The Allied soldiers Harry, George, Frank and Joe died during the Second World War. They received a temporary metal field cross on their grave. More than eighty years later, the crosses reappeared at Tonnie Ebben from Groeningen. On Monday he handed over the unique historical objects to the visitors center of the war cemetery in Bergen op Zoom: “I took good care of them and now they are back home.”
“It does mean something to me,” says the Groeninger as he holds one of the crosses tightly. As the owner of the war museum From Postage Stamp to Tank in his hometown, he recently came into possession of the metal crosses by chance. “They were on a scrap heap in Sint Anthonis. Fortunately, someone took them out and gave them to the museum. When I cleaned the crosses, I saw that they were something very special.”
“The Allies at the time had whole bunches of these metal crosses with them to bury their dead comrades.”
Field crosses are extremely rare because few examples have been preserved. They served as temporary markers for fallen soldiers, who were often buried here and there shortly after combat actions. “The Allies at the time had whole bunches of these metal crosses with them to bury their dead comrades. They were quickly given a name or sometimes even just a number,” says Tonnie.
After the war, the bodies were collected and reburied in the military war cemeteries. The original metal crosses moved with them and stood above the graves for many years. From the 1950s they were replaced by the current natural stone grave monuments
The four metal crosses handed over on Monday belong to English soldiers George Davison (32), Frank Pratt (31) and Joe Flannagan (20), and Harry MacDonald (24) from Canada. They are now part of the permanent exhibition in the new visitors center, which will open to the public in two weeks.
“You have to imagine that these crosses stood above the bodies of soldiers who had only just died.”
“We are very happy with this donation from Tonnie. It makes the story we tell here even more tangible. You have to imagine that these crosses stood above the bodies of soldiers who had only just died. This makes it very close,” says chairman Giel Janssen of the visitor center.
Tonnie: “I think it’s great that today, on May 4, I can give back the crosses of our fallen liberators. After all, this is the place where they belong. I will come back sometimes to look at them and perhaps give them a hug.”
