Vitz Archive Notes

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These notes provide additional information to that provided within the Vitz Archive itself, and relate to war crimes against Allied aircrew and SOE personnel by Axis forces or Axis civilians. These notes are from various sources and are provided to assist the reader gaining a fuller picture but they have not necessarily been independently validated by the author of the Vitz Archive, Traugott Vitz.

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Aaron, Arthur Adrian (WO 235/94)

The death of Trooper Aaron was the subject of a trial by a British Military Court held at AFRAGOLA, Italy, from 27th to 29th March 1946. The accused were Colonello (Col.) Massimiliano Capurso, commandant of PoW camp 53 SFORZACOSTA, and Clemente Fantacci, one of the guards in that camp.

Three fences or wires play a role in the description of the events: The 12 ft outer perimeter wire fence surrounding the camp, an 8 ft barbed wire fence encircling a field inside the camp, and a 1 ft high trip wire following the inner perimeter of the 8 ft fence at a distance of some 3 metres, thus marking an “area of respect“. The guards had orders to shoot prisoners who crossed the trip wire if they did not react to a verbal challenge.

On 24th February 1943, the inmates of the camp were ordered to stay within the field mentioned above because their huts were being disinfested. Prisoners who needed to urinate went to the edge of the field i.e. close to the trip wire. At about 1700 hrs Aaron went to the trip wire for this purpose. The guard Fantacci shot him dead at a range of 60 – 70 yards (prosecutor's version) or 25 yards (one prosecution witness).

The court heard the evidence of four fellow PoWs as witnesses for the prosecution, either in person or in the shape of affidavits. All of them said there had been no challenge by the guard. One said the trip wire was not in good order at the point where Aaron stood, and one said at that point the wire had been trodden into the ground.

Capurso testified in his own defense with respect to the orders he had received and given.

Fantacci testified that he had challenged Aaron, both by word and signal more than three times (this was corroborated by two sentries of the camp at the time of the incident). He maintained that Aaron was not urinating but was bending down and doing something with his hands close to the main fence. The trip wire was, according to him, in good condition at the spot in question.

The court found both accused guilty and passed a sentence of 8 years imprisonment on Capurso and of 15 years imprisonment on Fantacci.

Maj. Gen. Clowes (General Officer Commanding No. 3 District) refused confirmation of the finding and sentence in the case of Col. Capurso but confirmed the finding and sentence in the case of Fantacci, however reducing his sentence to 1 year. It is not known how much time of the reduced sentence Fantacci actually served

Abear, John Francis (WO 235/204 & WO 235/683)

Adams Jr., Franklin W. ((012-1871, 012-1871-1, 012-2000 (Incident 3 of 10))

Review and Recommendations Trial Papers available. Please contact us vis Helpdesk

Adams, Fletcher Eugene (12-1422)

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Allen, Cecil F. (12-1968 & 12-2013)

Review and Recommendations Trial Papers available. Please contact us vis Helpdesk

Ames, Warren F. (005-100)

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Anderson, Sheldon Keith (012-1182-1)

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Andrews, Stephen J. (012-1993)

Review and Recommendations Trial Papers available. Please contact us vis Helpdesk

Apple Jr., Odis L. (012-1115)

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Appleyard, Robert (WO 309/1271, WO 309/1966)

Armstrong, Alexander (WO 235/82 and WO 235/84)

Verbatim trial transcripts available. WO 235_82 Dreierwalde 1 Trial and WO 235_84 Dreierwalde 2 Trial. Please contact us via Help desk

Armstrong, William Armstrong (012-1502)

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Ashe, Christopher (WO 235/185 Gaggenau Trial)

A British Military Court was convened in Wuppertal, Germany, between the 6th and 10th May 1946, the trial record of which may be obtained via Helpdesk (WO 235_185 Gaggenau Trial).

Eleven German nationals were charged with committing a war crime in that they, at Rotenfels Security Camp, Gaggenau, Germany, on the 25th November 1944, in violation of the laws and usages of war, were concerned in the killing of six British prisoners of war, namely Major D.B. Reynolds, Capt. Gough, Capt. A.R. Whitely-Smith, Parachutist M.A. Griffin, Lieut. G.D. Dill, Gunner C. Ashe, all of 2nd Special Air Service Regt.; four American Prisoners of war, namely Michael Pipcock (sic), Garis P. Jacoby, Curtis E. Hodges, Maynard Latten and four French nationals namely Abbé Pennrath, Abbé Claude, Abbé Roth and Werner Jakob.

