German Dieppe deaths

Discussion in 'Axis Units' started by Steve49, Jun 29, 2021.

  1. Steve49

    Steve49 Boycott P&O...

    Gents,

    A long shot, but can anybody provide unit details for any of the following German casualties who are buried at Bourdon war cemetery. They all have the date of death as 19th August 1942, so I assume that their deaths were related to Operation Jubilee.

    Ofw Albert Rudolph (26)
    Fw Rudolf Blankenburg (22)
    Fw Friedrich Franke (41)
    Fw Wilhelm Fritsch (23)
    Fw Stephan Kling (26)
    Fw Walter Müller (27)
    Fw Fritz Wargenau (37)
    Uffz Fritz von Berg (22)
    Uffz Heinz Depping (22)
    Uffz Karl-Heinz Grasse (21)
    Uffz Willy Hammer (45)
    Uffz Alfons Iger (21)
    Uffz Horst Wieler (30)
    H/Gefreiter Heinrich Hucklenbroich (25)
    Ofr Fritz Joachim Brückner (21)
    Ofr Max Kammerel (23)
    Ofr Ernst-Gustav Oelrich (32)
    Ofr Kar Porstendörfer (22)
    Ofr Heinz Richartz (22)
    Ofr Hans Rieder (22)
    Ofr Walter Zirden (20)
    Gef Paul Dahlke (21)
    Gef Herbert Kaufmann (28)
    Gef Alfred Lorenz (20)
    Gef Bruno Mallow (19)
    Gef Rolf Schlüter (21)
    Soldat Franz Bünten (38)
    Soldat Karl-Heinz Zöllner (24)
    Maat Kurt Wittmann (20)

    Additionally, I wonder if anybody knows where the other German Dieppe raid related casualties could be buried? Possibly it could be Champigny-Saint-Andre, but that cemetery seems some distance from Dieppe.

    Regards,

    Steve
     
  2. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    PROBABLY DIEPPE, FRANCE, 1942-08. GERMAN BURIAL PARTIES LOWERING BODIES INTO GRAVES IN A GERMAN ...

    Description
    PROBABLY DIEPPE, FRANCE, 1942-08. GERMAN BURIAL PARTIES LOWERING BODIES INTO GRAVES IN A GERMAN MILITARY CEMETERY. OFFICIAL CASUALTY FIGURES FOR THE 302ND GERMAN DIVISION AFTER THE DIEPPE RAID WERE 121 KILLED AND 212 WOUNDED OR MISSING. DONOR: E. RICKINSON

    It could be that some were wounded and died later at a hospital therefore buried away from the battle site, or cemetery closest to the battle

    TD

    German veterans remember defending Dieppe - CBC Archives
    German casualties at Dieppe are estimated at 591. The Luftwaffe lost 46 planes in the fight
     
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  3. Mathsmal

    Mathsmal Senior Member

    Hi

    I've checked the first few for you and they are all Luftwaffe casualties, not specific to the Dieppe landings - although the planes might have been shot down during the landings?

    Ofw Albert Rudolph (26)
    5/KG40 - Feindlug im Kanal (Dieppe). Originally buried at Abbeville. I think his body was recovered from the sea on 25 Oct 1942.

    Fw Rudolf Blankenburg (22)
    6/KG2 - Uber see. Originally buried at Abbeville

    Fw Friedrich Franke (41)
    Flg H Kp E 16/VI - Abbeville-Drucat. Originally buried at Abbeville

    Fw Wilhelm Fritsch (23)
    6/KG2 - I can't quite read the details but it mentions 40 KM north west of Dieppe. Originally buried at Montruel

    Fw Stephan Kling (26)
    7/KG40 - Armelkanal Feindflug im Kanal (Dieppe). Originally buried at Bergues (Dunkirk)
     
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  4. Steve49

    Steve49 Boycott P&O...

    Hi,

    Thanks for that, you're right, I should have checked them against the Luftwaffe aircrew losses. As I had a number with KG2 and KG40.

    Ofw Albert Rudolph (26) = I had Ofw Albert Rudolf with 6./KG40
    Fw Stephan Kling (26) = I had Fw Stefan Klink with 5./KG40
    Fw Walter Müller (27) = I had same with 5./KG40.
    Fw Wilhelm Fritsch (23) = I had with II/KG2
    Fw Rudolf Blankenburg (22) = I had with 6./KG2
    Uffz Heinz Depping (22) = I had Uffz Heinrich Depping with 6./KG2
    Uffz Karl-Heinz Grasse (21) = I had with 6./KG2
    Uffz Alfons Iger (21) = I had with 9./KG2
    Uffz Horst Wieler (30) = I had with 9./KG2
    Ofr Fritz Joachim Brückner (21) = I had Obgfr Fritz Brückner with 7./KG2


    Was 'Flg H Kp E 16/VI' a ground support unit at Abbeville-Drucat? The only casualties I had identified at that airfield due to the USAAF B.17 raid were from Lei.Res.flakabt.773.

