World War II memorials and cemeteries in the Netherlands
The Netherlands in World War II was the scene of heavy fighting during the Allied advance in the south of the country in 1944–45. Thousands of soldiers and others of many nations were killed, and their war graves in various locations are in the care of the Dutch War Cemetery Organisation (Oorlogsgravenstichting). In the Netherlands are found over 3,900 WWII cemeteries and memorials, the highest absolute number and the density in the whole of Europe, according to the official national government committee for 4 and 5 May.[1] Many of the memorials are dedicated many of the over 3,000 crashed Allied warplanes and their crews.(.[2] The largest memorial and cemetery is the U.S. Military Cemetery Margraten with over 8,000 graves.
The largest WW-II-related cemetery and also the most controversial, but no memorial, is the Nazi cemetery of Ysselsteyn, that describes itself falsely as "German military war cemetery", with almost 32,000 graves, only about 70% of them military, the rest SS and also Dutch traitors. The designation "German" is incorrect because about 20 other nationalities are buried there, among others Dutch members of the Waffen-SS, Dutch torturers and executioners, and also Austrians, Georgians, Poles, Czechs.
List of World War II memorials and cemeteries in the Netherlands[]
Dutch war graves[]
In the Netherlands, about 9,000 war graves are located.[3]
- Field of Honour Loenen (Loenen) – 4,000 soldiers and civilians
- Military War Cemetery Grebbeberg (Rhenen) – 800 soldiers[4]
- Mierlo War Cemetery (Mierlo) – 1 soldier
- Erebegraafplaats Bloemendaal (Bloemendaal) – 373 people of the resistance[5]
- Rusthof Cemetery (Amersfoort) – 150 victims of Kamp Amersfoort
Field of Honour Loenen
Field of Honour Grebbeberg
Rusthof Amersfoort
Australian, British and Canadian war graves[]
- Arnhem Oosterbeek Airborne War Cemetery – 1,678 soldiers
- Beilen General Cemetery – 7 soldier (of whom one is French)
- – 1,118 soldiers (of whom 971 are Canadian)
- Brunssum War Cemetery – 328
- Driel cemetery of the protestant church – 1 soldier
- Eindhoven (Woensel) General Cemetery – 700 soldiers
- Enschede 50 soldiers WWII, 11 soldiers WWI
- Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery – 2,610 soldiers (of whom 2,339 are Canadian)
- Holten Canadian War Cemetery – 1,393 soldiers (of whom 1,355 are Canadian)
- Losser 2 soldiers
- de Lutte 5 soldiers
- Lonneker 1 soldier
- Mierlo War Cemetery – 665 soldiers (of whom one is Dutch)
- Milsbeek War Cemetery – 210 soldiers
- Mook War Cemetery – 322 soldiers
- Nederweert War Cemetery – 363 soldiers
- Nijmegen Jonkerbos War Cemetery – 1,629 soldiers
- Overdinkel 1 soldier
- Overloon War Cemetery – 279 soldiers
- Rusthof Cemetery – 234 soldiers
- Sint Oedenrode -
- – 239 soldiers
- Swartbroek Churchyard – 52 soldiers (of whom one is French)
- Uden War Cemetery – 703 soldiers (of whom two are Polish)
- Valkenswaard War Cemetery – 220 soldiers
- Venray War Cemetery – 693 soldiers (of whom one is Polish)
- Vredenhof Schiermonnikoog – 65 soldiers
- Wageningen general cemetery – 8 soldiers
- Werkendam War Cemetery – 23 soldiers (of whom one is Australian)
- – 5 Canadian & 8 UK airmen in this civilian cemetery : https://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/2062275/warnsveld-(wichmond)-general-cemetery/
Arnhem Oosterbeek Airborne War Cemetery
Beilen cemetery
Holten Canadian War Cemetery
Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery
Mierlo War Cemetery
Mook War Cemetery
Nederweert War Cemetery
Swartbroek Churchyard
Rusthof Leusden
Vredenhof Schiermonnikoog
Uden War Cemetery
Jonkerbos War Cemetery
U.S. war graves[]
With few exceptions, all American war graves are located at the U.S. Military Cemetery Margraten.
