APPENDIX II

CEMETERIES

‘At the going down of the sun

and in the morning,

we will remember them.’

For the Fallen

The MARKET GARDEN Graves

The soldiers of all nations who took part in MARKET GARDEN and were killed in action or died of wounds are now widely spread across Europe, Britain and the USA. However, a significant number still lie in cemeteries on or near the battlefields covered by this book. This appendix contains details of the cemeteries and how to find them.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC)

The Commonwealth War Commission was formed in 1917, originally as the Imperial War Graves Commission, under Major General Sir Fabian Ware. As commander of a Red Cross mobile unit Ware started to record names and locations of grave, which at the time, beyond a wooden cross went largely unrecorded despite Army regulations. Good intentions, however, broke down in the chaos and under the weight of casualties. Under pressure from home the War Office approved the formation of a Graves Registration Unit in 1915, under Ware, who became a Temporary Major. Gradually the importance of the care of war graves grew and in 1917 the present organization was founded. Today the Commission woks in 140 countries and tends 1,146,105 graves and maintains memorials to many thousands more Commonwealth Soldiers who lost their lives in the Twentieth Century.

General Haig commented in 1915:

‘It is recognized that the work of the organization is of purely sentimental value, and that it does not directly contribute to the successful termination of the war. It has, however, an extraordinary moral value to the troops as well as to the relatives and friends of the dead at home... Further, on the termination of hostilities, the nation will demand an account from the government as to the steps which have been taken to mark and classify the burial places of the dead...’

CWGC Cemetery Mook

Located on the Mook to Groesbeek road, this cemetery contains 322 graves dating mainly from the fighting in the immediate area during September and October 1944 and from the battles just across the German frontier fought during February 1945. Two hundred and seventy six are British, three are Canadians. Also buried here are soldiers of the 43rd Wessex Division who died on the Island and were originally buried in the US Temporary Cemetery at Molenhoek (See below for details). Amongst the British graves lie eleven Poles with slightly more pointed gravestones. They were killed in the fighting for the Rhineland in 1945.

CWGC Canadian Cemetery and Memorial Wall Groesbeek

This Cemetery is located on Zevenheuvveleweg on the way from Groesbeek to Berg en Dal. The green and white CWGC signs can be picked up from the northern edge of Groesbeek (near the Bevrijdigsmuseum) and from the Wylerban (near the DZ T Memorial). This cemetery dates from the Operation VERITABLE period of early 1945 and, as the cemetery’s name suggests, the dead, some 2,338 of them came from Canada. There are also 268 British graves. Most were killed in Germany and this is a rare example of Commonwealth bodies being re-interred in a second country. This was the result of an order by Canadian General Crerar ordering that none of his countrymen were to lie in Germany. Of greater interest to those following Operation MARKET GARDEN, are the two colonnades containing black stone tablets with 1,103 names engraved on them. These tablets are the names of those British, Canadian and South African soldiers killed during the advance from France into Holland and this, of course, includes those who fought in Operation MARKET GARDEN. Clearly, some of the names belong to the unknown graves in the cemetery. There are two VC holders commemorated amongst the names on the memorial. These include those of Lance Sergeant Baskeyfield VC, S Staffs, who fought with 1st Airborne Division in Arnhem and of Sgt Cosens VC, QOR of Canada. The cemetery is still open and receives bodies that are still being discovered in Holland.

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CWGC Nijmegen Jonkerbos Cemetery

This cemetery is not easy to find from the direction of Groesbeek. The CWGC signing is somewhat misleading, not to say incomplete! The military cemetery should not be confused with the civilian Jonkerbos Cemetery. The military cemetery is located on OudeMollenhutseweg just south of the Stadspark. From the Keizer Karel Plein take the Malden, Molenhoek Mook road (Saint Annasraat). Three hundred metres after crossing a bridge over the railway, fork right onto Hatertseweg. The cemetery is approximately six hundred yards on the left. There are 1,460 burials mainly from the MARKET GARDEN period.

American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC)

Similar to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, the American Battle Monuments Commission is an agency of the Executive Branch of the US Federal Government. It is responsible for commemorating the service of US Forces world wide since April 1917 (their entry into World War I) by establishing suitable memorials and constructing, operating and maintaining permanent American military cemeteries overseas. The ABMC is also responsible for controlling the design and construction of U.S. military monuments and markers in foreign countries erected by other US citizens and organizations, both public and private; and overseeing their maintenance.