Since there were French nationals among the victims, a French Air Force Captain (Capt.) was a member of the court, sitting with one Brigadier (Brig.) four Majors (Maj.) and a Judge Advocate.

The accused were Karl Buck, SS-Hauptsturmführer (Capt.) and commander of the Sicherungslager (Security Camp) Schirmeck La Broque (Alsace) and Sicherungslager Rotenfels/Gaggenau, Robert Wünsch, SS-Untersturmführer (2nd.Lt.) and administrative officer at the Gaggenau camp, Karl Nussberger, Oberleutnant (1st.Lt.) in the Police and Commanding Officer (CO) of the police unit responsible for the security at Gaggenau camp, one Karl Zimmermann, SS-Sturmscharführer (Sgt.Maj.) and several police Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs) of varying rank, Erwin Ostertag, Josef Muth, Bernhard Josef Ulrich, Heinrich Neuschwanger, Karl Wilhelm Dinkel, Helmut Korb, and Franz Xaver Vetter.

The court heard that during November 1944 at Schirmeck La Broque, prisoners of various categories were held, some of them in the “Block“ (a prison within a prison). When the Allied forces approached, orders were given to move the “Block“ prisoners from Schirmeck La Broque further to the east. The victims named in the charge were transported to Rotenfels/Gaggenau, which was also under Buck's orders.

On the morning of 24th or 25th November 1944, Buck came to Rotenfels/Gaggenau and issued orders to Wünsch that certain prisoners were to be killed. Wünsch related this order to Nussberger who in turn conferred with his subordinates who then started to make the preparations they thought necessary. At 1400 hrs on the 25th November 1944, a van appeared at the camp gate to take the prisoners and their escort, comprising the accused policemen, except for Nussberger, plus four Russian prisoners who had picks and shovels with them.

The lorry drove to a place outside Gaggenau called Erlichwald (Erlich woods). There the accused made the prisoners, in four groups of three and one group of two, dismount from the lorry and walk some distance into the wood where they were shot dead from behind, their bodies falling into a bomb crater. The individuals who did the shooting were Neuschwanger, Ulrich and Ostertag. The bodies were stripped of their clothes and personal effects. The bomb crater was then filled in and the clothes and effects burned on the spot, although in their haste they left several vital clues which later assisted in identifying the remains.

When French troops reached Gaggenau end of April 1945, word of the atrocities reached them fairly quickly, and they ordered the exhumation of the bodies from the bomb crater, using local Nazis as the workforce. Identification was only partly successful, and the victims were reburied in individual graves in the local cemetery on 13th May 1945. On 10th June, Maj. Eric ‘Bill’ Barkworth of the 2nd Special Air Service (SAS) Regiment arrived and ordered a fresh exhumation. Careful examination of the bodies and graves, together with investigations at the bomb crater site, established the identities of the victims as named in the charge. Maj. Barkworth, in his evidence in court, gave detailed information on the facts and findings upon which he based his identifications.

Ashe, Christopher, Private (Gunner), service number 847426, SAS (Special Air Service). 27 years old. According to www.specialforcesroh.com he was born in the Republic of Ireland and belonged to Operation PISTOL. He was taken prisoner on 23 September 1944.

Based on his dental records, he was identified as the body found in row 4 grave 7 of the Gaggenau Cemetery. Today his grave is in Dürnbach War Cemetery, Bavaria, Germany, field 3 row K grave 12.

Dill, David Gordon, Lieutenant, service number 265704, originally served with the King’s Royal Rifle Corps before joining the SAS (Special Air Service). According to www.specialforcesroh.com he took part in Operation LOYTON and was taken prisoner on 6 October 1944. On 8 November 1944 he was seen alive in Security Camp Schirmeck-La Broque by a representative of the American Red Cross. 20 years old, son to an officer from South Stoke, Oxfordshire.

He was identified thanks to his service issue wrist watch bearing a number which identified it as having been issued to Lt. Dill. Originally buried in row 4 grave 5 of the Gaggenau Cemetery, he is now buried in Dürnbach War Cemetery, Bavaria, Germany, field 3 row K grave 10.

Gough, Victor Albert, Captain, service number 148884, originally served with the Somerset Light Infantry before joining the Special Operations Executive. He was born 11 Sept 1918 in Hereford. As a member of Jedburgh team JACOB he took part in Operation LOYTON. His group parachuted into the Vosges mountains on 12 August 1944. His last radio message to headquarters dated from 18 September 1944, 1900 hrs. He must have been captured on one of the following days while trying to reach Allied lines. On 8 November 1944 he was seen alive in Security Camp Schirmeck-La Broque by a representative of the American Red Cross.

