Is this LW pilot still in a Plymouth cemetery?

[Adam Lewis]

About a year ago I started a search for LW pilot Oswald Laumann's grave site. He was shot down and killed near Strete on March 23, 1943 and is not buried at Cannock Chase. The 2 threads are:
http://www.wehrmacht-awards.net/foru...ad.php?t=83997 and http://www.wehrmacht-awards.net/foru...ad.php?t=79302 .

I have a lead that Laumann's ID number was 74197/32 and he was buried in Plymouth (Weston Mill) 03-04-43 by RAF Exeter personnel.

My hope is that someone in the Forum lives close to the cemetery and can check this out. If he is still there a picture of his marker would be most welcome.

Thanks.

[MerchantSeaman]

I researched this crash some years ago at the PRO in London and I am pleased to be able to help.

The RAF records of the remains of German airmen found in the UK (including those washed up) show this:

Weston Hill Cemetery, Plymouth.

Burial of an Oberleutnant, ID 32/74197, recovered near Strete 4 miles SW of Dartmouth on 23 March 1943 and buried 27 Mar 1943.

[MerchantSeaman]

I did write to WASt when I discovered that I had identified the grave of a MIA pilot to ask that they ensure that a name is put on the grave but do not know if it was ever done as I live a long way from there.

[Jim Maclean]

I live only 10 minutes drive from Weston Mill Cemetery and have been trying to help Adam in his search.

The facts stated are correct regarding his interrment at Weston Mill. However with the establishment of the German War Cemetery at Cannock Chase, 22 german war dead were exhumed under Home Office Licence No 10132 to be reburied at Cannock. Oberleutnant Laumann was one of these 22. I have been able to ascertain that the three men buried next to him at Weston Mill were reburied at Cannock. They were also reburied in the order that they were laid to rest at Weston Mill. The grave at Cannock that should be Laumann's, if they were buried as at Weston Mill, is not named to him.

Unfortunately 16 German war dead have been lost during this move to Cannock and Laumann is one of these.

I will be back at Weston Mill tomorrow to a bit more research, couldn't make it today.

I am afraid we may never find him, but it would be nice to solve this mystery.

[MerchantSeaman]

Do you know the name on the grave which we would have expected to be Laumann's Jim ?

Lets work it in reverse and see where the others in the row came from and if one has "appeared" from no where.

[Jim Maclean]

Pete,

I don't have a name for the grave that I would expect Laumann to be in, yet. From the info I have at the moment it should be Block7 Row5 Grave 112, from the following logic.

In Plymouth he had grave no 19729, Horst Jansen was buried next him, then Werner Bruhn and Josef Gaube. 19730, 31 and 32 respectively. These three are buried in consecutive graves at Cannock in the appropriate order.

I have some paperwork coming to me in the mail regarding the lost 16.

Grave 19729 does not now exist, nor do the other 21 of the 22 exhumed, one block ends at 19728, the next starts at 19750. I think after the exhumations this row was turned into a path. I need to go back and see if this would be likely.

It has been suggested to me that there may have been a double burial at Cannock. I feel that a lot of work needs to be done to solve this one.

I'd also like to point out that the removal of German war dead to Cannock was carried out by Germans and required the consent of the next of kin. It was not instituted by the British.

[MerchantSeaman]

Thank heavens it wasnt "us" that lost them...........that is apalling !

[Adam Lewis]

Jim, Pete
What started as a request for burial site has turned into an unexpected search worthy of Mr. Holmes himself. What's been uncovered is impressive. Perhaps you can rescue Laumann from the ranks of the forgotten.

I thought I'd post an image of Oswald Laumann. He's shown in a lower rank but was an Oblt. when killed. He had a law degree so was Dr. Laumann.

During the war his n-o-k was father Heinrich, born in 1873. His mother's birth year was 1882. If neither parent was living in 1963 the n-o-k could have been his younger sister Elizabeth who would probably have been in her 40's.

[MerchantSeaman]

Nice to see him, I'll try to get to Cannock in the next few weeks and see who is next to him in the row, I'll have a go at some photos.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Pete, I went to Cannock for Adam. He is not listed as being there. The staff got out the list of burials for me to confirm this. I also walked around to check and could not find him

Cheers, Ade.

[MerchantSeaman]

Hi Ade

Jim has got a record of the 3 burials which should be (and are) to one side of the grave where Laumann was buried, what I want to check is which graves are to the other side of where he should be buried (so we effectively record the full row). Then we can see where the others came from in the UK and double check each one to see if we have an odd one out or an "Unbekannte Deutsche Soldat" somewhere in the row which was not in one of the original groups of graves, pre-concentration work.

As you'll know from walking round there some guys names are miss-spelled, some ranks are wrong, some dates of death are wrong or missing, you just never know what you'll find.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Ah.... I see Pete

Pity I do not have this info this afternoon as I was in Cannock today

Cheers, Ade.

[Adam Lewis]

Any new info on the missing men?

I thought I'd bring this 3 year old thread back to the top.

Does anyone have any new info on the missing Germans who were due to be buried at Cannock Chase but were lost?

Lt. Oswald Laumann was one of them. I own his LW pilot badge, papers and some artifacts most likely from the crash site. I was hoping to obtain a photo of his cemetery site.

Adam

[Ian Jewison]

Hi Adam,

I remember doing some research for your other threads, which unfortunately the links do not work now.
I have a few new references since 2005 so will check them when I get home....hopefully there will be some new info for you!

Here is one of those threads

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...ad.php?t=68441

Regards,
Ian

[Jim Maclean]

Hi again Adam,

I drive right past Weston Mill Cemetery every day on my way to and from work. It's a constant reminder to me that we never did resolve the issue of where Oswald Laumann's grave really is.

The office staff at the cemetery were genuinely concerned that that the location of his remains were apparently unknown at present. We spent quite a few hours searching the records to see if we could find movement orders from Plymouth or any information of their receipt at Cannock Chase. Absolutely nothing apart from the fact that 22 were exhumed.

A member of the office staff went on a visit to Cannock, not specifically for this but couldn't glean any useful information.

It saddens me that although he was once correctly buried he now has, as far as we know no marked grave. I would really like to see the matter closed and to be a part of it. If I can still be of any help in the matter following up any leads in Plymouth please let me know.

Jim