Cannock Chase Military Cemetery

[Shifter]

Recently, an Australian kindly sent me some photos of my Uncle's grave who was killed on HMS Nabthorpe. He is buried at Rookwood Necropolis, Sydney.

Near to where I live in the UK is the Commonwealth War Cemetery. Many New Zealanders and Australia servicemen who died in the UK are buried there.

If you, or any relation has a family member or friend buried there; I am happy to try and find the grave and send a photograph if you wish.

[steve roberts]

Hi Shifter,in addition to Cannock Chase,ther was a Military Cemetry set up for all German sevice men buried in britain.This was created at Charnock Richard,it was stated some time ago that all German casualties had been re-intered here.This is not true.I recently returned to a villiage caled Clapham in West Sussex and the graves of 5 German Airmen killed when their HE111 crashed in the villiage. Steve

[emason]

There is a Military section in the Thornaby-on-Tees cemetery in which there are about thirty graves of German airmen, as well as Commonwealth casualties.

One of the German graves is quite recent:-

"On November 27, 1997, workers laying sewers for a business park at South Bank, near Middlesbrough, uncovered the wreckage of a German Dornier bomber, which had been brought down in 1942. Because the plane had crashed on a railway line, important for the war effort, only the main wreckage had been cleared before the crater was bulldozed level.

Three burned corpses were recovered. But the Dornier's fourth crew member remained "missing" until discovered among the newly unearthed wreckage. His uniform and other evidence proved him to have been Heinrich Richter, the mechanic-gunner, who had been believed to be one of the corpses. A new headstone was made for the airman buried in Richter's name and, in a moving ceremony in 1998, Richter, under his moved headstone, joined his comrades in a cemetery at Thornaby, Teesside.

The rediscovery of the wreck aroused enormous interest in South Bank, whose residents packed the funeral church.

A nephew of Richter remarked sadly that "honouring a soldier in Germany is taboo". At the funeral, the German Consul-General expressed his surprise - and appreciation - of the "sympathy" demonstrated on Teesside.

A former Junkers pilot also later wrote in gratitude for "the honour and respect shown by the people of South Bank and the veterans. It was very honourable to see veterans take down their flags when the body was lowered into the grave. British soldiers with caps and medals and their flags England has done it. Germany has not done it".

One of three brothers who were all killed in the war, 30-year-old Richter had flown at least 60 war sorties, been wounded in action and awarded two Iron Crosses."

64847

The German graves are behind the Commonwealth graves.

[NSR]

I have only just come across this thread hence the delay. Briefly, because the Cannock German War Cemetery is in Staffordshire it was the practice for groups of German Schoolchildren to be accommodated in the area to visit the site and help in tidying the graves, some like the Zepplin Terrace dating to WW1. An adjacent, slightly smaller site, houses some of the soldiers who had acted as guards to the Cannock POW camp and had succumbed to the 'flu epidemic following the war.

As a reciprocal arrangement, each year a party of Staffordshire schoolchildren, mainly fifth and sixth formers, would spend a week tidying war graves in Germany. My middle daughter was one of those picked to go and found herself alone in Bremen with a party including French, Belgian and Dutch children. The others picked were spread across various towns in Germany where there were war graves. Her group were billeted in a school and the first night she was very homesick but the following day she cheered up, especially as the German Army turned up to feed them extremely well. They were treated very well by the citizens of Bremen and she came away with a good feeling for the people that she met.

This was almost twenty years ago but I hope that the system is still in existence as it gave the youngsters a sense of the destructiveness and futility of war.

Ken

[stewart mcloughlin]

Steve
You mention a German cemetery at 'Charnock Richard'. I know of only one place named that in UK and its not far from me, but have never heard of any German reference.
Do you have any further details?
Stewart