Based on his dental records, he was identified as the body found in row 4 grave 9 of the Gaggenau Cemetery. Today his grave is in Dürnbach War Cemetery, Bavaria, Germany, field 3 row K grave 22.

Griffin, Maurice Arthur, Private (Parachutist), service number 873123, SAS (Special Air Service). According to www.specialforcesroh.com he served originally with the Royal Artillery before joining the SAS. According to the same source he was born in London, lived in Bristol (his parents residing at Sea Mills, Gloucestershire) and was part of Operation LOYTON. He was taken prisoner some time during Sept.-Oct. 1944. 23 years old.

Based on his dental records, he was identified as the body exhumed from row 2 grave 5 of the Gaggenau Cemetery. Today his grave is in Dürnbach War Cemetery, Bavaria, Germany, field 3 row K grave 1.

Reynolds, Denis Bingham, Major, service number 130586, originally served with the King’s Royal Rifle Corps before joining the SAS (Special Air Service). According to www.specialforcesroh.com he took part in Operation LOYTON and was taken prisoner on 30 October 1944. On 8 November 1944 he was seen alive in Security Camp Schirmeck-La Broque by a representative of the American Red Cross.

The body found in grave 3 of row 3, Gaggenau Cemetery, bore his ID tags. Today his grave is in Dürnbach War Cemetery, Bavaria, Germany, field 3 row K grave 5.

Whately-Smith, Anthony Robert, Major, service number 113612, SAS (Special Air Service). 29 years old (born in 1915), son of a priest from Milford-on-Sea, Hampshire. According to www.specialforcesroh.com he took part in Operation LOYTON, he was taken prisoner on 30 October 1944. On 8 November 1944 he was seen alive in Security Camp Schirmeck-La Broque by a representative of the American Red Cross.

The body found in grave 6 of row 2, Gaggenau Cemetery, bore his ID tags. Today his grave is in Dürnbach War Cemetery, Bavaria, Germany, field 3 row K grave 2.

The court found all accused, with the exception of Muth, guilty of the charge and rejected their defense of Superior Orders (in this case: Hitler’s Commando Order of 18th October 1942). The court pronounced sentences as follows:

Buck, Neuschwanger, Nussberger, Ostertag and Ulrich were to die by shooting, Wünsch got 4 years imprisonment, Dinkel 8 years, Korb 3 years, Vetter 2 years and Zimmermann 10 years. The sentences were confirmed by the Commander in Chief of the British Army of the Rhine on 6th July 1946, but not all of them were promulgated and executed.

The French authorities wanted to try some of the accused in this case for other, similar crimes and demanded their extradition. It is not clear why Neuschwanger was the only one to pay with his life for the murders of 25 November 1944. He was executed in the shooting range adjacent Neheimer Straße, Werl, Germany, by a British firing party on 26th September 1946 at 0800 hrs. It is speculated that he may not have been named on the extradition list.

Buck, Nussberger, Ostertag, Ulrich and Wünsch, but also the acquitted Josef Muth were extradited to the French and stood trial before the Tribunal Général at Rastatt, Germany, in the French Zone of Occupation, from 20th February to 18th March, 1947.

The charge accused them of war crimes under Control Council Law No. 10, committed by murder and ill-treatment of Allied nationals in Security and Work Camps.

Buck, Muth, Nussberger, Ostertag and Ulrich were sentenced to death; Wünsch received 1 year imprisonment.

Upon appeal, the (French) death sentences of Buck and Nussberger were commuted to life imprisonment with hard labour. The sentences of Muth and Ostertag were both commuted to 15 years imprisonment with hard labour.

Ulrich’s (French) death sentence was carried out by shooting on 26th August 1947 at 0700 hrs in a gravel pit to the southwest of Sandweier (today part of Baden-Baden).

It is not quite clear at which date the British decided to reprieve Buck, Nussberger and Ostertag and to commute their sentences to prison terms, seeing that (a) the French would not hand the prisoners back any time soon and that it (b) would be very much against British tradition anyway to execute a death sentence years after sentencing.

Buck and Nussberger stood another trial in January 1953 in Metz, in which Robert Wünsch, too, was tried in absentia. All three of them received a death sentence, and again Buck and Nussberger were reprieved, their sentences being shortened to 20 years. Both were released from the British prison at Werl on 9 September 1955. It is not known since when they were back in British custody.