Jonkerbos CWGC Cemetery contains British servicemen killed mainly in the MARKET GARDEN operation.

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In 1947, the US Congress decided to give next of kin the option to choose where they would like the serviceman to be buried (unlike the Commonwealth next of kin). The choices were to remain in the theatre where they died or to return them to the US for burial in National Military Cemeteries or under private arrangements in hometown cemeteries. About 63% of all bodies were repatriated during 1948 and 1949.

The remaining US military graves were concentrated into a few large cemeteries. Of the 320,423 Second World War bodies of US servicemen, the ABMC is responsible for 93,242 graves across the world. The remainder of the bodies were returned to their families. Also commemorated by the ABMC are the names of 78,976 soldiers who are listed as Missing in Action.

Former US Cemetery at Molenhoek

US Temporary Cemetery 4655 was located in a field behind what used to be the Van de Broek Brewery, which has now been converted into a place of entertainment. The cemetery was started on 20 September 1944 and it is here that 836 Americans, who lost their lives in the Groesbeek, Nijmegen and ‘Island’ battles of autumn 1944 were laid to rest. Also originally buried here were thirty-eight British and three Canadian soldiers. Some of the British dead, belonged to 43rd Wessex Division who had been cleared from the ‘Island’ when 101st Airborne Division took over positions there in early October 1944. Also, some belong to 5 Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry who were under command of the American Division and, consequently, their dead were handled by the US system. Today, all that remains of the cemetery is a memorial at the former main gate. Incidentally, the figure of 637 graves recorded on the monument is incorrect and should read 836. In line with US policy, the graves were moved in 1948 to the US Cemetery at Margarten in southern Holland or repatriated to the US. The British and Canadians were reburied in the nearby CWGC Cemetery Mook. The land occupied by the former cemetery has been returned to agriculture.

Margraten Cemetery

Margraten is the only ABMC cemetery in Holland. The dead who were to remain in the care of the ABMC were brought here from temporary cemeteries across Holland, such as that at Mollenhoek at the foot of the Groesbeek heights. The cemetery is situated in the village of Margraten, six miles east of Maastricht near the southernmost point of Holland some two hours drive south of Nijmegen. The cemetery is well signposted.

Margarten’s tall memorial tower is clearly visible as the visitor approaches the site, which covers over sixty acres. From the cemetery entrance, the visitor enters the Court of Honour with its pool reflecting the tower. To the right and left, respectively, are the visitors building and a building containing three engraved maps showing the operations conducted by US Forces in 1944 and 1945. Stretching along the side of the Court are the two Walls of the Missing on which are recorded the names of 1,723 who gave their lives in the service of the USA but who rest in unknown graves. At the base of the tower, facing the reflecting pool is a statue representing the grieving mother of her lost son. Beyond the tower, containing the cemetery’s chapel is the burial area. Divided into 16 plots the cemetery contains 8,301 graves, with the headstones set in long curves. A wide tree-lined mall leads to the flagstaff.

In the summer, the cemetery is open to visitors daily from 09.00 - 18.00 hours and in the winter from 09.00 to 17.00 hours. Details of the ABMC its work and cemeteries can be found on the Internet on http://www.usabmc.com/index.shtml

German

The German MARKET GARDEN dead are widely spread in cemeteries across the border in Germany or in the only German war cemetery in Holland at Ijsselstijn.

Ijsselstijn German Cemetery

Ijsselstijn German War Cemetery is sited in a remote spot thirty kilometres west of Eindhoven between that city and Venray. Follow the A270 from Eindhoven to Helmond where the road turns into the N270. Continue until the junction with the N277 is reached. IJsseltijn is a kilometre to the south on the N277.

German soldiers who died and were originally buried in Holland between 1940 and 1945, were disinterred after the war and moved from communal or battlefield cemeteries across Holland and concentrated here for reburial. There are 31,511 bodies interned in this cemetery. Amongst the soldiers who lie here, are the approximately 8,000 Germans killed during Operation MARKET GARDEN. Those from II SS Panzer Corps killed in Arnhem and on the Island were originally buried in the SS Heroes Cemetery on the outskirts of Arnhem. This Cemetery, which had a short existence, was laid out during the period between the end of the battle and Arnhem’s eventual liberation in April 1945. In line with normal policy, SS ranks have been converted into their Whermacht equivalents on all graves and memorials.

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The Mauser Kar 98K rifle was the standard infantry weapon of the German Infantry.

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