Royal Navy Officer at a Funeral in Germany- Picture Mystery

Based on the data of your grandfather, I think it is likely that the funeral took place somewhere in the area of Hesedorf.
But to find out about crashes in 1941 is quite difficult: Between Bremen and Hamburg it literally rained airplanes.
For the end of July 1941 alone I could find three possible crashes in the surrounding areas by a quick search.
The crash reports of the XIth Luftgau (Hamburg) could possibly bring more clarity (stored at BA/MA)
I will try if I can find out something about it through an old contact I know from my times engaged in crash investigation.
But this will take a few days in any case
regards
Olli

 

Just noticed and quite a long shot - Image 4 the person just to the right of the priest is holding what looks like a camera, wonder if there are other photos of this event elsewhere in German archives
The same person could also have taken the photo Image 3

TD


It also seems from reading the CWGC details of Hamburg Cemetery that it was used to consolidate burials from around the area - Cemetery Details | CWGC so perhaps there was a re burial at Hamburg from somewhere near Hesedorf

Just thinking of other ways of resolving your question

 

Olli, I hold you entirely (and happily) responsible for putting this thought in my head dear chap. I'm sure it must be in the Swinemünde/Usedom vicinity. The sandy soil has me stuck on it being in this area.

Hopefully one of the RAF specialists will pick up on it as 50 squadron conducted operations in this area in early/spring 1940 (I've read it somewhere before but can't find any paperwork at the moment).

Keep searching chaps, some sort of result will turn up.

Kind regards, always,

Jim.

 

Edit - it has established further in this thread that the funeral occurred in June 1941 and was of a RAF aircrew so the following has become redundant, but I'm leaving it here anyway


That must be a British Army Chaplain graveside clutching a bible in Image 4 - with clerical collar under his BD blouse & his trousers are bloused into his socks / boots

Sticking with the RN theme to start with, it could be the burial of a fellow RN officer or it could just be that the RN Captain was the senior POW in the area

Of the identified RN burials in Germany in 1940 / 1941 most of them were re-buried in Berlin or south of there so highly unlikely to have originally been buried in a coastal area. That leaves a few possibilities such as:

Lieutenant William Brindley Jackson Royal Naval Reserve of HMS Voltaire - son of James William and Nancy Glassbrooke Jackson; husband of Dorothy Bogan Jackson of Detroit, Michigan, USA who was killed on the 5th of May 1941 and buried at Cuxhaven (Brockswalde) before being moved to Becklingen War Cemetery post-war

Commander James Campbell Clouston Royal Navy of HMS Isis (he was the pier-master during the Dunkirk evacuation) - son of William Stewart Clouston and of Evelyn Stewart Clouston (nee Campbell); husband of Gwyneth Clouston of Canada who was killed on the 3rd of June 1940 and buried at Cuxhaven (Brockswalde) before being moved to Becklingen War Cemetery post-war

 

Jim,
there is also plenty of sandy soil in the Wesermünder Geest. (I grew up in a region like this)
Geest - Wikipedia
But we are all still in the fog and will continue to explore all options.
Still, it's nice to see that we're slowly making some progress.
I am very curious to see where the journey will take us.
regards
Olli

 

Edit - it has established further in this thread that the funeral occurred in June 1941 and not August 1941 as shown on the IWM link (the AWM also states August 1941)

IWM caption "Royal Air Force (RAF) funeral at Stalag XB, Sandbostel in August 1941" print

(note that Hesedorf is 10km from Sandbostel)

"Initially, the dead of Stalag X-B were buried in the war cemetery at Parnewinkel where a WW1 POW camp had been located. As the number of dead rose in 1940, a second cemetery was established near Sandbostel, about 1.2 kilometres from the camp. Non-Soviet fatalities were buried with military honours in individual graves"



Watson, John Edward Trevor (Photographer) - Photographs mainly of prisoner of war camp theatre productions (Barbary Coast 1849; The Desert Song) at Stalag XB, Sandbostel and a series of prints covering a Royal Air Force funeral at Sandbostel in August 1941. Also, a series of photographs showing the site of Milag Nord at Westertimke near Bremen, taken by the donor in 1957 while on a business trip to Germany.

36 black and white photographic prints and photo-postcards dating from the Second World War, a number of which are mounted on loose album pages. Also 19 black and white print (dimensions: 125mm x 85mm) glued to notepaper bearing caption notes. The nine sheets of note paper are stapled together to form a booklet.

 

BINGO! Excellent work Dave
Sandbostel, Germany. A funeral service at Stalag Xb Ilag Internment Camp for the crew of an RAF ...

Lagerfriedhof Sandbostel

 

Cheers - I didn't even think of looking for a copy of the photo at the AWM - but it states that the funeral occurred in August 1941 when it was actually June 1941 as established further in this thread - the IWM link also states that it was August

 

Sandbostel, Germany. A funeral service at Stalag Xb Ilag Internment Camp for the crew of an RAF ...
Sandbostel, Germany. A funeral service at Stalag Xb Ilag Internment Camp for the crew of an RAF Bristol Blenheim bomber who were all killed when their aircraft was shot down.

