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Commonwealth War Graves Commission Graves, Oosterbeek War Cemetery, The Netherlands

There were three more unusually shaped headstones at Oosterbeek War Cemetery. Looking at their dedications and dates of death I assume these are the graves of caretakers employed by the Commision to tend the cemetery. There is a tradition of these caretakers marrying locally and, especially in Northern France, of their children taking over the job on their retirement.

Herbert Alaster Denham, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, 31/8/1963, aged 49.

Post-war Grave, Oosterbeek War Cemetery

Percy Henry Dawson, 24/5/1987 aged 71 and William Gregory, 20/10/1988, aged 80:-

Two Post-war Graves, Oosterbeek War Cemetery

And here’s another panorama of war graves within the cemetey:-

Panorama of Graves, Oosterbeek War Cemetery

Oosterbeek War Cemetery, The Netherlands (iv) – Netherlands War Graves

At Oosterbeek I found three graves of Dutch soldiers. Again with distinctive headstones, this time rounded.

J Groenewoud, 8/11/1916-18/9/1944. (He was the only Dutchman to fight at John Frostbrug):-

Dutch War Grave, Oosterbeek War Cemetery

A M Bakhuis Roozeboom, 10/7/1922 – 19/9/1944:-

Ooserbeek War Cemetery, Dutch War Grave

S Swarts, 26/7/1917 – 20/9/1944:-

Third Dutch War Grave, Oosterbeek War Cemetery

 

Oosterbeek War Cemetery, The Netherlands (iii) – Polish Graves

Many Polish soldiers lie buried at Oosterbeek.

A row of their distinctive pointed headstones is to the right here:-

Polish and Other Graves, Oosterbeek War Cemetery,

Similar rows flank the entrance buildings:-

Polish Graves, Oosterbeek War Cemetery

More Polish Graves, Oosterbeek War Cemetery

A Liczner, 3 Baon Spad, 27/9/1944:-

Polish Grave, Oosterbeek War Cemetery

E Morchonowicz, 3 Baon Spad, 23/9/1944:-

Oosterbeek War Cemetery, Polish Grave

A Polish Member of the Parachute Regiment, Private F P Dobrozyski, 19/9/1944, age 26:-

Grave of Polish Member of Parachute Regiment, Oosterbeek War Cemetery

 

 

Oosterbeek War Cemetery, The Netherlands (ii)

Commonwealth War Graves near entrance:-

Commonwealth War Graves, Oosterbeek War Cemetery

Oosterbeek War Cemetery, Commonwealth War Graves

Three soldiers known only unto God:-

Unknown Soldiers, Battle of Arnhem, Oosterbeek War Cemetery

Panorama showing Cross of Sacrifice and back to entrance buildings:-

Oosterbeek War Cemetery, Commonwealth War Graves Panorama

East edge:-

Battle of Arnhem, Commonwealth War Graves, Oosterbeek War Cemetery

Panorama towards entrance:-

Second Panorama, Battle of Arnhem Commonwealth War Graves, Oosterbeek War Cemetery

Jewish Grave. G A Emmanuel, Parachute Regiment, 20/8/1944, aged 28:-

Jewish War Grave, Oosterbeek War Cemetery

Unusually this headstone has marbling at its top. Private A W Penwill, Parachute Regiment, 18/9/1944, aged 28:-

Marbled Gravestone, Oosterbeek War Cemetery

 

 

Oosterbeek War Cemetery, The Netherlands (i)

I couldn’t visit Arnhem without going to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery near Oosterbeek, the place where many casualties of the attempt to capture the John Frost Bridge during Operation Market Garden are buried.

The cemetery is in a quiet location off a side road up a side road.

The path from the car park takes you past the cemetery identifier:-

Oosterbeek War Cemetery Identifier

Beside that is this domed pillar marking local children’s annual commemoration of the battle:-

 

Oosterbeek War Cemetery, Children's Dedication

This plaque beside the entrance informs us that 1754 soldiers or airmen are buried within:-

Battle of Arnhem Plaque, Oosterbeek War Cemetery,

War Graves Commission information board. More than 90 Polish members of the Parachute Brigade are buried here. I also noted three Dutch graves while walking round:-

Information Board. Oosterbeek War Cemetery, Battle of Arnhem

View of cemetery from gates, Stone of Remembrance to fore and Cross of Sacrifice behind:-

View from Gates. Oosterbeek War Cemetery

Cross of Sacrifice. British poppy wreaths with Netherlands wreath on grass:-

Cross of Sacrifice. Oosterbeek War Cemetery,

As in most Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries the gates are flanked by two buildings which usually contain lists of the buried and the locations within the cemetery of their graves:-

Entrance Building Oosterbeek War Cemetery

Oosterbeek War Cemetery, Entrance Building

On the wall of one of these were two plaques describing the Arnhem Battle and its place within the wider campaign to liberate Western Europe:-

Liberation Plaque 1, Oosterbeek War Cemetery

Liberation Plaque 2, Oosterbeek War Cemetery

Commonwealth War Graves at Kinloss Abbey

Kinloss ws the site of an RAF base from 1939 onwards. In 2012 the RAF moved out and the site became a barracks for the Army.

