Dutch Care For Services Graves

Northern Advocate, 4 December 1947, Page 4

Dutch Care For Services Graves

The regard with which Allied servicemen are held in Holland is typified by a letter recently received by a Whangarei resident from a Dutch boy who is tending her son’s grave. Enclosed in the letter are two photographs of the individual grave and the surroundings. From the photograph it can be seen that care has been lavished on the sacred ground. At the head of each grave is a simple cross with the name of the serviceman and the whole plot is surrounded by a border of shrubs. It is the'practice of the War Graves Committee in the Netherlands to pass on any letters of inquiry concerning an individual grave to the person who has taken the responsibility of looking after it. Relatives thus have a personal contact with the people who are keeping the memorial cemeteries as a tribute to the men who gave their lives in the liberation. The letter received by the Whangarei resident is from a 20-year-old man living on the island of Texel. GENUINE SYMPATHY His letter is couched in text-book English, but the quaint expressions cannot disguise the genuine spirit of sympathy and the obvious interest he is taking in the family of the deceased serviceman. He describes the island, which must be a beautiful spot and of which he is obviously very proud. The young Dutchman is about to enter the army but he writes that he has arranged for a friend to attend to the grave. He says that he may be sent to Indonesia but he does not wish to fight the natives, as he looks upon them as friends. The grammar of the letter may creak but the spirit does more to foster international goodwill than a dozen treaties.