Relation with Lake (class): Other Cemetery in Area (OCA)  
Total nr. of casualties buried here (TC): 10 end WW2, today: 9. 
Lake casualties, initially, end WW2 (LC-I): 0
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.


         
ZWOLLE "KRANENBURG" GENERAL CEMETERY 

The city of Zwolle has 3 cemeteries with Allied airmen (Kranenburg, Bergklooster and Voorst-Westenholte). In Kranenburg rest 9 airmen, in Bergklooster and Voorst-Westenholte each 4 men. All crashed in and around Zwolle. No evidence was found that in Zwolle washed-up airmen from Lake IJsselmeer (Old Zuyder Sea) were buried. The towns Elburg, Kampen and Vollenhove are in between Zwolle and the Lake. Airmen from the lake were buried there.

   

Dutch name cemetery: Begr. Pl. 'De Kranenburg'. 
Full name: Zwolle (De Kranenburg) General Cem.
Address (usable for car navigation):
Kranenburgerweg 5, Zwolle.

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see address and info at CONTACT.
Please use as subject title: 'Zwolle Kranenburg'.








Above photo shows the war graves row on Kranenburg. First 3 graves: Canadians Prosnyck, Johnson & Stanley of Wellington HE-864, 428 Sqn RCAF, crashed 5 May 1943.

Grave 4 and 5 each contain one coffin, but inside are the remains of 3 men. Each men got a headstone, therefore there are 3 headstones on grave 4 and 5. The airmen are Sgt. William E. Jones, P/O Thomas I. Jones (not related) and Sgt. Maurice Pickles of Lancaster ME-722. In 2003 during the recovery of this aircraft (penetrated 22 May 1944 deep in the ground), more remains of them were found and included in grave 4 and 5 with full military honour. 

In grave 6 and 7 are Australian F/O William A. Greenshields and his British navigator Edward H. Norman. Mosquito HR353, 27 November 1944.

Grave 8 is empty. Here lay Czech Squadron Leader Otto Smik. Spitfire RR227, 127 Sqn RAF. He had papers on his body with photo of his Belgium wingman F/O Henri Taymans (also crashed here). The Germans noticed the dead pilot looked different than the photo and buried Smik as 'Unbekannter Englische Flieger'. Nevertheless, after the war the grave received a cross with name Henri Taymans and some years later the body was exhumed and reburied in Evere-Brussels on the cemetery for Belgian airmen killed in WW2. In 1965 in Zwolle a Spitfire was recovered from the ground and inside the wreckage was Henri Taymans... Taymans was then buried in Evere and Otto Smik was reburied from Evere to Adeghem, also in Belgium, where he still rests today. Photos: www.vhu.cz/smikuv-spitfire-nad-prahou/

In the last grave of the row, grave 9, rests soldier/driver Edgar R. Bristow, Royal Engineers. Killed 10 May 1945, after the German surrender May 7th, 1945. 







© ZZairwar (Zuyder Zee Air War)