Ju 87 of Richard Hann I/StG2 KIA on May 11 1940

[Peter Cornwell]

Alexander & Luc,

When the Germans concentrated their war dead to cemeteries like Cannock Chase and, it seems also Lommel, they tended to bring them together en-bloc from smaller local cemeteries which makes sense. So it is possible to get an idea of the previous burial site from their present block/grave number though, in my experience, not an exact science but worth the effort as useful clues can often result. There is also no guarantee that the previous burial place was their original burial site, some being moved more than once.

It is striking how far apart these burials were but it would be most useful to know where Obergefr FISCHER was originally buried – anyone? Also, I confess that I had assumed that the crash reported at Attenhoven was down near Landen, but the burial of CHUCHRA at Leuven suggests that it was just north of there.

From Luc’s posting, my contention that WERK & CHUCHRA were a crew is plainly wrong – even accepting bale outs or badly wounded taken elsewhere for treatment, they were buried too far apart from one another. From the burial evidence I agree with Alexander that WERK & HAHN appear to make a much better pairing. Many thanks for the extra information and inputs, it is much appreciated.