About 17 years ago, and prior to my 2nd visit to Myanmar/Burma, I used various forums on the internet in order to collect data that would assist me with my proposed travel itinerary.
Information (up-to-date?) covering such topics as internal flights, accommodation facilities, exchange rates, transport via road/rail, general costs of meals etc, was very difficult to come-by but the responses I got from the various travel-forums was such that it gave me the confidence to move ahead with my visit.
Aside from receiving emails from fellow-travelers covering the above topics, I was surprised to receive an additional c40 emails requesting images of graves/names-on-memorials from the 3 CWGC cemeteries located inside Myanmar: Rangoon, Taukkyan and Thanbyuzayat. All these requests were from family members/relatives, historians and researchers and they all included comments such as;
…Is it possible that you could…
…If you visit such-and-such a cemetery could you possibly….
…His Mother/Father/Siblings have never seen an image of his grave/engraved name – could you possibly…
I’m pleased to say that I fulfilled all c40 requests and the experience in doing-so made me aware of how many people – unable to travel due to age, health, costs, family commitments, political restrictions – are desperate for such images. The people I have spoken to whilst visiting these cemeteries and equally, communicating with, when making requests for images via emails, have made the whole experience worthwhile!
Since 2008, I have gone on to visit an additional 20 countries (Burma/Myanmar, Thailand, China, Japan, Korea, Brunei, Borneo, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Cambodia, Singapore, Malaysia, Israel, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Taiwan, Philippines, Lebanon) and, to-date, have taken images covering c210,000+ graves/names-on-memorials. Over a 17 year period (Jan 2008-Dec 2024) I have distributed images covering 56,500+ graves/names-on-memorials. Many are requests for single images and others involve requests for multiple images covering numbers as high as 500+ graves and 1500+ names-on-memorials. Over 65% of all requests are for names-on-memorials and I place a great deal of time and effort in photographing memorials – no matter how big or small.
Tony Buckley (Phnom Penh 2017) Image by Nataly (Latvia)
email contact details here: nt872b(at)hotmail.com
Contact link for my Humanitarian and NGO groups via LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonyjfbuckley
Channel Link to YouTube-TonyBuckley – showing videos taken inside various cemeteries.
Dawn Patrol
LEST WE FORGET