    Regards

    Steve
     
  5. ltdan

    ltdan Nietenzähler

    some random background info:

    the German Air Fleet 3 lost 74 aircraft (of which 50 were total losses) on 19 August 1942: 5 reconnaissance planes, 29 fighters, and 40 bombers. Luftwaffe personnel losses totaled 109: 47 dead, 25 wounded and 37 missing. The Wehrmacht suffered a total of at least 311 killed and 280 wounded. Most of them, as TD wrote earlier, from the 302nd ID.

    Bourdon and Champigny-Saint-Andre are collective cemeteries with correspondingly large coverage areas. So it depends also on WHERE the soldiers were buried before.

    Flg H Kp = Fliegerhorst-Kompanie: was permanently assigned to the air base (usually guard, maintenance and office services) and consisted mostly of older aged soldiers
     
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  6. Steve49

    Steve49 Boycott P&O...

    Hi,

    Thanks for the info about the Fliegerhorst-Kompanie. I hadn't noticed any mention of that units casualties in the Luftwaffe loss lists.

    I had the following Luftwaffe losses:
    Aircrew: 5 Officers and 78 OR killed, 3 Officers and 5 OR POW and 2 Officers and 26 OR wounded
    Ground units:1 Officer and 24 OR killed and 51 OR wounded (this doesn't include the new one from Fliegerhorst-Kompanie E 16/VI)

    Regarding 302.ID losses, I only have 5 Officers and 96 OR killed, 4 OR POW and 5 Officers and 175 wounded, plus 28 OR killed, 4 OR POW and 1 Officer and 32 OR wounded from coastal artillery units.

    I guess the majority of the 302.ID casualties must have been transferred to Champigny-Saint-Andre. I have identified four Officers who died from that unit, none of whom were buried at Bourdon. Plus one Luftwaffe officer who was killed whilst fighting No3 Commando near Berneval.

    Regards,

    Steve
     
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  7. ltdan

    ltdan Nietenzähler

    As usual, the loss figures vary:
    19 Fw.190A of JG.2,
    6 FW.190A of JG.26,
    2 Bf.109G of JG.2,
    1 Bf.109G of JG.26
    = 28 fighters

    Battle over Dieppe 19th August 1942
    23 fighters, 16 from JG 2 and 7 from JG 26. 14 pilots were killed: 8 from JG 2 and 6 from JG 26.
    Possibly only the total losses are counted here

    For the bombers, unfortunately, it´s far less exactly:

    Kampfgeschwader 2
    Total deployment: 63 aircraft
    Losses: 14 aircraft total, 12 heavy damage:
    I. Group: 4 total and 4 damaged
    II. group: 7 total and 2 damaged
    III. group: 3 total and 6 damaged

    III/KG 53 had the following losses on 19.8.1942.
    Aircraft Zimmer, Reinhardt, Depfenhard, Siedler, Hass, Berkemann, Kiesl, Kiburg, Brösdorf, Nüsser,
    = 10 aircraft

    A total of 31 destroyed or damaged Do 217 E-4s of both Geschwader are reported over Dieppe on that day, according to which 23 aircraft at KG 2 and KG 40 together must have been damaged in air combat over the immediate landing zone.
    6 planes were reported hit by the bombardment of the airfield:
    (8th Air Force): Mission 2: 22 of 24 B-17s bomb Abbeville/Drucat Airfield, France at 1032-1040 hours (...)123 Spitfire Mk Vs of the 31st Fighter Group support the raid on Dieppe

    II./KG.40, KFlGr.106 and KG.77 were also involved, but I can't find any reliable loss data in a hurry
     
    Last edited: Jun 30, 2021
  8. hucks216

    hucks216 Member

    As you know the dates of death, have you used the German Killed in Action cards on Ancestry? You can also access them for free by registering for the basic membership on Fold3. That will tell you the men's units and place of original burial (as well as other details). If you use Volksbund that will tell you where they are buried now.

    For example:
    Kurt Wittmann
    Born: 10th July 1922 in Wieskau
    At time of death he was serving in 14.U-Jagdflottille
    At the time it looks like he was buried at the German war cemetery at Montreuil in Grave 41.

    Using the date of birth and death to help narrow down any other entries, cross referencing it in Volksbund shows that he is now buried in the war cemetery in Bourdon; Block 25, Row 20, Grave 750.

    48724_6907_0352-00297.jpg 48724_6907_0352-00295.jpg
     
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  9. Steve49

    Steve49 Boycott P&O...

    Hi,

    Thanks for the info.

    Regarding KG53 most of their losses occurred on the Eastern Front, as only a handful of their aircraft remained in France at the time of the Dieppe raid. Oblt Berkemann's aircraft is the only loss I can attribute to operations around Dieppe (plus a second aircraft which was 25% damaged).

    Regards,

    Steve
     
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  10. Steve49

    Steve49 Boycott P&O...

    Hi,

    Thanks for that advice, I'd always steered clear of ancestry sites because I'd assumed that they all required a fee and my 'hobby' has already cost me plenty in trips to Kew and Canada, amongst other places!

    I've registered and yes Kurt Wittmann, 14.Uj-Flottille. So I guess he was killed onboard Uj1404, as Uj1411 doesn't seem to have suffered an fatal casualties.

    Regards,

    Steve
     
  11. Lindele

    Lindele formerly HA96


    I wonder if their families know.
    Does anyone know were they lived? The Volksbund may be.
    Stefan.
     

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