Vredenhof - Schiermonnikoog - The Netherlands - Churchyard Crosses on Waymarking.com

The island of Schiermonnikoog was occupied by Germans on May 16, 1940
troops. During the war the German occupation force would consist of:
more than seven hundred soldiers, compared to about eight hundred islanders.
The first war dead to be buried at Vredenhof was the English
pilot Michael E. Ryan. He died on May 24, 1940 and was born on June 1
buried on Schiermonnikoog. In the following war years
dozens more war victims will follow.

On August 2, 1940, no fewer than eighteen dead French people washed up on shore
the beach. The men had died during the flight from the
Allied armies from Dunkirk and were by the current of the
washed up on the beach of Schiermonnikoog a few months later.
They were all buried at Vredehof. After the war, nine became French
buried in their homeland at the request of relatives. The other nine
were to be buried in Westkapelle, but through Sake's efforts
van der Werff, the French continued to be buried at Vredenhof. Van der Werff
was awarded for his efforts on behalf of the French victims
the Médaille de Reconnaissance Française.

During the war years, both Allies and Germans would become involved
buried at Vredenhof, where the Allied soldiers also met
military honors were ordered to the ground by the German occupier. Sake
van der Werff took numerous photos of this.

On July 28, 1943, American bombers flew over the Wadden Sea
attacked by German fighters. They got rid of their cargo and
seventeen bombs were dropped on the island. Seven residents died
life and thirteen buildings were in ruins, including the home of the
mayor where Vredenhof's archive and cash register were also kept.
The mayor himself also died during the bombing.
Source:https://www.4en5mei.nl/oorlogsmonumenten/zoeken/2451/schiermonnikoog-oorlogsgraven-op-begraafplaats-vredenhof

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