military cemetery at Brookwood in Surrey.

The cemetery is maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.


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