The war grave of Pilot Officer 40251 Cyril Brewe, 84 Squadron RAF, who died on Wednesday, 22 June 1921, aged 35, is located in Basra War Cemetery, Iraq, Grave II. N. 5. Basra lies on the west bank of the Shatt-al-Arab river, 90 kilometres from its mouth in the Persian Gulf. The cemetery is about 8 kilometres north-west of Basra.
Cyril, who was a native of Norton Canes, Cannock, was the husband of Annie S. Brewe, of Lilac Cottage, Washbrook Lane, Norton Canes, Cannock, Staffordshire. He had completed 18 years service military service by the time he died.
During the First World War, Basra was occupied by the 6th (Poona) Division in November 1914, from which date the town became the base of the Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force. A number of cemeteries were used by the MEF in and around Basra; Makina Masul Old Cemetery was used from December 1914 to October 1916 and the Makina Masul New Extension was begun alongside the old cemetery in August 1917. These two sites, enlarged later when more than 1,000 graves were brought in from other burial grounds, now form Basra War Cemetery. The cemetery now contains 2,551 burials of the First World War, 74 of them unidentified. The headstones marking these graves were removed in 1935 when it was discovered that salts in the soil were causing them to deteriorate. The names of those buried in the graves affected are now recorded on a screen wall.
Additionally, a memorial to Cyril is located at Bridgtown in Cannock, Staffordshire, England, on the crossroads of North Street and Longford Road. Doug Brew of Stafford, England, adds, Cyril was born on 23 February 1886. He later married and lived at Norton Canes. He enlisted into the newly formed Royal Air Force when the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Services merged, in April 1918. He enlisted at Eastchurch and became a Pilot Officer in 84 Squadron RAF. He lost his life three years later in the Middle East and is buried in Basra War Cemetery. He may have been related to the Brewe family who had a fruiterers shop in North Street a few years later. [See Brews Listed in Staffordshire Directories]
The following pictures are of Cyril Brewe's memorial in Bridgtown, Cannock. Click on an image to see an enlarged version.
© Photos taken by Doug Brew in January 2003