Your thoughts on this???

Whilst doing the rounds at Dunkirk I visited the Military Cemetery at Esquelbecq where the soldiers from the Wormholt massacre are buried.

Whilst there in the corner I found four or five grave stones of German soldiers from the First World War. Nothing unusual there but next to them I found this which I thought rather strange.


Looking at the date of his death I would have thought the area would have been well clear of any German troops by then.

Any thoughts on this?

The second point I thought unusual was next to this stone was a British soldier. (I am kicking myself for not taking a picture because I've forgotten the details) It was the only British one which is wny it struck me as strange to be buried next to 6 or 7 Germans in the corner out of the way.

Any thoughts on this too ?

 

That's about right, Dunkirk was initially bypassed by the Allies until the Canadians besieged the town in September 1944 and later by the Czechs. However, the Germans held out until the final surrender in May 1945.

 

Cheers for that.....any thoughts on the lone British grave next to the German ones?

I was thinking maybe a deserter or traitor and was shot ???

 

Ooooo the plot thickens. Does this help Diane? Its the name etc of the Cemetery where he is buried.

 

Not of Germans.

I took some of Austrailians for Spidge from Aussie RAF and some Aussie Army plus one for me of a Sgt in Signals killed at Dunkirk. My old Regt laid a wreath on his grave a few years ago.

Oh I did take a picture of this too incase anyone is interested ?

 

Cheers Owen yeah thats the grave I thought it was the 14-18 war but seem to remember the name etc. being British.

If he is a Indian Soldier as it seems he is, that's a bit crap putting him in the corner like that.

 

Could someone fill me in on the Wormholt massacre? I am unfamiliar with that event.

tom

 

Check out the following thread where it is well covered.

http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/nw-europe/3169-wormhoudt-massacre.html

 

Is he the Indian next to the Germans?
If it seems they wanted a plot just for Indians, away from the British.


<TABLE class=datatable id=dgCemeteries style="BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse" cellSpacing=0 rules=all border=1><TBODY><TR><TD>BEJ NATH </TD><TD>Driver </TD><TD>PB/18142</TD><TD>Indian Royal Artillery</TD><TD>05/05/1918</TD><TD>Unknown </TD><TD>Indian Plot. A1.</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>


...Just happened to be passing the other day too!...



Dave

 

Drew,
What's strange is that I can't find an entry on the German war grave site for this man ...

d

It's because his grave is in the care of the CWGC, not the VDK. Though some are listed on the VdK site (and they are adding more continuously), this isn't their priority. The CWGC will have him in their lists (but not online).

Dave

 

These may be of interest?...















































I won't bore you all with snaps of further massacre graves to be found in Wormhoudt itself (plus the nice couple of aristo's!):p

Dave

 

One thing that I found a little touching was the fact that the memorial trees near the actual site of the massacre bear the names in the same order as the headstones (see above) - or was it just a co-incidence for these two???

 

When was you there Dave ?

 

When was you there Dave ?

The evening of the 24th (4 days! - God, it seems a lifetime ago already!!!)

Dave

 

That's one helluva conincidence you got Bej Nath!


Not really. I have a habit of taking photos of all the slightly out of the ordinary headstones that I come across no matter what my original intention of visiting (this one struck me simply because it was unbadged and the unit was mentioned simply as "Royal Artillery" (which struck me as odd for a 1918 grave).

(Keep it to yourself, but I've also got a very schoolboyish habit of photographing those whose names appeal to me as mildly amusing or interesting (see below for some very juvenile examples!) - still wanting to get pics of the 4 Hitlers in VdK care!)

Dave.