If you have visited either the Branches commonwealth war graves page or been to the Blandford cemetery that holds them you will have notice eight of these are German graves marked with iron crosses.
A special thank you goes to Terence Dear of the Blandford Civic society for the research he has done on the German graves. Here is a picture of him with Lieutenant Colonel Markus Albrecht and Warrant Officer 2nd Class Ulrich Heinicke at the 2018 Commonwealth War Grave Memorial.
World War I
Grave 74:
Karl Jager (Jaeger)
Born – 1896
Died – 21/5/18
English Death Certificate – “River Stour, Little Canford Farm, Hampreston RD”
Cause of Death – “Accidentally drowned whilst Bathing”
Rank – “German Prisoner of War”
The Influenza Epidemic reached Blandford POW Camp on 21st September 1918. By 26th October, 59 prisoners had died. The figure rose to 78 by 2nd November. There were 252 cases (198 sent to hospital) in just the one week ending 26th October. The outbreak at Blandford was so severe that it was discussed in Parliament and reported in The Times.
Spanish flu afflicted some people with a psychosis and delirium that could cause them to commit murder and suicide. A small wood below the Blandford Camp was apparently called 'Suicide Wood' because of the number of RAF personnel who had flu committing suicide there.
Grave 75:
Max Heinitz
Born – 1889
Died – 4/11/18
(Presumed to have died of ‘flu. English death certificate on order.)
The six of the remaining seven graves require more explanation about World War II and what was happening locally not just on the ground but in the skies overhead above Blandford Forum and the rest of Dorset.
During World War II the skies over Britain were a massive battlefield filled day and night with different fighters and bombers either attacking or defending the country with raids, reconnaissance and dog fights happening potentially at any time of the day or night.
Blandford was not only within the catchment area of several local airfield's but it was in the flight path for bombers heading for Bristol. This meant there were several squadrons of hurricanes and spitfires trying to stop the tide of the Luftwaffe who were trying to destroy key facilities, industrial complexes and airfields. This lead to several fighters and bombers being lost in the surrounding area.
In 21/07/1940 a Dornier DO17 light bomber was intercepted and shot down by the hurricanes of A Flight 238 squadron (Middle Wallop based). The bomber crash landed 1 mile north of Blandford at Nutford Farm at 15:00hrs with the crew taken as prisoners of war.
Just two months later on the 27th of September a scout aircraft of the Luftwaffe was shot down and crashed at Busseys Stool Farm Tarrent Gunville, shot down by a hurricane with the loss of both its crew.
These are just two stories of literal dozens of dog fights and loses in the skies of north Dorset. From planes crashing in Sturminster Newton, shot down near Gillingham and crews bailing out of their bombers above Sturminster Marshall it is not a surprise there are German graves dotted around the area.
On 1st June 1941, a squadron of German bombers flew over Dorset on their way to bomb Liverpool. A Heinkel 111 P-2 (Werk # 1421 _ "1G + DS") was attacked by a Beaufighter of No.604 Squadron and broke up, crashing at Birches Wood, near Cranborne. All the crew were killed.
A Heinkel usually had a crew of 5 (pilot, navigator/bombardier/nose gunner, ventral gunner, dorsal gunner/radio operator, side gunner) but there appears to have been 4 on this occasion. Kleinfeldt was the Observer. Lindemann was the Pilot. Häring was the Radio Operator. Emig was the Flight Engineer.
