Liberation Route Marker 212: The African-American gravediggers of Margraten

The African-American gravediggers of Margraten
In the autumn of 1944, the Americans choose the village of Margraten as the final resting place for the men killed in battle. Margraten has just been liberated, and whilst the fighting continues elswhere, a group of African-American soldiers are given the task of digging their graves.

One member of this group is 19-year-old Jefferson Wiggings, a messenger from Alabama and First Sergeant of the 960th QMSC (Quartermaster Service Company). He is sent to help the 3136th QMSC which is already struggling with the enormous number of soldiers being brought for burial.

The military cemetery near Margraten and Cadier en Keer is marked by a 30-metre-high landmark shaped like a tower. It is the only American cemetery in the Netherlands and covers an area of more than 26 hectares of what used to be arable land. Most of the 8,301 servicemen buried here died during the liberation of the south-east of the Netherlands and the Battle of the Rhineland and the advance to the Ruhr region.

Liberation Route Europe is a certified Cultural Route of the Council of Europe. With hundreds of sites and stories in nine European countries, the route links the main regions along the advance of the Allied Forces in 1943-1945.
The entire route consists of themed routes that can be travelled by by hiking, walking, cycling and car. These routes pass numerous historical and interesting sites and tell stories from a multitude of perspectives that were important in the final phase of World War II.
Many routes feature listening spots, offering the opportunity to listen to a historical story at a location. In addition, many ‘Vectors of Memory’ have been placed, indicating that the passer-by is on one of the Liberation Routes.
The routes can be found on the Liberation Route Europe website or in the app through which many stories can also be listened to.

Do you have more information about this location? Inform us!

Source

• Text: TracesOfWar & Liberation Route Europe
• Photos: Arie van Wijngaarden