The information I am looking for.

As I set out in my first post, I have set my self the almost impossible task of finding out more information on the German 1st world war combatants commemorated in Castle Donington cemetery.

This is the list of the Germans soldiers buried there *

Ferdinand Anacker                              aged 27                                  Ernst Max Kozsche                               aged 29

Ernst Kress                                            aged 27                                  Friedrich Brasser                                 aged 30

Jodokus Johannes Boghoff                 aged 28                                  Arthur Hampe                                      aged 23

Carl Fritz Breymayer                            aged 26                                  Heinrich Schucher                               aged 27

Friedrich Leonhard Weber                                aged 25                                  Paul Emil Mosbach                               aged 25

Rudolf Haller                                         aged 28                                  Georg Werner Gebhardt                    aged 27

Julius Richard Geiler                            aged 28                                  Friedrich Wilhelm Hoffman               aged 24

Friedrich Wilhelm Bernstein             aged 25                                  Otto Horst                                             aged 27

Wilhelm Johannes Friedrich Helmuth       22                                  Christian Koppes                                  aged 24

Osker Helmuth Gross                          aged 23                                  Walther Konrad Lieb                           aged 23

Emil Golans Heinmuth Egenolf           aged 24                                  Carl Heinrich Kaffe                              aged 27

Herman Niesr                                       aged 39                                  Wilhelm Ernst                                       aged 25

Wolfgang August Valentine Hesselbarth  23                                 Karl Hoell                                               aged 25

Anton Mastkeller                                 aged 27                                  Heinrich Adolf Gustav Corvey           aged 27(Born 1891)

Otto Schulze                                         aged 25                                  Erwin Kazermaier                                 aged 28

Karl Brauer                                            aged 31                                  Lorenzo Bischoff                                  aged 24

Max Wilhelm Grebe                            aged 23                                  Otto Emil Braymayer                           aged 26

* Information kindly provided by Castle Donington museum

Apparently Donington Hall was one a many camps in England holding Germ,a P.O.W. at the end of the conflict most were repatriated. But the great  “Spanish” Influenza epidemic in November 1918 that was responsible for the deaths of over 50 million people also had it's hand in killing some of the prisoners so they were never to to see home again.

34 of the men were buried in Castle Donington cemetery, although later they were re-interred in the German war cemetery in Cannock Chase 

My 1st guess is that many, if not all of the men were submariners of the Imperial german Navy (Kaiserliche Marine). This is because it seems unlikely that Germans captured in France would be transported abroad and we have records of captured submariners being kept in Donington Park.

The purpose of this blog

I live in Castle Donington, England

A few weeks ago I was walking through our local cemetery (I like cemeteries, the residents never bother you). I walked round the corner and came across a large concrete like installation, separated by a grassy verge.

It was very weathered and it was clear that there was bits missing, but I had a closer look and was surprised to find that the writing was in German. There were a number of panels, but almost all of them had been weathered, but it was clear that this was a memorial to German soldiers. This was intriguing. Who were these people? why were they commemorated here?

Now I already knew that during the 1st world war the local stately home, Donington Park, housed a prisoner of war camp. So it seemed likely that this was something to do with this. I contacted my local history society who confirmed this. They even provided a list of names, but no more details.

This year is 2014 and there is a lot of plans to commemorate local people who died in the 1st world war. However I like to think that we should also commemorate our opponents as well as our friends and relatives. We can argue about the cause they fought for, but not about the bravery of the men themselves.  Also if the town saw fit to bury these men with honours should they not be remembered now?

So this blog is the start of my attempt to find more information about these men. Of course I have a number of obstacles. Firstly I am English and do not speak any German. This is likely to be a big obstacle accessing German records and corresponding with people in Germany who have more information. Secondly the little research I have done, it appears that German war records are not as extensive and are more fragmented than similar UK records. Thirdly I don't know whether the Germans actually want to remember the war and may not wish to bring back painful memories.

Even so, I am going to give it a go. Hopefully the power of social media will help me. Even if I fail, just by trying I feel i will have honoured the memory of these men.

German Submariners being marched up the Baroon high street, 1915