- U.S. Military Cemetery Margraten (Margraten) – 8,302 soldiers
- Grave yard of the Old Church in Zoetermeer – 1 airman
U.S. Military Cemetery Margraten
Belgian war graves[]
- Belgian Field of Honour 1940 (Maastricht) – 43 soldiers
- Belgian Military Field of Honour 1940 (Willemstad) – 153 soldiers
- Bergen op Zoom War Cemetery – 2 Belgian graves
- Dokkum Roman Catholic Cemetery – 1 Belgian grave
- Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery – 3 Belgian graves
- Harlingen General Cemetery – 3 Belgian graves
- Holten Canadian War Cemetery – 1 Belgian grave
- Nijmegen Jonkerbos War Cemetery – 4 Belgian graves
- Vlissingen Noorder begraafplaats – 1 Belgian grave
French war graves[]
- France Military Field of Honour (Kapelle) – 229 soldiers
- Beilen General Cemetery – 1 soldier
- Schiermonnikoog Drenkelingenkerkhof Vredenhof – 9 soldiers [6]
- Soesterberg – 15 soldiers of World War One[7]
- Swartbroek (gem. Weert) Churchyard – 1 soldier
- Vlissingen Noorder Cemetery – 2 soldiers
Beilen General Cemetery
Vredebhof Schiermonnikoog
Swartbroek Cemetery
Soviet war graves[]
- Russian Field of Honour Leusden (Leusden) – 865 soldiers
- Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery (Groesbeek) – 1 soldier
Georgian war graves[]
- Field of Honour of the Georgians under Loladse (Texel) – 476 soldiers
Georgian Field of Honour Leusden
Field of Honour Georgiërs Loladse
Polish war graves[]
About 500 Polish war graves are located in the Netherlands.[8]
- Polish Military Field of Honour (Breda) – 156 soldiers
- Polish Field of Honour Oosterhof (Oosterhout) – 30 soldiers
- Polish Field of Honour Ginneken (Breda) – 80 soldiers
- Polish Field of Honour Alphen (Alphen) – 18 soldiers[9]
- Polish Field of Honour Axel – 22 soldiers
- Mook War Cemetery – 11 soldiers
- Arnhem Oosterbeek Airborne War Cemetery – 73 soldiers
- Schiermonnikoog drenkelingenkerkhof Vredenhof – 3 soldiers
- Uden War Cemetery – 2 soldiers
- Werkendam War Cemetery – 1 soldier
Pools Militair Field of Honour Breda
Vredenhof Schiermonnikoog
Mook war cemetery
German war graves[]
- Ysselsteyn German war cemetery – 31,585 combatents from Germany, Austria and the SU; Dutch and other SS members (such as Julius Dettmann, who had Anne Frank arrested), Dutch traitors and collaborators[10]
- Vorden (gem. Lochem) General Cemetery – 10 soldiers
Ysselsteyn, German War Cemetery
Monument at Ysselsteyn, German War Cemetery
Other memorials[]
- Fusilladeplaats Rozenoord, Amsterdam
Cemeteries with Commonwealth War Graves[]
If Allied war graves are present at a cemetery, a green identification plate is placed at the entrance carrying the text: Oorlogsgraven van het Gemenebest (Commonwealth War Graves)
References[]
- ^ "Oorlogsmonumenten".
- ^ "Lossregister 1939-1945 – Studiegroep Luchtoorlog 1939-1945".
- ^ "Oorlogsgravenstichting". Oorlogsgravenstichting.
- ^ www.grebbeberg.nl, Stichting De Greb -. "Het Militair Ereveld Grebbeberg – De Slag om de Grebbeberg en Betuwestelling in mei 1940". www.grebbeberg.nl.
- ^ "Dutch Honorary Cemetery Bloemendaal".
- ^ "Vredenhof Schiermonnikoog". www.vredenhof.org.
- ^ "Diepgeroerd door vondst graf opa in Soesterberg". www.ad.nl.
- ^ "Polish War Graves". www.polishwargraves.nl.
- ^ "Alphen". www.polishwargraves.nl. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
- ^ "German War Cemetery Ysselsteyn – Ysselsteyn – TracesOfWar.com". www.tracesofwar.com.
External links[]
Media related to Military memorials and cemeteries in the Netherlands at Wikimedia Commons
- World War II memorials in the Netherlands
- World War II cemeteries in the Netherlands