Why no Germans on air memorial?
LANDING at Guernsey Airport, I was disappointed by the memorial for aircrew lost in the Bailiwick during the Second World War which memorialises the Allied losses only. The vast majority of the Nazi armed forces were not evil, rather simply trying to serve their country – however misguided the premise may have been. After countless scientific studies have shown the susceptibility of humans to propaganda, I think it is a travesty that we do not acknowledge the losses of fathers, husbands and brothers on both sides.
DAVID SIDEBOTTOM
Editor's footnote: Simon Hamon replies:
Thank you for inviting me to respond to your correspondent's letter about the Allied Aircrew Memorial.
As the readers will be aware, the Allied Aircrew Memorial transferred from the Project Committee responsible for it to the Channel Islands Occupation Society and I write as a former member of the project committee and also as the current representative for the memorial as part of the CIOS.
I am sure I can answer some of the questions raised and cover some points which may be of interest to your readers.
Firstly the part that the German armed forces played in the Second World War locally has been and continues to be researched and covered in detail in the society's annual publication the 'Review' as well as our newsletter published three times a year. In the review we cover the ultimate sacrifices made on both sides of the conflict and the reconciliations between Guernsey, the German federal government and especially the town of Biberach have been covered in detail by your paper in the past and continue to be an active part of all memorial services held in Guernsey, so the human sacrifice from both sides is well covered locally and probably much more than in other countries that have been occupied by a foreign power.
Your correspondent was obviously unaware of the large simple cross erected in the Military Cemetery at Fort George in 1963.
It would not perhaps be surprising as there are another 114 war memorials listed in the Bailiwick. The German Cross was placed there by the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e. V. (German War Graves Commission) which, having exhumed all the other German military graves in the Bailiwick, placed the cross there not only to commemorate the 111 who remain at Fort George but also the 143 graves from Guernsey, five from Sark and 60 from Alderney that were reburied at Mont de Huisnes, France as well as the men, predominantly sailors, whose bodies were never recovered – this cross also obviously covers the German airmen who died in Bailiwick waters, totalling 17 men, four of whom are buried in France.
When the concept for the memorial was originally considered it was for all airmen, as your correspondent suggests it should be.
Both the Volksbund and German federal government were contacted asking for their approval and it was pointed out about the memorial cross at Fort George and they considered it would not be appropriate to have another memorial for their lost servicemen in the island. At that point the memorial became the Allied Aircrew Memorial.
Representatives of the German air force and federal government were asked to attend the dedication ceremony as a continuation of that ongoing reconciliation, but they declined the invitation.
The CIOS and States of Guernsey however continues to work with the Volksbund and this was demonstrated by a delegation of German teenagers in August 2015 when 70 years of freedom between both countries was marked with a tree planted alongside the cross at Fort George.
