KLAGENFURT WAR CEMETERY
Carinthia
Austria
GPS Coordinates: Latitude: 46.61844, Longitude: 14.27331
Picture © Gerrit Pauwels
Location Information
Klagenfurt is the capital of the Austrian province of Carinthia. The War Cemetery lies 3 kilometres west of the city centre and to the east of the Woerther See.
From Klagenfurt go out of the town west along the Villacher Strasse, which runs parallel to the Lendkanal and then, after 3 kilometres, turn left into Lilienthal Strasse along which the cemetery will be found.
Visiting Information
Wheelchair access possible via main entrance.
Historical Information
Austria was annexed by Germany in March 1938, and many labour, prisoner-of-war and concentration camps were established there by the Germans. The principal POW camps were at Dollerscheim, Gneizendorf, Kaisersteinbruch, Leinz Drau, Spittal Drau and Wolfsburg Gratz.
Commonwealth war dead buried in Austria were mainly servicemen who died in these camps in captivity, airmen who were shot down or crashed while flying over the country and those who died while serving with the army of occupation after the war.
Klagenfurt, the only Commonwealth war cemetery in Austria, was begun in June 1945 by the British occupying forces, who moved graves into it from all over the country. It now contains 589 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War.
Between 1950 and 1954, eight First World War graves (three of them unidentified) were moved into the cemetery from small cemeteries at Innsbruck, Mauthausen, Muhldorf and Vienna. At the same time, special memorials were erected to two other First World War casualties whose graves at Muhldorf and Vienna could not be found.
Total Burials: 601.
World War One Identified Casualties: United Kingdom 7.
World War One Unidentified Casualties: 3.
World War Two Identified Casualties: United Kingdom 495, Australia 30, New Zealand 24, South Africa 20, Canada 4, India 3. Total 576.
World War Two Unidentified Casualties: 13.
Klagenfurt is the capital of the Austrian province of Carinthia. The War Cemetery lies 3 kilometres west of the city centre and to the east of the Woerther See.
From Klagenfurt go out of the town west along the Villacher Strasse, which runs parallel to the Lendkanal and then, after 3 kilometres, turn left into Lilienthal Strasse along which the cemetery will be found.
Visiting Information
Wheelchair access possible via main entrance.
Historical Information
Austria was annexed by Germany in March 1938, and many labour, prisoner-of-war and concentration camps were established there by the Germans. The principal POW camps were at Dollerscheim, Gneizendorf, Kaisersteinbruch, Leinz Drau, Spittal Drau and Wolfsburg Gratz.
Commonwealth war dead buried in Austria were mainly servicemen who died in these camps in captivity, airmen who were shot down or crashed while flying over the country and those who died while serving with the army of occupation after the war.
Klagenfurt, the only Commonwealth war cemetery in Austria, was begun in June 1945 by the British occupying forces, who moved graves into it from all over the country. It now contains 589 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War.
Between 1950 and 1954, eight First World War graves (three of them unidentified) were moved into the cemetery from small cemeteries at Innsbruck, Mauthausen, Muhldorf and Vienna. At the same time, special memorials were erected to two other First World War casualties whose graves at Muhldorf and Vienna could not be found.
Total Burials: 601.
World War One Identified Casualties: United Kingdom 7.
World War One Unidentified Casualties: 3.
World War Two Identified Casualties: United Kingdom 495, Australia 30, New Zealand 24, South Africa 20, Canada 4, India 3. Total 576.
World War Two Unidentified Casualties: 13.
Cemetery pictures © Gerrit Pauwels
418811 Pilot Officer
Ronald Thomas Collins
Royal Australian Air Force
7th July 1944, aged 26.
Collective Grave 8. A. 1-7.
Son of Thomas Matthew and Elizabeth Ann Collins, of Brighton, Victoria, Australia.
His headstone bears the inscription "Duty Nobly Done"
Studio portrait of Aircraftman (later Pilot Officer (PO)) Ronald Thomas Collins, RAAF, of Brighton, Vic. Subsequently attached to 40 Squadron RAF, PO Collins worked with the Melbourne Metropolitan Fire Brigade prior to enlisting on 19 June 1942. He was killed whilst on operations to St Polten Austria on 7 July 1944, aged 26 years. Fellow Australian crew members killed on this Wellington X bomber Lp-195, were 418923 Flight Sergeant (Flt Sgt) Rae Charles Dalton and 415811 Warrant Officer (WO) Maxwell Wellman Marsh.
Ronald Thomas Collins
Royal Australian Air Force
7th July 1944, aged 26.
Collective Grave 8. A. 1-7.
Son of Thomas Matthew and Elizabeth Ann Collins, of Brighton, Victoria, Australia.
His headstone bears the inscription "Duty Nobly Done"
Studio portrait of Aircraftman (later Pilot Officer (PO)) Ronald Thomas Collins, RAAF, of Brighton, Vic. Subsequently attached to 40 Squadron RAF, PO Collins worked with the Melbourne Metropolitan Fire Brigade prior to enlisting on 19 June 1942. He was killed whilst on operations to St Polten Austria on 7 July 1944, aged 26 years. Fellow Australian crew members killed on this Wellington X bomber Lp-195, were 418923 Flight Sergeant (Flt Sgt) Rae Charles Dalton and 415811 Warrant Officer (WO) Maxwell Wellman Marsh.
J/29166 Flying Officer
Wilfred Tarquinas De Marco
619 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force
25th April 1945.
Joint Grave 8. B. 6-7.
Wilfred Tarquinas De Marco
619 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force
25th April 1945.
Joint Grave 8. B. 6-7.
