German casualties buried in Warminster Churchyard

Discussion in 'Axis Units' started by red ling, Feb 4, 2017.

  1. red ling

    red ling Member

    Can anyone help me find out the history of 3 German airmen and 1 German soldier buried in the churchyard at St Denys Warminster
     

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  2. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    Could this be Busch's pass ?
    Luftwaffe Bombers of the Blitz 1940-1941

    Is this the Herrman listed ?
    Kracker Luftwaffe Archive
     
    Last edited: Feb 4, 2017
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  3. RCG

    RCG Senior Member, Deceased

    Soldier Possibly a POW from camp at Codford, Aston Gifford. 8 miles from Warminster.
     
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  4. red ling

    red ling Member

    Thank you very much for the info and web sites to look at. Kingston Deverill is about 5 miles from Warminster, towards Mere and has a flying club. Codford is on the A36 to Salisbury and had army training camps for WW1.
     
  5. red ling

    red ling Member

    Have found an article in Warminster Times which tells of the funeral of these German airmen. Unfortunately I have been unable to locate the grave site.
     

    Attached Files:

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  6. hucks216

    hucks216 Member

    Page 826 of Vol 7 in the Luftwaffe Crash Archive series gives some details about the combat and crew of this aircraft. It looks like their bodies were reinterred at Cannock Chase.
    The aircraft took off at 2030 from Chateaudun to attack Liverpool Docks. Flying at 13,000ft it was attacked after crossing the English coast from astern by a Beaufighter. The pilot (Flugzeugführer) and wireless operator (Bordfunker) baled out but the pilot's parachute failed to open. The observer (Beobachter) also bailed out but his parachute caught on the aerial mast. The aircraft exploded on impact with debris being scattered over 50 acres.

    Luftwaffe records have Hermann's rank as Feldwebel while RAF Air Intelligence recorded it as Hauptmann (Captain).

    Crew:
    Flugzeugführer Hauptmann Herbert Hermann - Cannock Chase 6/353
    Beobachter Oberfeldwebel Herbert Busch - Cannock Chase 6/351 (had completed 20 sorties over the UK)
    Bordfunker Feldwebel Karl Berger - injured
    Bordmechaniker Feldwebel Julius Braue - Cannock Chase 6/352
     
    Last edited: Apr 5, 2017
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  7. red ling

    red ling Member

    Thank you for this information. No wonder I could not find the graves in the churchyard.
     
  8. Harry Ree

    Harry Ree Very Senior Member

    Cannock Chase has two military cemeteries...situated on the Stafford-Hednesford road

    (a) CWGC cemetery which contains graves of 24 British,73 New Zealanders of the World War 1 and 3 British dead of World War 2,together with 256 German dead of World War 1 and 29 of World War 2.

    (b) German Military Cemetery which was newly created in a low valley close by to the CWGC Cemetery and bordered at the south by a pine forest.Its creation as a concentration cemetery arose from a British Government-West German Government agreement of 1959 and was designed and constructed by the VDK.(German War Graves Commission....a voluntary organisation on behalf of the German government) The remains of 4940 German dead were re-interred here,2134 from World War 1 and 2797 from World War 2.Most were those Germans who died in captivity...others were airmen killed when their airships or aircraft were brought down and sailors of the Kreigsmarine whose bodies were washed ashore.

    Although the majority of the dead were transferred here by 1967 when the cemetery opened,there are 147 graves containing 256 German dead of World War 1 and 1044 German dead still lie in locations within the UK.This is in addition to the 111 German Second World War burials at Ford George on Guernsey and Brookwood Military Cemetery which contains 8 World War 1 dead and 46 World War 2 dead.

    4 Zeppelin crews were also transferred to Cannock from their original burial locations at Potters Bar,Great Burstead and Therberton....each crew were re-interred in caskets in a common grave which is found at the entrance to the cemetery...."Side by Side with their Comrades" is inscribed on their memorial.

    It would appear that the CWGC undertakes the maintenance of the cemetery under the 1959 agreement.

    Worth a visit....if only stones could talk as they say.
     

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