Ysselstyn War Cemetery

[David P. Williams]

I am shortly to visit the German War Cemetery at Ysselstyn in Holland, does anyone have a listing of those buried there and where they are actually buried within the cemetery. I am particularly interested in Night Fighter pilots and their crews. If no such list is available is there an organisation i can contact to assist me with my search. Many thanks in advance.

[Jaap Woortman]

Dear David,

The best way to prepare your visit is:
- make a list of the names all the persons you want to see the headstones of.
- check to grave location of these persons at http://www.volksbund.de/graebersuche/
- I have added a lay-out of the cemetery at Ysselsteyn with the codes of the plots.
You have to remember that about 6% of the information in the website of the VDK is not correct.
For local assistence you can check the books in the building left of the entrance. And if that is not enough you can ask the man in the office, if he is present. You can also find a lay-out in the flyer of the cemetery in the same building.

If you have more question please ask.

Jaap Woortman
Secr. dutch Studygroup Airwar 1939-1945.

[fran]

Just two records I have:
You can find Hptm. Wolf-Heinrich Freiherr von Houwald Gruppenkommandeur III./JG52 since 1-3-40. KIA 24July-1940 Margate coast shot down by por F/L Ellis RAF 610Sq.
(Block:BH Row:5 Grave:101)
and Fw.Josef Bauer of 7./JG3, wingman of W.Oesau with the L.Condor. KIA 9Sept-1940 in the Channel aboard Bf109E-4 WNr.5351
(Block:BB Row:4 Grave:81)

Regards
Fran

[Laurent Rizzotti]

Jaap, I have a question regarding Ysselsteyn war cemetery. The Volksbund site lists the men buried there, but doesn't give the place of death, or the unit of the casualty.

Are this informations available to searchers contacting the cemetery or not ?

Thanks in advance

Laurent

[bill norman]

I note that some Luftwaffe crews lost over the North Sea were eventually buried in Ysselstyn, which (I believe) is c. 150 miles from the coast. Was there some kind of post-war consolidation of burials, as at Cannock Chase?

[Laurent Rizzotti]

Originally Posted by bill norman

I note that some Luftwaffe crews lost over the North Sea were eventually buried in Ysselstyn, which (I believe) is c. 150 miles from the coast. Was there some kind of post-war consolidation of burials, as at Cannock Chase?

Almost all German buried in Netherlands were reburied after the war in Ysselstyn, the same way they were gathered at Cannock Chase in Great Britain. AFAIK there are some tens of German wargraves in UK that remained untouched and this is probably the case also in Netherlands but probably 99% of the Geramn graves in this country are in Ysselstyn.

[Jaap Woortman]

Laurent and others,

In general you can say that all Germans who have died in the Netherlands during the war are now at Ysselsteyn Cemetery. Only some are still were they have been buried during the war. Cemeteries at Schiermonnikoog and Vorden are known. The remains of some Germans have returned to their home country. Roughly spoken 1% or less.

Information about place of death and units is hard to get and ask for detailed study. I think contacting the cemetery does not help. You better contact the VDK at Kassel Germany.
You have to keep in mind that these institutions are not equipped for researchers.
Maybe John Manrho does know the proper way and the chance for success. But I am pessimistic for you.

Jaap

[bill norman]

Laurent and Jaap,
When did these re-burials take place - 1960s?

[John Manrho]

Perhaps a few more comments on the Ysselsteyn War Cemetery. After the war the Dutch government was faced with about 35,000+ graves of German soldiers. A rough estimate of mine is that about 50% of these dead were buried at local cemeteries by the Germans. These include the dead that washed ashore. The remainder were buried in Field graves or were buried in bigger cemeteries by the Allies. Examples are the German War Cemetery at Margraten (next tot he US one) with 3,075 dead and Mierlo War Cemetery with about 300. Please note also that the majority of the Germans buried at Margraten were actually killed on German soil but transported by the US Graves Registration Units to Margraten.

Direct after the war the Dutch Government decided to collect all German dead at one big cemetery. A site was chosen near the village of Ysselsteyn near Venray. The first dead reburied were the ones buried at Margraten. In fact the complete cemetery was 1:1 copied at Ysselsteyn and all these dead were reburied by US Grave Registration Units. The first Blocks at Ysselsteyn (A till K) contain these dead. This was done in late 1946.

Directly after that the Dutch Ministry of Defense started reburial of all the other dead. Please note: This was a Dutch undertaking, not a German one. The well known Kapt. Timmermans had a major role in this job which took to about the late sixties to complete. Of every single grave a report was made. Numerous soldiers were identified. Many of the unknows were examined twice to try to identify them. In 1974 the cemetery was handed over to the VDK. The files at the VDK do not contain always the location of death or the unit. If anyone needs this information and has only a small list the best information can be obtained by the WAST in Berlin. There is more information at the VDK but with their big task in the East and the limited staf they still have for the cemeteries in the West it is almost impossible for them to make a deeper search into the original burial files.

regards,

John.

[bill norman]

Have just found some very striking images of Ysselsteyn at http://www.paulcornelissen.nl/Ysselsteyn-cemetery.htm