J/95522 Pilot Officer
Norman Hubert Johnston
619 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force
25th April 1945, aged 21.
Joint Grave 8. B. 6-7.
Son of Mr. and Mrs. Gerald H. Johnston, of Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
His headstone bears the inscription "He Is Just Away And Ever Within Our Hearts"
Norman Hubert Johnston
619 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force
25th April 1945, aged 21.
Joint Grave 8. B. 6-7.
Son of Mr. and Mrs. Gerald H. Johnston, of Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
His headstone bears the inscription "He Is Just Away And Ever Within Our Hearts"
415811 Warrant Officer
Maxwell Wellman Marsh
Royal Australian Air Force
7th July 1944, aged 32.
Collective Grave 8. A. 1-7.
Son of Wellman and Edwarda Mary Marsh, of Bassendean, Western Australia.
His headstone bears the inscription "Greater Love Hath No Man Than He Who Gives His Life For His Country"
Studio portrait of 415811 Warrant Officer (WO) Maxwell Wellman Marsh RAAF, observer of No. 40 Squadron, RAF, of Pingelly, WA. He was a farmer prior to enlisting in February 1942. WO Marsh was a crew member of Wellington X LP195 which was lost during operations over St Polten, Austria, on 7 July 1944. He was 32 years of age. Fellow Australian crew members killed in the same crash were 418923 Flight Sergeant (Flt Sgt) Rae Charles Dalton and 418811 Pilot Officer (PO) Ronald Thomas Collins.
Maxwell Wellman Marsh
Royal Australian Air Force
7th July 1944, aged 32.
Collective Grave 8. A. 1-7.
Son of Wellman and Edwarda Mary Marsh, of Bassendean, Western Australia.
His headstone bears the inscription "Greater Love Hath No Man Than He Who Gives His Life For His Country"
Studio portrait of 415811 Warrant Officer (WO) Maxwell Wellman Marsh RAAF, observer of No. 40 Squadron, RAF, of Pingelly, WA. He was a farmer prior to enlisting in February 1942. WO Marsh was a crew member of Wellington X LP195 which was lost during operations over St Polten, Austria, on 7 July 1944. He was 32 years of age. Fellow Australian crew members killed in the same crash were 418923 Flight Sergeant (Flt Sgt) Rae Charles Dalton and 418811 Pilot Officer (PO) Ronald Thomas Collins.
417233 Warrant Officer
John Arnold McDonald
Royal Australian Air Force
6th July 1944, aged 20.
Collective grave 8. A. 9-10.
Son of Arnold Frederick and Elsie Pretoria McDonald, of McLaren Vale, South Australia.
His headstone bears the inscription "Loved Son Of Mr. And Mrs. A. McDonald Of McLaren Vale, South Australia"
Informal outdoor portrait of 417233 Sergeant, later Warrant Officer (WO) John Arnold McDonald of McLaren Vale, SA. Enlisting in the RAAF in January 1942, WO McDonald trained as a pilot in Australia and Canada under the Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS) and flew Wellington bombers with 104 Squadron RAF in the North African campaign. WO McDonald was killed when his Wellington bomber, serial number EP499, was shot down and crashed during an operational sortie over Austria on the night of 6 July 1944. He was aged 21 at the time of his death.
John Arnold McDonald
Royal Australian Air Force
6th July 1944, aged 20.
Collective grave 8. A. 9-10.
Son of Arnold Frederick and Elsie Pretoria McDonald, of McLaren Vale, South Australia.
His headstone bears the inscription "Loved Son Of Mr. And Mrs. A. McDonald Of McLaren Vale, South Australia"
Informal outdoor portrait of 417233 Sergeant, later Warrant Officer (WO) John Arnold McDonald of McLaren Vale, SA. Enlisting in the RAAF in January 1942, WO McDonald trained as a pilot in Australia and Canada under the Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS) and flew Wellington bombers with 104 Squadron RAF in the North African campaign. WO McDonald was killed when his Wellington bomber, serial number EP499, was shot down and crashed during an operational sortie over Austria on the night of 6 July 1944. He was aged 21 at the time of his death.
A/21236 Private
Rufus Parent
Essex REgiment, R. C. I. C.
25th October 1943.
Plot I. E. 4.
Rufus Parent
Essex REgiment, R. C. I. C.
25th October 1943.
Plot I. E. 4.
WX386 Private
Albert Reynolds
2/11th Bn. Australian Infantry, A. I. F.
18th December 1944, aged 34.
Plot 2. D. 3.
Son of Albert and Amy Rose Reynolds, of East Fremantle, Western Australia.
Albert Reynolds
2/11th Bn. Australian Infantry, A. I. F.
18th December 1944, aged 34.
Plot 2. D. 3.
Son of Albert and Amy Rose Reynolds, of East Fremantle, Western Australia.
403827 Flight Sergeant
Josiah Turner
Royal Australian Air Force
7th July 1944, aged 23.
Plot 4. C. 1.
Son of Josiah and Alice Turner; husband of Joyce Turner, of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia.
His headstone bears the inscription "At The Going Down Of The Sun And In The Morning We Will Remember"
Josiah Turner
Royal Australian Air Force
7th July 1944, aged 23.
Plot 4. C. 1.
Son of Josiah and Alice Turner; husband of Joyce Turner, of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia.
His headstone bears the inscription "At The Going Down Of The Sun And In The Morning We Will Remember"
R/212817 Warrant Officer
Gordon Victor Walker
619 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force
25th April 1945, aged 25.
Plot. 8. B. 8.
Gordon Victor Walker
619 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force
25th April 1945, aged 25.
Plot. 8. B. 8.
