German Identification & burial procedures of Allied Dead

Found these Intelligence bulletins within WO 361/465 (Liaison with AG 13(Graves): identification of graves in Burma, Cassino and Anzio beachhead areas, St Valerie, France, Greece and Crete)

May be of interest as they give an idea of how the Germans handled allied dead.

 

Thanks a lot for that. It fall in that category of - one of those things I did not realise I wanted to know!

 

During my research work I have discovered that most of the Bomber Command crews who were killed were taken to a central mortuary.It was there that they were identified,and the place of the crash was recorded.If they crashed near a big city then they were usually buried in a special plot in the cemetery.Those who crashed near villages were usually taken to a small town mortuary to be identified.I all cases they attached a cardboard identification tag to the big toe.In many cases the Luftwaffe attended,and the local Priest conducted the service. Then a Lufwaffe firing party would fire a volley over the grave.Many cases are recorded of the local villagers tending the graves and putting flowers on them. I visited a village cemetery in Rhineland Pfalz in May this year where the villagers had at their own expense erected proper marble grave markers. I hope that this is helpful to you.