Part of the Kinloss Abbey grounds became a burial ground for war dead. There was already a grave there of a Great War casualty (Lieutenant Percy Strickland, HMS Dublin, 31/5/1916, aged 27.) The remainder are RAF, RCAF, RAAF or RNZAF casualties from World War 2.

There are in total 73 war graves at the site.

Kinloss Abbey ruins and some of the war graves:-

War Graves and Ruins of Kinloss Abbey

Since there are more than thirty graves the site has a Cross of Sacrifice:-

Kinloss Abbey Ruins, War Graves, Cross of Sacrifice

Reverse view:-

Kinloss Abbey and War Graves

Another set of war graves lies to the right of the above photo; seen here from the Abbey ruin above:-

War Graves at Kinloss Abbey

Reverse view:-

War Graves at Kinloss Abbey

Inveravon, Pictish Stones, and War Graves

In between Ballindalloch and Criagellachie Bridge we turned off the A 95 to find Inveravon Church and its Pictish Stones.

The stones were once in the open but are now kept in a porch:-

Pictish Stones, Inveravon

Inveravon Pictish Stones

Information Boards:-

Information Board, Inveravon

Inveravon PIctish Stones, Information Board 2

In the churchyard I found two Commonwealth War Graves.

Private A G Patterson, Seaforth Highlanders, 10/3/1915, aged 18:-

War Grave, Inveravon

Private J A Cantlie, Gordon Highlanders, 30/5/1918, aged 20:-

War Grave, Inveravon

 

White House Cemetery, St Jean-les-Ypres, Belgium

White House Cemetery lies beside the N313 road just north-east of Ieper (Ypres,) Belgium.

It is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery and contains mostly graves of soldiers killed from 1915-1918, but there are 9 burials from the Second World War including a Belgian casualty.

Cemetery from road:-

White House Cemetery, From Road

Entrance Gate:-

Gate, White House Military Cemetery

Panoramic stitch:-

White House Cemetery

Stone memorial to Great War soldiers buried elsewhere:-

Memorial Stone, White House Cemetery

There were too many graves from the Great War (1163) to itemise them individually. The graves of the nine World War 2 dead are shown below.

Three WW2 Graves. Cpt V C Marr, MC, The Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment, 23/5/1940, aged 41. Cpl F S Payne, The Queen’s Royal Regiment, 23/5/1940. Cpl F C Schilling, The Buffs, 23/5/1940, aged 32:-

Three 1940 Graves

Thrre more graves from 1940. Private F T Birchall, Royal Sussex Regiment, 23/5/1940, aged 20. Private G A Edwards, Royal Sussex Regiment, 23/5/1940, aged 20. Lt Col F T Green, Northamptonshire Regiment, 23/5/1940, aged 41:-

Three More 1940 Graves, White House Cemetery

Two 1940 graves. Gunner D Strachan, Royal Artillery, 22/5/1940, aged 36. Fusilier W Penrose, Lancashire Fusiliers, 22/5/1940:-

Two More 1940 Graves, White House Cemetery

Louis Henri Vanninsel, 13/9/1898 – 24/5/1940. Stierf Voor Belgie:-

Belgian Grave, White House Cemetery

Thee was a fenced off crater nearby signalling the continuing legacy of the Great War,

Crater near White House Cemetery

 

 

War Graves, Haddington

These were in St Mary’s Collegiate Church yard.

Serjeant A Runciman, Royal Scots, 15/8/1915, aged 37:-

War Grave, Haddington

Military Medal recipient Serjeant J H V Suffill, HLI, 14/2/1919, aged 22:-

Haddington War Grave

Sapper J B Cranston, Royal Engineers, 13/5/1916, aged 28:-

aGrave 5

The grave of Colour Sergeant L H Hardie, Royal Scots, 28/5/1972, aged 39, being a non-war death, has an amended version of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstone with a notch cut either side of the top:-

Post-war Grave, Haddington

Another grave had a dedication to Flying Officer James Hubert Craig, RAF, 28/3/1946,in Burma aged 24. Buried in Rangoon:-

Military Dedication, Haddingto

War Graves, Milton of Bucahanan (ii)

Captain H J Westlake, Pioneer Corps, 10/7/1943, aged 45 and Captain M E C Steward, Royal Artillery, 12/10/1943, aged 55:-

War Graves, Milton of Buchanan Cemetery

Gunner J W Howarth, Royal Artillery, 23/6/1942, aged 21 and Gunner G MIller, Royal Artillery, 22/12/1942:-

Milton of Buchanan Cemetery War Graves

Serjeant L Porter, RAMC, 24/5/1942 and Major G Hayward, Royal Indian Army Service Corps, 12/6/1941, aged 47:-

Pair of War Graves Milton of Buchanan Cemetery

Nurse E Petrie, Voluntary Aid Detachment, 4/7/1941, aged 33, her brother Harry, Royal Corps of Signals, 9/12/1942 and Flight Lieutenant G C Challis, RAF, 23/11/1941, aged 53:-

Milton of Buchanan Cemetery, Two War Graves

Private C McDaid, Highland Light Infantry 28/12/1940:-

Milton of Buchanan Cemetery War Grave

Private J Elliott, Pioneer Corps, 11/1/1941, aged 63:-

War Grave at Milton of Buchanan Cemetery

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