On the southern outskirts of Nijmegen , amidst the forests of the Jonkerbos district , lies one of the most beautiful Allied war cemeteries in the Netherlands. More than 1,650 soldiers who died in the Second World War rest here. Mostly British, Canadian, Australian or New Zealanders. But there are also Poles.

The necropolis was established as a central burial place for soldiers killed in Operation Market Garden and during the battles to liberate the Netherlands. The cemetery opened in 1947, although some sources claim a year later. Maintained with British simplicity and order, it creates a harmonious space. The rows of white gravestones, the sacrificial cross in the middle and the evergreen trees are its most important and distinctive elements.

Among the graves, there are also those adorned with familiar-sounding names. They are scattered throughout the cemetery. Six or seven graves (sources give different numbers), are memorials to Poles, participants in Allied air and land operations, mainly soldiers of the Polish Armed Forces in the West.

Among those buried at Jonkerbos is Sergeant Jerzy Pietrow , an airman from the 301st Bomb Squadron, killed in March 1942 during a flight over the Netherlands. Next to him are buried other Polish soldiers who fought for the freedom of Poland and Europe. Their memory is being cultivated, as can be seen from events a few years ago.

In 2019, the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage announced that one of the graves previously marked as "unknown airman" had been identified as Valentyn Sieczka , a platoon sergeant from the 300th Bomb Squadron "Mazowiecka Land" of the Polish Air Force. Born on 5 February 1910 in Opatów, before the war a non-commissioned officer in the Air Force reserve, he made nine combat flights. On 18 or 19 June 1941, his Wellington aircraft was shot down over Bremen. His remains, originally buried on the island of Ameland, were moved to Jonkerbos and a ceremony was held on 14 November 2019 to restore his name to the gravestone.

The Jonkerbos war cemetery in Nijmegen has something metaphysical about it. After several decades, it still unites the nations that struggled together against Adolf Hitler's troops. Every year on Remembrance Day, the people of Nijmegen lay flowers in the cemetery, including on the crowned eagle graves.