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POW

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Prisoners of war

Venray War Cemetery also contains the burials of prisoners of war (POW’S). They were held in the “Stammlager” (Stalag) in various locations in Germany and Poland. The prisoners of war in the camp were often weak and exhausted. There were also various diseases, including dysentery, diphtheria, tuberculosis and stomach ulcers.

Many of them died during the “Death Marches”. These refer to a series of forced marches during the final phase of the Second World War in Europe. As the Soviet Army advanced on the Eastern Front, the German authorities decided to evacuate prisoner-of-war camps in order to delay the liberation of the prisoners. Of the total of 257,000 Western Allied prisoners of war held in German military prison camps, more than 80,000 were forced to march westwards through Poland, Czechoslovakia and Germany under extreme winter conditions, for around four months between January and April 1945. During these marches, they covered distances of between 800 and 1,500 km. The prisoners of war had no proper clothing, received little food and slept outdoors. Those who tried to escape were shot. Some died as a result of Allied bombing raids on the Germans. There were POWs who survived the entire journey, but ultimately succumbed to the hardships they had endured — the cold, malnutrition and more — during these marches. They were almost home... At least ten of the men buried in Venray were POWs.

From the camp Stalag VIIIB / 344 Lamsdorf:

  • William Charles Gee (plot no. VII.G.9);
  • Edward Allan Brightwell (plot no. VIII.G.3);
  • Dennis James Waddell (plot no. VIII.G.1).

 

From the Stalag VIIIC Sagan camp:

  • Alfred Farley (plot no. VII.G.5).

 

From the camp Stalag XXA / 312 Thorn and Stalag XXB Marienburg

  • Walter Green (plot no. VII.D.12);
  • Ronald Vincent Sowrey (plot no. VII.E.13);
  • Harry Ernest Holland (plot no. VII.G.6);
  • Daniel Thomas Paterson (plot no. VII.G.8);
  • George William Thomas (plotnr. VII.G.7);
  • Unknown soldier (plotnr. VII.C.7).

 

The bodies of these ten men were recovered by the American Army in Germany and transferred to the American cemetery in Margraten. From there, they were later reburied in Venray.