"I once had a comrade". Photos of graves of German soldiers.

[rbminis]

I don't have many, but here is one from my collection.
Ralph.

[TabsTabs1964]

Last night I casually found the photo above. I think it is the same grave of an aviator that I posted in # 5 I found a few years ago. Chance.

[BlackCat1982]

Hope you don't mind, my curiosity was aroused now the losses are digitised. So now for your post #1 there is a little more to the story of Josef Nathan, NSKK casually.

[TabsTabs1964]

Of course your contribution is fantastic. Thank you very much for this information and your effort. Now we know that he was a driver and that he was buried in Minsk!
I was always struck by sadness in the gaze of his comrade at the cross of his grave.
Thanks again!!

[Gwar]

A lot of these, if posted on Forum der Wehrmacht, in the correct location/thread, could probably be identified..

[Woolgar]

Here is my only photo. BDM girls attending the grave of an SS Germania soldier.

Great thread!

Nick

[TabsTabs1964]

May a soldier never die again and be buried in a strange land...



Never again may a family have to remember a fallen soldier by honoring a photo of his grave...



May a son never have to exchange his dead father's medals for a piece of bread


"And on Earth Peace, good will toward men.’”

May these days of Christmas and always, God bless the families of all the soldiers who gave their lives for their countries.

Santi

[TabsTabs1964]

In that kind of altar with flowers and a lit candle in the home of the dead soldier, I recognize from left to right: A pocket watch, a Feldwebel's shoulder tabs, a wristwatch, the Iron Cross, 1se Class in its case, The Iron Cross, 2nd Class, the Infanteriesturmabzeichen. Behind the flowers, maybe a ribbon bar, near the lit candle.

regards, Peace and collect!

[Watchdog]

I didn't see this when it was first posted but the whole thread moves me.
It does not matter what ideology or nation is concerned the feelings are the same.

It is a complicated subject, too complicated to type on a forum I think.

I have not had the opportunity to visit the grave of a fallen comrade except for one who lies less than a mile from where I now live (he died after leaving the Army) the others are too far away but this is something that if not correctly addressed gives us what we know today as PTSD, a rather unpleasant "gift that keeps giving".

Too many people today have no concept of what this means to those who have had such experiences.

Thanks for showing

Regards

Mark

[HARRY THE MOLE]

You never forget the name of a fallen comrade, and you never forget the circumstances of their death either. On my last operational tour in Northern Ireland in 1974 we lost two men in a matter of weeks, the first was Gunner Kim Maccunn, shot dead on Saturday June 22nd 1974 in what can only be described as somewhat dubious circumstances. I didn't really know Kim, but I knew the next one to die. Sgt Bernie Fearns was shot dead by IRA sniper Patrick Campbell on Tuesday 30th July 1974 while leading his patrol South East along Hillman Street, and as they crossed Stratheden Street, Campbell opened fire with a Garand rifle from an alleyway. Bernie was hit twice and died immediately. I was close by and on duty in the Parlour O/P. What happened then and afterwards was extremely distressing, and back in 2007 it came back to haunt me... and continued to do so for a few years afterwards. The feeling of reliving such an experience time and again is not pleasant at all.

I do not know where either of these men are buried, but I have never forgotten them - and each year I place a cross on the cenotaph in their memory. It is almost certain that the soldiers tending those graves in the photographs shown by Santi continued to remember the friends for many years afterwards, in fact all the remainder of their life. Your army friends are probably the best friends you are ever likely to make, and to lose one is gut wrenching.

Thanks again for showing such poignant images.