Remembrance Sunday service held in Bulgaria’s Plovdiv

A Remembrance Sunday service was held in the Commonwealth war graves cemetery in Bulgaria’s city of Plovdiv on November 12.

Remembrance Sunday is observed on the Sunday closest to November 11, Remembrance Day, which pays tribute to all the military and civilian dead of the First World War and subsequent wars.

The service was attended by UK ambassador Rob Dixon and Irish ambassador Martina Feeney, with Father Patrick Irwin leading prayers and scripture readings. Among the public were British and other Commonwealth nationals.

Dixon, in a message on X (twitter.com), said of those buried in the cemetery: “Although a long way from home they lie in beautiful grounds, treated with respect and reverence, and remembered by us today”.

According to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, the Commonwealth servicemen buried at Plovdiv Central Cemetery died either as prisoners of war or while serving with the occupying forces following the Bulgarian capitulation in September 1918.

The cemetery contains 55 Commonwealth burials from the First World War. Among the British burials is a South African national who was serving with British forces.

On November 11, a Remembrance Day service was held in Sofia.

(Main photo: Lance Nelson of banskoblog.com; other photos via Rob Dixon’s page on X)