Bristol Blenheim - Wikipedia
General characteristics
Crew: 3

TD

Possibles
Blenheim IV V6266 [Royal Air Force Aircraft Serial and Image Database]
Blenheim IV V6439 [Royal Air Force Aircraft Serial and Image Database]
Blenheim IV V6322 [Royal Air Force Aircraft Serial and Image Database]
[Royal Air Force Aircraft Serial and Image Database]

 

I have a feeling that the scene is not from Germany for from my experience of visiting civilian German cemeteries, albeit postwar, German cemeteries in Germany are maintained in a very good state. Even if the location was in Germany, I would expect that the cemetery would have not been left unkempt as shown in Image 2 at this stage of the war.

The other point of note is that the grave on the first left appears to be associated with aviation...could this be a war grave. It carries at the top of the black plaque what appears to be the image of an aircraft with the date of birth and death not distinguishable plus what has had been stated before, an indistinguishable name If it is a war grave then it is unlikely that a NOK would be involved.

There appears to be clear evidence of one RAF serviceman among the mourners but the most interesting feature of the event is that it was being recorded by a cameraman who might have been from the Propaganda Ministry. (Image 4) Goebbels exploited events such as this for world consumption

Having said that if the cameraman was from the Propaganda Ministry, the event might well be retained in the Bundesarchiv Militararchiv Freiburg. A search of the files at Freiburg might throw up the event and its location.

 

From the Sandbostel camp website, link to friedhof (cemetery) page, which has within it "Image 4", with a IWM credit (but no reference number), plus a 1940s plan of the friedhof.

Hence, all being correct, Sandbostel Friedhof it surely must be.

Here's the link (as per Olli's (itdan) post above).

Lagerfriedhof Sandbostel

Well done all you good folks, top job.

Kind regards, always,

Jim.

 

'Tug' was a naval nickname for those with the Wilson surname.

Derived from the nickname of a former First Sea Lord (1909-11) Admiral of the Fleet Sir Arthur Kynvet Wilson, also awarded the VC when fighting with the Naval Brigade at the Battle of El Teb in 1884 in the Sudan during the Mahdi rebellion. Admiral Wilson's nickname reputedly comes from an incident when he repeatedly ordered a battleship to try and come alongside and in exasperation offered her Captain a tug to assist.
Why were WILSON'S called 'Tug'? (World War One) Page 1 RootsChat.Com

 

Bulls eye Jim. Itdan's .post gave the lead.......apologies for the misleading post although I think that there is something to be said to delve into the Freiburg archive......the IWM does state that the photograph is unknown and the British authorities must have obtained the photographic evidence from the Germans.

Now the road is clearer it should be possible to draw up a aircraft losses sustained in that particular area of air operations. Looking at the month of August 1941,I'll go for a Hampden or a Manchester......er ..it could be a Wellington

 

I woke up to all of this...and I'm completely stunned. You are all scholars and gentlemen! I can't thank you enough...

 

In August 1941 the SBO at pow camp XB was Captain Graham Francis Winstanley WILSON D.S.O. R.N. Commanding Officer of HMS Vandyck, sunk during the Norwegian campaign. His papers are at the IWM including a personal diary from June - Dec 1941.

Notebook containing presscuttings concerning his service as a midshipman in the battleship HMS FORMIDABLE, 1903 - 1904; ts sailing orders and ms drafts of reports and letters of proceedings relating to his command of HMS ZINNIA (1st Sloop Flotilla) and her employment on anti-submarine patrols and convoy escort duties in the Western Approaches, March 1917 - October 1918; together with four ms diaries (388pp) for June - December 1941 and May 1943 - May 1945 kept while he was the Senior British Officer in Stalag XB Sandbostel and then in Marlag and Milag Nord, containing brief but informative daily entries about life in the camp and at the 'holiday camp' for POWs in Schloss Steinberg, Bavaria, and a few reports on conditions in the camp and on the conduct of individual British officers.
1030004526

Also
Captain Graham Francis Winstanley Wilson
Royal Navy (RN) Officers 1939-1945 - W

 

What an incredible read. Superb investigation, research and teamwork, and all in less than 24 hours, bloody well done to all of you!

And welcome to you MTG.

 

Found another image. Looks like image four was taken when the airman furthest on the right was being buried.
My grandfather is wearing the Stahlhelm, first from the left (with sword rather than rifle)

 

I think JDKR was on to something about multiple burials... the priest in the post above is not the same as the one in the other images, I think.
That mound of dirt behind the Luftwaffe soldier in the foreground seems similar in the other photos but the graves have increased (if its the same spot).

 

That new photo shows something in the region of 11 graves, which presumably are military ones at the time the photo was taken. All fairly recent so presume they arent civilian

Poses further questions

TD

 

Dave well done great sleuthing