De samenwerking tussen het stichtingsbestuur en de Britse afdeling van het Navo-hoofdkwartier in Brunssum wordt steeds hechter.
Er vindt structureel overleg plaats, partijen vergaderen meermaals met elkaar.
De organisatie wordt van militaire kant zeer professioneel aangestuurd. Dit komt mede doordat op het hoogste niveau veel erkenning en waardering bestaat voor het Sittardse Oorlogsgravencomité en haar activiteiten.
Zo werd onlangs de volgende verklaring vrijgegeven:
Sittard Remembrance Ceremony 9 Nov 14
Statement by Air Marshal Graham Stacey CBE MBE RAF
Deputy Commander Joint Force Command Brunssum
Invited to make a statement with regard to the work of the Sittard War Graves Committee (SWGC) I must emphasize it is my distinct privilege to do so. Formed in 1946, well before the arrival of JFC Brunssum in 1967, the SWGC has been quietly but professionally going about its work for nearly 70 years.
The SWGC organizes local remembrance ceremonies for Commonwealth Soldiers who have given their lives for the Netherlands in WWII and strives to keep their memories alive. Annually, on Remembrance Sunday, SWGC members are at the heart of the planning that underpins a large multi-national remembrance service that starts at St. Peter’s Church, Sittard, and concludes at the Commonwealth War Cemetery in Ophoven. Touchingly, they also go to great lengths to invite family members of fallen soldiers to attend this ceremony and pay all expenses incurred.
A total of 239 soldiers rest in peace at Ophoven; of these, six are ‘unknown’. A further 20 (one ‘unknown’) are buried at the Sittard General Cemetery.
I commend the exceptional work of the Sittard War Graves Committee; I thank them on behalf of the families they continue to help; and I wish them continued success in all they do.
Wij danken Air Marshal Stacey voor zijn warme woorden.
