The history of Venray War Cemetery
Introduction: Grave Concentration
During the hostilities, the fallen soldiers were often buried at or near the place where they had been killed. It also happened that several victims were buried at the same place; for example, near a field hospital, a headquarters or in existing cemeteries. After the war, the field graves were spread over a large area. This was considered undesirable for several reasons. For example, there could be a risk to public health. In addition, field graves were often located in gardens, meadows, orchards or on the verge of a road. Other field graves were difficult to reach, which made visiting and maintenance difficult. After the war, the British Graves Registration Units were responsible for locating and identifying the field graves.
It was then up to the Graves Concentration Units to exhume the remains and transfer them to (central) war cemeteries. This was called “concentration”.
By bringing together (concentrating) the graves it was ensured that the war victims could be honored and remembered in an appropriate manner. The 55 Grave Concentration Unit was active in Venray.
Incidentally, not all field graves were “concentrated”. If the graves were located in a place where care and maintenance could be guaranteed and the local government had no objections, they were not concentrated. This was often the case with field graves that were located in existing cemeteries, such as the six graves at the Roman Catholic Cemetery in Maasbree.
Bij het herbegraven werden door de Grave Concentration Units de zogenaamde Grave Concentration Report Forms opgemaakt. Deze formulieren bevatten informatie over de militairen zoals regiment, naam, rang, datum van overlijden, grafnummer en datum van herbegraven. Ook bevat het formulier informatie over de vorige locatie van het graf. Later werden nog de zogenaamde Graves Registration Report Forms opgemaakt. Deze bevatten grotendeels dezelfde informatie als de Graves Concentration Report Forms maar zijn gerangschikt naar grafnummer. Beide formulieren zijn terug te vinden in de Commission database.
Venray War Cemetery
The oldest reference in the Municipal Archives of Venray to the current cemetery on the Hoenderstraat dates from 31 March 1945. On that day, the Mayor of Venray sends a letter to the Military Authority Staff in which he indicates that the Allied authorities intend to establish a cemetery. At that time, no soldiers were buried on the intended site, but the Mayor expects that the Allies will start developing the site within a few days.
More than a month later, the Mayor informs the Military Authority that a division of the British army has started the construction of the permanent cemetery. Because the terrain was "hilly", it had to be partially leveled by the British.
The municipal government of Venray is not involved in the decision of the British authorities to establish a cemetery. Nor did the British authorities have to. They had already been authorized by the Chief of Staff Military Authority to exhume the remains of allied soldiers and transfer them to war cemeteries without a permit from the Dutch authorities.
The owners of the land are also not asked anything. Only years later are things formalized. The ownership of the plots is transferred to the State of the Netherlands and the owners are compensated.
At the end of September 1945, the Mayor of Venray reports that the Dutch Identification and Recovery Service wants to start recovering the remains of the Allied and German soldiers who died in and around Venray in the first week of October. The Mayor requests the allocation of “a batch of spirits” to “to provide the men who have to perform this extremely gruesome work with a drink while they do their work.”
The announcement that the Recovery and Identification Service will also recover Allied soldiers is remarkable. This was reserved for the Allied graves services.
Nevertheless, the Identification and Recovery Service in and around Venray recovers the remains of forty British soldiers. Without the intervention of the British Graves Service (the 55 Grave Concentration Unit), they are reburied in the new cemetery.
This apparently does not go down well with the British. At the end of 1945, the Mayor of Venray wrote to the Ministry of War that the remains of the British and German soldiers were initially buried by the Identification and Recovery Service on the terrain requisitioned for that purpose by the English authorities, but that the British indicated that the German soldiers were not allowed to be buried in the same place.
The 55 Grave Concentration Unit (55 GCU) states the following about this on the Grave Concentration Report:
“Bodies were lifted by Dutch Red Cross and buried in Venray. Lifted again by 55 GCU in laying out Venray Cemetery.”
De veertig militairen worden door de 55 GCU herbegraven op 26 en 27 november 1945. John Tregellas krijgt graf I. A. 1. Zij zijn daarmee de eersten die officieel worden herbegraven op de huidige begraafplaats.
On December 7, 1945, seventy-five men who had their field grave in the temporary St. Oda cemetery were reburied in the current cemetery.
Then nothing happens for more than half a year. Only on 21 June 1946 are soldiers reburied at the cemetery. After that, the reburial continues more or less uninterrupted.
By the end of 1946, 559 men had been reburied. The last servicemen to date were reburied on 3 May 1947: Walter Green, VII.D.12 and Patrick McGee in VII.D.13. It was not until 9 June 2004 that the last serviceman, Evan Tom Davies, was buried in VIII.G.2.
Source: CWGC
In 1953 plans were made for the placement of the gravestones, the construction of the entrance portal and the erection of the Cross of Sacrifice. The total costs were estimated at
£9,524. The cemetery thus took on the form it still has today.
Source: CWGC
Source: CWGC
Temporary German cemetery
The terrain on the Hoenderstraat is not only used for the construction of an allied cemetery. In 1945, a German cemetery is also constructed there. From the end of October 1945 to the beginning of May 1946, the Dutch Identification and Recovery Service reburies the remains of 290 German soldiers. In September 1947, a start is made with transferring these graves to the German cemetery in Ysselsteyn.
Source: CWGC
The caption to the photo below reads: “British Commonwealth War Cemetery, Hoenderstraat Venray”. However, given the layout and furnishings, this is most likely a photo of the temporary German cemetery.
Source: www.rooynet.nl
Temporary British Cemetery
Near the Hoenderstraat there was also a temporary British cemetery. Here were the field graves of 75 of the men who were later reburied in the present cemetery.
The temporary cemetery is indicated on the Graves Concentration Report Forms with the coordinate 768269. On the lists in the municipal archives of Venray, “St. Oda” is added to this. According to the same lists, the field grave of a German soldier was also located at this location.
Source: www.rooynet.nl
From the above photo it can be determined with certainty that this is of the temporary cemetery. On the grave cross at the bottom left the name “George, J” can be read. According to the Graves Concentration Report Form of Joseph George his field grave was at the coordinate 768269. Joseph George was later reburied at the current cemetery (I. C. 10.). A little further on in the photo, the field grave of “P O Osborne, I.R.” is visible. The Graves Concentration Report Form of Pilot Officer Ian Osborne mentions the coordinate 768269. In a letter to the Mayor of Venray, the brother of Ian Osborne speaks “a piece of land west of the Princess Elisabeth Hospital on the outskirts of Venray”Ian Osborne was reburied on 4 July 1945 in the British war cemetery in Mierlo next to the other members of his crew who had their field grave in Broekhuizenvorst.
Source: Venray Municipal Archives/Ben Kruijsen Collection
On the back of the above photo it says: “Temporary (…) cemetery at hospital immediately after the war 1940-1945”
Sources:
Municipal Archives Venray/Ben Kruijsen Collection.
Municipal Archives Venray/Inv. nos. 4510, 4514, 4516, 4520
Rooynet.nl
Commonwealth War Graves Commission Archives