Cemeteries During WW2

[healdav]

Sorry, I'm a bit late with a reply.

The situation varied dramatically depending on the local commander.

In some places the cemeteries were more or less abandoned during the occupation with the old gardeners being forbidden to do anything. More common was that the gardeners were allowed to carry on with general maintenance and in at least one place (can't remember where) the commander gave orders that the regimental mowing machine was to be made available whenever the gardeners required it!

In contrast, in some places the SS actually went around German cemeteries ripping out Jewish headstones. These have now been replaced ands I am told (but I can't be definitive) that that is the reason why in most cemeteries the Jeiwsh graves have a stone headstone whereas the others have a metal cross.

As far as I am aware, the US cemeteries were left alone.

[Bert Heyvaert]

Dear Healdav,

I found your posting quite interesting, and I wondered where you got the info about IWGC gardeners staying on their posts.

Out of my own research, I know that every British gardener living in Ypres who did not manage to get away was imprisoned in a German lager (where they lived a fairly good live). I studied the city registers, and found no exeptions. The only exeptions being two little British girls (who live in maidenhead today), who lost track of their parents during the fled, and were given house arrest and were taken care of by their flemish neigbours. One of their other schoolmates from the Eton memorial school, who joined the French resistance, worked out a plan to get them to spain, but when the moment had come and he tried to make contact, the girls were too terrified and slammed the door when they saw him, without even asking what he was there for. The resistance man became overall commander of the IWGC-cemeteries staff in the East after the war. Evenually , him and the girls met up two years ago in Ypres, where he was finally able to tell them the purpose of his visit in 1941.

Another British boy stayed behind as his father was taken to a camp. He kept on causing trouble in school against German-minded teachers, and was eventually repatriated to Britain, where, I believe, he joined the Royal Navy at the end of the war. He still lives in Ypres today.

Clearly it depended very much on the regional commander, like you told. I heard the story about the British gardener hiding airmen in his cemetery from different sources, so definitly people stayed on post.

Interesting stuff for some research I should think

Bert.

[healdav]

I didn't say that it was British staff who carried on working. I was simply told by a Belgian that 'the staff' was allowed to carry on sometimes. I took this to mean Belgians, and maybe other local people who helped maintain them - perhaps as a form of resistance.

[Bert Heyvaert]

Healdav,

I see what you mean. The most distinct feature of the pre-WW2 IWGC-staff in Belgium was, however, that it was only made up by British. There were no Belgians working for the IWGC. There might have been a few expetions, but they couldn't have been more than let's say 5 or 10 persons. Only in very desolate spots in France did local people help out. But you are quite right that the cemeteries were taken care off, possibly by local communal-staff.

regards,

Bert.