POW

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 stages of World War II in Europe. As the Soviet army advanced on the Eastern Front, the German authorities decided to evacuate POW camps to delay the liberation of the prisoners. Of the total of 257,000 Western Allied POWs held in German military POW camps, more than 80,000 POWs were forced to march westwards through Poland, Czechoslovakia and Germany in extreme winter conditions for about four months between January and April 1945. They walked distances of between 800 and 1,500 km. The POWs had no proper clothing, were given little food and slept in the open air. If they tried to escape, they were shot. Some died during Allied bombing raids on the Germans. There were POWs who had survived the entire journey, but eventually succumbed to all the hardships (cold, malnutrition, etc.) they endured during these marches. They were almost home… At least nine 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 (plot no. VII.G.7).

De lichamen van deze negen mannen werden door het Amerikaanse leger geborgen in Duitsland en overgebracht naar de Amerikaanse begraafplaats in Margraten. Van daaruit werden zij later herbegraven in Venray.