For twenty years, administrator Martin Stumpel (43) has been taking care of the more than 2400 graves at the British and Canadian cemeteries in Bergen op Zoom. On Thursday, the remains of five Czechoslovak soldiers will be added. Martin and his colleagues have been preparing for the historic moment for weeks. “I’ve never experienced this before and maybe it will be the last.”
A rectangular strip of soil in the lawn of the British plot marks the place where the soldiers will be resting. “We marked out this area very precisely with lasers,” says Martin, who is now busy replenishing compost for the roses and flowers at the graves.
The five Czechoslovaks who died were crew members of a bomber that crashed in 1941 in Nieuwe Niedorp in North Holland. Last June, the device containing the remains was recovered. The crew was employed by the British Air Force (RAF). For this reason they are also buried in the British military plot of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in Bergen op Zoom.
“That will certainly also be an impressive ceremony.”
“The last time I attended a funeral here was in 2015. It was about a soldier who was buried in the Canadian cemetery next door. It was a unique event. Now five boys are being buried and that will certainly be an impressive ceremony,” says Martin.
The green lawn perfectly mowed, the roses in bloom and the tombstones beautiful white in color. As always, the plot is immaculate. For Martin, only the weather conditions are always a challenge: “We can’t spray here because there is too much iron in the groundwater. Everything would turn rust brown.”
The manager regularly receives compliments from visitors, often also from relatives of the killed soldiers. “That’s not what we’re aiming for, because it’s also our day-to-day work, of course. At the same time, it is also an honorable thing to do. Out of respect for the soldiers and also for their families.”
“Then you realize that it is still very much alive.”
While Martin tends the graves, his thoughts sometimes turn to the war in Ukraine. “You are shaken awake and then you realize that it is still very much alive. We really shouldn’t get these kinds of war cemeteries anymore, but I’m afraid it will happen there too.”
For the caretaker, there is no detail in the cemetery that escapes him. In the twinkling of an eye he clears a rosebush near a grave of some leaves that have had their day. “I will take care of everyone who is here with love, and soon also for the Czechoslovakians. I make no distinction. They should never be forgotten.”
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