Relation with Lake (class): Lake Area Cemetery (LAI)  
Total nr. of casualties buried here (TC): at least 7 end WW2, today 6.  
Lake casualties, initially, end WW2 (LC-I): no info.
Unknown today: 0
of which unknown from Lake (LC-U): 0
of which unknown from North Sea (NS-U): 0
Initial burial site in WW2: yes.
Post war burial site for collection and reburial from other sites: no
Cemetery with Lake casualties today: no. 


           
NUNSPEET GENERAL CEMETERY "NUNSPEET-EAST"

Nunspeet has a 6 km coastline on Lake IJsselmeer (the Old Zuyder Sea). Washed ashore Allied airmen were not buried in Nunspeet village itself, but in the nearby port city of Harderwijk (H). In 1944 and 1945, four aircraft crashed on the edge of Nunspeet-village and the casualties were buried here. These aircraft involved a Lancaster bomber shot down by a German nightfighter and 3 fighters (an RAF Spitfire, a Tempest and an USAAF P-51 Mustang). The fighters were shot down by light Flak in the last months of the war when this area was a front zone. After the war an US Grave Registration team exhumed the American P-51 pilot Lt. Horace B. Smith. It is possible they also exhumed one or more an American airmen (crashed 10/1943 - 05/1945 in the lake), washed ashore here and buried locally because transport was not possible.   

   

Dutch name cemetery: Alg. Begr. Pl. Nunspeet-Oost.  
CWGC name: Ermelo (Nunspeet) New General Cemetery
Address (usable for car navigation):
Eperweg 46, Nunspeet. 

For reaction or comments; send us an email,
see address and info at CONTACT.
Please use as subject title: 'Nunspeet'









Before 1972, Nunspeet (N) was the main, dominant and administrative town in Ermelo-county (this is all green marked area in above map). The Southern part of the county lay 18km from Nunspeet (too far away), therefore the people in the South wanted independance and a community of their own. After 125 years of struggle, they finally succeeded in 1972. The county was split-up in a community Nunspeet with town Nunspeet in the North and a community Ermelo with village Ermelo in the South. 

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) missed the community split-up, because in 2014 they still had the cemetery in Nunspeet listed as "Ermelo (Nunspeet) New General Cemetery", which stands for: "The New General Cemetery in Nunspeet in the commune of Ermelo". This is incorrect since 42 years. The correct name for Nunspeet is: Nunspeet General Cemetery 'East' and for Ermelo: Ermelo General Cemetery 'Varenhof'. War graves in Ermelo were exhumed and centralized in a larger war cemetery. Today there are no war graves in Ermelo, only in Nunspeet.  





















































Burials here started on the left hand side (left side of the picture): 

Grave 397. Empty grave.
Grave 396. Sgt, Keith R. Baker. Lancaster DS818, RAF 514 Sqn, 12/13 June 1944.
Grave 395. Sgt, William E. Steger         "
Grave 394. F/Sgt. Gordon F. Lewis       "
Grave 393A. Sgt. George K. Brown      "
Grave 393. F/Lt. John B. Shillitoe. Spitfire PT649, RAF, 06 Nov. 1944.

Grave 392. Empty grave  (2Lt. Horace B. Smith, exhumed, P-51D Mustang  44-63808, USAAF 20FG, 25 Feb. 1945)
Grave 391. F/Lt. Archibald McIntyre. Tempest V NV680, RAF 222 Sqn, 28 Feb. 1945) 
Grave 390?. Empty grave. Exhumed. Possibly: Sgt. James B. Coulson, B-17G  42-102565, 398BG, crew Rolfe, crashed in the lake 26 Nov. 1944, found 23 April 1945 at the beach near camping 'Oude Pol' northwest of Nunspeet by Canadian troops who reached this spot on 19th April 1945.  

































































  





Photo below: Unfortunally nothing here reminds that this was also the initial resting place of American pilot Lt. Horace B. Smith and other Americans.



























































Below: Map frontline 18 April 1945.


































Below: Frontline April 19 - May 07, 1945.







































Sources: 

- Site CWGC
- Site www.westerbroek.com/elspeet/index.php/herdenken-wo2/crash-sites






© ZZairwar (Zuyder Zee Air War)