Another nice one GBL, his brother Friedrich was taken POW in Rotterdam.
Another nice one GBL, his brother Friedrich was taken POW in Rotterdam.
Thanks Black cat, what is your source about his Brother?
August Polkehn was listed as missing on the list for August 13th 1917. So you hold the last physical evidence of his existence as a WW1 Landser, something to ponder.
Wilhelm Ludwig was listed as missing in June 1918, in a subsequent list from 1919 his status was listed as having died in captivity.
Wow! Thank you BlackCat! That is indeed very sobering. As I sit here having breakfast before going to work I suddenly had images of a muddied battlefields filling my head. Very sad and I guess one of the things thatsbso wonderful about collecting militaria - it gives pause for thought about those that paid the ultimate sacrifice.
Thank you again BlackCat. How do you find this information?
One of the things that fascinates me most about collecting WW1 militaria is the men and their experience of the Great War. I have a British WW1 dead mans penny in my collection that I intend to research at some point. I would love to put a name to a face.
Don't got any, but seeing them make me want some! Guess that's next on the wish list..
Wilhelm Ludwig is quite a common name but cross referencing him on the VDK database sadly also brought no conclusive results. In the chaos of the end of the war his fate would appear to have been a casualty of illness in a PW camp on the Western front. None of the many Willi Ludwigshafen listed on the VDK site had dates that tie in with the German unit loss records.
For both men their loss as part of test Great War were sadly to be repeated in the following generation in another war.
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