Nearly 130 years after clashes in the Malakand region of present-day Pakistan, efforts are underway to restore the graves of British soldiers who died during the 1897 frontier campaign. The conflict, which marked one of Winston Churchill’s earliest wartime experiences, saw heavy fighting between British forces and Pathan tribesmen along the Afghan-Pakistan border. Thousands lost their lives in engagements that deeply affected the young Churchill, who observed the brutal realities of war firsthand.

The graveyard in Malakand, where many of these soldiers are buried, had fallen into severe disrepair. Many of the memorial crosses were either missing or toppled, the site was contaminated by untreated sewage, and rubbish from a nearby prison was regularly dumped over the boundary walls. Snakes have also taken up residence in the overgrown grounds, complicating cleanup efforts.

Recent restoration work, supported by a £10,000 grant from a British charity known as the Commonwealth Heritage Forum, has seen local conservationists replace crosses and install a new iron gate, while barbed wire has been added to deter vandals. An agreement with the prison administration has curtailed waste dumping. However, ongoing maintenance remains a challenge due to the presence of wildlife and a lack of steady funding for caretakers.

Maj Gen Ali Hamid, who directs military heritage preservation efforts in Pakistan, has spearheaded the project. He emphasized the importance of the site as a shared historical legacy rather than a memorial solely for a particular religious group. “I’m very fond of history. I don’t look at things like the Malakand cemetery as a Christian cemetery, I look at it as part of our heritage,” he said.

The 1897 campaign was sparked by a tribal uprising led by a cleric labeled the “Mad Mullah,” who mobilized Pathan tribes against British forces guarding the empire’s frontier. After an eight-day siege in a valley near Malakand, British troops repelled the attackers, but not without sustaining significant casualties.

Among the fallen were Lieut William Browne-Clayton, who died covering the retreat of his men, and Lieut Robert Thurston Greaves, a war correspondent who joined a cavalry charge and was fatally shot while being evacuated. Both men were memorialized by Churchill in his wartime writings, which later formed his book, *The Story of the Malakand Field Force.*

The presence of war correspondents, including Churchill himself who was embedded as a reporter during the conflict, highlighted the intensity of the fighting. Churchill, then a cavalry officer but formally a correspondent, witnessed the toll the fighting took on comrades he called “knights of the sword and pen.”

The gravesite’s dilapidation was first brought to wider attention by Imtiaz Sabir, a Bradford resident and descendant of a participant in the campaign, during a 2024 visit to Pakistan. The Commonwealth Heritage Forum’s founder, Philip Davies, noted the site’s significance as a living memory in Pakistan that remains little known in the United Kingdom.

The cemetery also contains the remains of officers such as Lt Col John Lamb, who died following a battle injury, and Lieut Louis Manley, who reportedly held his position until he was killed defending it. Others interred include Lieut Henry Andrew Harington and Capt. William Edward Tomkins, both casualties of the fighting.

This restoration initiative forms part of broader efforts to protect and commemorate military heritage sites across Pakistan, where the army continues to hold a prominent role. Communities in the region express pride in their long-standing military traditions, with many locals tracing family service back through the British colonial era.

In the hills near Islamabad, conservation work is also in progress at First World War memorials, with local residents advocating for funding to preserve and enhance these historical markers. Some projects aim to relocate endangered monuments to safer locations in the Hindu Kush.

Churchill’s accounts from the Malakand campaign, which he regarded as a defining early chapter of his career, remain a testament to the sacrifices made in those remote mountains. The ongoing restoration of the cemetery at Malakand serves as a tangible connection to a conflict that shaped the lives of many and left a lasting imprint on history.