WW2 100 - 2 April 1941 - No longer an Enemy - Oberfeldwebel (OFw) Wilhelm Bürkle (1912-1941) German Air Force
Continued from April 1941:
Uses of the Census: Private Francis Ernest Newcombe (1910-41)
Budleigh Bay. Somewhere out there is a War Grave
A Heinkel He III bomber is recorded as having crashed at sea two miles south of Budleigh Salterton on 2 April 1941. Wilhelm Bürkle was the flight engineer in the Heinkel's five-man aircrew.
Image credit: www.billiongraves.com
The only body recovered was that of the Heinkel's observer, 29-year-old Hans-Ludwig Wolff. His grave in the Higher Cemetery at Exeter is one of 6,196 German war graves maintained by the excellent Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
504 Squadron Exeter 1941. Phillip Parsons is seated third from right
Image credit: FindaGrave.com
Wilhelm's plane was shot down by 24-year-old Flight Officer Phillip Trevor Parsons, flying a Hurricane of RAF 504 Squadron, based at Exeter. Phillip himself was killed a year later, on 2 October 1942 when the Mosquito that he was piloting flew into the ground and struck a hangar at RAF Colerne in Wiltshire.
The crash site is of course a protected war grave: all underwater military aircraft are ‘protected places’ under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 which imposes restrictions on their exploration and marine salvage.
Ari Burnu Memorial, Anzac Cove, Turkey. The Memorial commemorates those Allied servicemen who died in the failed attempt to seize the Gallipoli Peninsula during WW1 Image credit: Winstonza
Learning that so many German war graves continue to be looked after by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission made me think of the Gallipoli Memorial and its message, attributed to Turkey’s founding father Kemal Atatürk:
‘Those heroes that shed their blood And lost their lives. You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore, rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies And the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side Here in this country of ours. You, the mothers, Who sent their sons from far away countries, Wipe away your tears. Your sons are now lying in our bosom And are in peace After having lost their lives on this land they have Become our sons as well.’
Left: A 1944 aerial photograph of Exeter airfield looking north west, the control tower and technical site are at the bottom, 24 March 1944. Photograph taken by No. 544 Squadron, sortie number RAF/NLA/80. English Heritage (RAF Photography) www.americanairmuseum.com Right: Otterton sculptor Frances Margaret’s statue of a WW2 airman at Exeter Airport www.exeter-airport.co.uk
Information about some members of Wilhelm's crew has come from the website www.denkmalprojekt.org of the excellent Denkmalprojekt – literally Monument Project – founded in 2003 by New York attorney Thilo C. Agthe, primarily for genealogists.
The project focuses mainly on those killed in the German and Austrian armed forces from all wars but includes other victims such as people killed in the Nazi Holocaust. In the words of the English translation of its policy statement, it ‘clearly distances itself from any form of "hero worship" and/or glorification of war!’ I’m sure that everyone would agree with the concluding sentence: ‘We hope that the names of the dead will be understood as a reminder of the madness of war.’
I tried searching the Denkmalprojekt, but my search for BURKLE Wilhelm returned no hits (43356 documents were processed). Nothing was found for BURKLE on its own. Perhaps someone reading this will have more luck. Please contact me if you do find Wilhelm listed.
It's not impossible to find information about the background of such German airmen as Wilhelm. Researchers on the Chelmsford War Memorial website, for example, have gathered an impressive amount of material about Feldwebel Walter Vick. He was killed along with two crewmates when their aircraft was shot down and crashed and came to rest at Bishopscourt in Springfield Road, Chelmsford in June 1940. You can see the results here
A Heinkel He 111P dropping bombs over Poland, September 1939 Image credit: Wikipedia
The Heinkel He 111 was a German bomber aircraft designed by Siegfried and Walter Günter at Heinkel Flugzeugwerke in Rostok, North Germany, in 1934. Through development it was described as a ‘wolf in sheep's clothing’. Due to restrictions placed on Germany after WW1 prohibiting bombers, it masqueraded as a civil airliner, although from conception the design was intended to provide the nascent Luftwaffe with a fast medium bomber.
Perhaps the best-recognised German bomber due to the distinctive, extensively glazed ‘greenhouse’ nose of later versions, the Heinkel He 111 was the most numerous Luftwaffe bomber during the early stages of WW2. The bomber fared well until the Battle of Britain, when its weak defensive armament was exposed. Nevertheless, it proved capable of sustaining heavy damage and remaining airborne. As the war progressed, the He 111 was used in a variety of roles on every front in the European theatre, including as a strategic bomber during the Battle of Britain.
The crashed Heinkel could have set out from one of any number of airfields from across the Channel, but Flight Officer Parsons’ service records, attributing the aircraft to 7/KG55 – the 55th Luftwaffe Bomber Group, based at Chartres, France. The story of KG55 is recounted in a book, KG55 In Focus, by Lionel Quinlan and Steven Hall, through photographs and stories largely collected from the veterans who flew with this bomber unit. There are also four pages of specially commissioned paintings detailing the camouflage and markings carried by the aircraft. The book was published by Red Kite in 2000.
From June to September 1940, the Germans quickly built a large number of landing grounds along the French coast for use during the Air Offensive against England - The Battle of Britain. By late 1940, there were more than 700 serviceable airfields and landing grounds in France. A major construction program to expand and develop the more permanent airfields and the better landing grounds began around November 1940 and carried into 1941 and beyond. This included runways and runway extensions, artificial drainage of landing areas, aircraft shelters, aircraft dispersal areas, the decentralization and camouflaging of barracks and supply installations and the installation of landing aids.
Here are details of all the members of the Heinkel’s aircrew. They have been listed as follows:
Oberfeldwebel (OFw) Wilhelm Bürkle (Flight engineer).
Unteroffizier (Uffz) Robert Ehlers (Gunner)
Unteroffizier (Uffz) Karl Papadi (Radio operator).
Unteroffizier (Uffz) Hans Wagner (Pilot).
Oberleutnant (Oblt) Hans Ludwig Wolff (Observer).
Perhaps a German-speaking reader of this post with an interest in family history may be tempted to investigate further so that the Budleigh Heinkel’s victims may be better known.
Information about the Heinkel’s crew also came from www.aircrewremembered.com, a website which records the stories of aircrew of every nationality, and where you will find these words: ‘History, they say, is written by the victor, but that doesn't mean the vanquished's stories should be suppressed’.
The next post is for Unteroffizier (Uffz) ROBERT EHLERS (1916-41), German Air Force, killed with his aircrew over Budleigh Bay on 2 April 1941.
You can read about him at
https://budleighpastandpresent.blogspot.com/2020/12/ww2-75-2-april-1941-no-longer-enemy_14.html
These ‘orphans’ are listed on Budleigh Salterton War Memorial, but have not been identified. Their first names, date of death and service numbers are not known. They are recorded on the Devon Heritage website as ‘Not yet confirmed’.
If you know anything which would help to identify them,
please contact Michael Downes on 01395 446407.
F.E. Newcombe
F.J. Watts
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