Grave 37:
Joachim Kleinfeldt
Rank - First Lieutenant (Oberleutnant)
Born - 11/10/15 in Stettin, Pomerania (now Szczecin, Poland)
Died - 1/6/41
Death Registered in Germany – 11/9/41 at Delmenhorst, Niedersachsen
Cause of Death – ‘killed on operational flight’
Location – ‘in England on operational flight’
Father - Erich Kleinfeldt, b. 1886; d. 20/3/20
Mother - Frieda Emma Johanna Schultz, b. 16/9/1893; m. 14/10/13
(m. second time 21/6/29 Albertus Jibbo Muller)
Grave 40:
August Wilhelm Lindemann
Rank - Warrant Officer (Oberfeldwebel)
Born - 20/5/18 in Lenne, Holzminden, Lower Saxony
Died - 1/6/41
Death Registered in Germany – 28/8/41 at Delmenhorst, Niedersachsen
Cause of Death – ‘killed on operational flight’
Location – ‘in England on operational flight’
Father – Friedrich Johann Heinrich Lindemann
Mother – Johanne Christine Briepohl
Spouse – Margaretha Juliana Kunitz
Grave 43:
Hellmut Konrad Häring
Rank – Sergeant (Unteroffizier)
Born – 19/9/19 in Groß-Graben
Died – 1/6/41 in “Birchwood”
Death Registered in Germany – 21/8/41 at Delmenhorst, Niedersachsen
Cause of Death – ‘killed on operational flight’
Location – ‘in England on operational flight’
Father: Ferdinand Häring
Mother: Ida Kirchner
Grave 44:
Georg Karl Emig
Rank – Flight Sergeant (Feldwebel)
Born – 29/2/16 in Offenbach am Main, Hessen
Died – 4/6/41
Death Registered in Germany – 24/10/41 at Delmenhorst, Niedersachsen
Cause of Death – ‘killed on operational flight’
Location – ‘in England on operational flight’
English Death Certificate – “Dead body found First June 1941, Birch Wood, North End, Wimborne St Giles RD”
Cause of Death – “Multiple injuries as a result of aeroplane crash due to War operations”
Father - Johann Georg Emig, b. 8/4/1886; d. 8/01/1944
Mother - Helene Dorotte Auguste Vollbrecht, b. 15/3/1886; m. 24/12/1915
NOTE: Delmenhorst was near Bremen and was a Luftwaffe airfield.
A Heinkel 111 H-5 (Werk # 3958 _ "1G + CH") was also shot down by a Beaufighter of No. 604 Squadron piloted by F/Lt Gomm. The aircraft crashed at Hancock’s Bottom, Tarrant Gunville. It also only had a crew of four. Lieutnant Herbert Tscheplak & Gefreiter (Aircraftman) Fritz Faust bailed out safely and were captured. The remaining crew, Walter Mergner (Observer) and Friedrich Georg Weber (Radio Operator), were killed.
Grave 41:
Walter Mergner
Rank – Senior Aircraftman (Obergefreiter)
Born - 5/3/19 in Schwarzenbach an der Saale, Bavaria
Died - 1/6/41 in Blandford
Cause of Death – not known
English Death Certificate – “Dead body found First June 1941, Hancock’s Bottom, Tarrant Gunville RD”
Cause of Death – “Due to War operations”
Grave 42:
Friedrich Georg Weber
Rank – Sergeant (Unteroffizier)
Born - 1/8/18 in Hornbach, Südwestpfalz, Rhineland-Palatinate
Died - 1/6/41, location not mentioned
Cause of Death – not known
English Death Certificate – “Dead body found First June 1941, Hancock’s Bottom, Tarrant Gunville RD”
Cause of Death – “Due to War operations”
Grave 38:
Ludwig Zech
Rank - Corporal (Oberstabsgefreiter)
Born - 20/3/00 in Ludwigshafen
Died - 2/7/45
Death Registered in Germany – 29/01/48 at Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Rheinland-Pfalz
Cause of Death – ‘illness’
Location – Blandford, England, in prisoner of war camp
English Death Certificate – “Dead body found 2 July 1945, 1350th Labour Supervision Company Stockade, APO51GA, Blandford Camp RD”
Cause of Death – “Sudden failure of the heart due to heart disease probably associated with bronchitis and pleurisy”
Rank – “German Naval Prisoner of War (Fireman)”
Father – Ludwig Zech, b. 16/04/1876
Mother – Ida Mühlum, b. 16/11/1875; m. 22/01/1898
Spouse – Juliana Johanna Baum, b. 2/6/04; m. 25/3/22
Spouse at time of Death – Anna Zech (née Schmager)
Sibling – Margareth Ida Zech, b. 29/01/03
On 16 October 1959, the British and German governments agreed that the remains of all German military personnel and German civilian internees of both world wars who at the time were interred in various cemeteries not already maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC), be transferred to a single central German Military Cemetery established on Cannock Chase for this purpose. The site is supposed to have been chosen because it resembles Luneburg Heath in Germany. The cemetery contains nearly 5,000 burials from both the First and Second World Wars.
By the end of the Second World War, the number of Germans buried in and around Blandford must have been well into three figures. They were all moved to Cannock Chase in 1966. Exhumation records are kept at The National Archives, Catalogue References: HO 282/21 and 284/84. Those in Blandford Cemetery were not moved because they were already being maintained by the CWGC. (The one grave missing is Grave 39. The family of the deceased may have exercised their right to have these remains re-patriated or re-interred.)
