The Netherlands / Cemetery

Temporary war cemetery in Wolfswinkel


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On 19 September 1944, Son U.S. Military Cemetery was set up in Wolfswinkel. 411 American, 48 British, one Canadian and 236 German soldiers were buried in this temporary war cemetery.

During the airborne landings at the Sonniuswijk dropzone, as part of Operation Market Garden, and the fierce fighting that followed at the capture of Son and the bridge across the Wilhelmina Canal, many soldiers lost their lives. They were buried in Wolfswinkel, together with the dead from the field hospital at the sanatorium in Son. Soldiers of the American Graves Registration wrapped the deceased soldiers in parachutes, German prisoners of war had to dig the graves.

Impressive rows of white crosses stood on the grounds. A sign at the entrance to the cemetery read "Here lie the honored dead of the 101st A/B DIV." From 1944 to 1946, several hundred German soldiers were also buried here at the edge of the cemetery. These German soldiers were then reburied in Ysselsteyn in the province of Limburg. The British soldiers were reburied in British war cemeteries in Mierlo and Bergen op Zoom in 1947. Around 1948, relatives of fallen American soldiers were given the choice of reburial in America or a final resting place at the American cemetery in Margraten, Limburg. About 60% of the American dead were thus transferred to the United States. After all the dead were reburied, the cemetery was closed down on 30 May 1949.