According to archival records, Ostertag was still in prison in 1954.

Otherwise, the final disposition of the sentences for Muth, Ostertag, Wünsch, Dinkel, Zimmermann and Korb is unknown.

Audet, Richard ‘Dick’ Joseph (WO 309/1235)

Austin, Elmore Lathrop (012-2381, 012-1497)

Review and Recommendations Trial Papers available. Please contact us via Helpdesk

Baldridge, Arlen Richard (No record of a trial)

Banks, Arthur (WO 235/252, WO 235/326)

Bastian, Edward J. (No Case number)

Cause of death unknown

Baucom, Hoover Cleveland (012-1742, 012-2000 )

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Beckman, Jack McNider (12-2404)

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Bellovary, John Joseph (12-468)

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Bemus, William Frank (012-57)

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Bengson, Wallace W. (012-1871, 012-1871-1, 012-2000 (Incident 3 of 10))

Review and Recommendations Trial Papers available. Please contact us via Helpdesk

Benninger, Robert J.

Benson, Sidney Alexander (12-1866)

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Berger, Paul L. (WO 235/57 (Case No. 45))

Berry Jr., Emil (12-1545 (Charge 1))

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Birkland, Henry (No trial papers)

Henry Birkland (16 August 1917 – 31 March 1944), was a Canadian Spitfire pilot who was taken prisoner during the Second World War. He took part in the 'Great Escape' from Stalag Luft III in March 1944, but was one of the men re-captured and subsequently murdered by the Gestapo.

Birnie, Hugh Waldie (WO 235/547, WO 235/548, WO 309/958)

Bloomfield, Alec Peter

Boardsen, John A. (No trial papers)

Borchick, Frank (012-1368/4)

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Borden, Leo Lucca

Borrel, Andrée (WO 235/336)

Andrée Borrel was born in France on 18th November, 1919. She was the daughter of working-class parents, and grew up on the outskirts of Paris. At fourteen she left school to become a dressmaker. In 1933 she moved to Paris where she found work as a shop assistant in a bakery, the Boulangerie Pujo. Two years later she moved to a shop called the Bazar d'Amsterdam.

On the outbreak of the Second World War Borrel moved with her mother to Toulon on the Mediterranean coast. After training with the Red Cross she joined the Association des Dames de France and worked in Beaucaire treating wounded soldiers of the French Army. After France surrendered Borrel and her friend, Maurice Dufour, joined the French Resistance. They established a villa outside Perpignan close to the Spanish border. Over the next six months they joined the network led by Albert Guérisse, that helped British airman shot down over France to escape back to Britain.

In December 1940 the network was betrayed and Borrel and Dufour were forced to abandon the villa and hide in Toulouse. Eventually they escaped to Portugal where Borrel went to work at the Free French Propaganda Office at the British Embassy in Lisbon. Borrel stayed in Portugal until April 1942 when she travelled to London. On her arrival Borrel was taken to the Royal Patriotic School where she was interrogated in case she was a double agent. Although she was known to have strong socialist views she was recruited by the Special Operations Executive (SOE) as a British special agent.

Codenamed 'Denise', Borrel and Lise de Baissac, became the first women agents to be was parachuted into France on 24th September 1942. They landed in the village of Boisrenard close to the town of Mer. After staying with the French Resistance for a couple of days Baissac moved to Poiters to start a new network whereas Borrel went to Paris to join the new Prosper Network that was to be led by Francis Suttill and included Jack Agazarian and Gilbert Norman.

Suttill was impressed with Borrel and despite her young age in March 1943 became second in command of the network. He told the Special Operations Executive in London that she 'has a perfect understanding of security and an imperturbable calmness.' He added: 'Thank you very much for having sent her to me.'

On 23rd June, 1943, the three key members of the Prosper Network, Borrel, Francis Suttill and Gilbert Norman, were arrested. Borrel was taken to Avenue Foch, the Gestapo headquarters, in Paris. After being interrogated she was sent to Fresnes Prison. On 13th May 1944 the Germans transported Borrel and seven other SOE agents, Vera Leigh, Diana Rowden, Sonya Olschanezky, Yolande Beekman, Eliane Plewman, Madeleine Damerment and Odette Sansom, to Nazi Germany.

On 13 May 1944, Leigh together with three other captured female SOE agents, Andrée Borrel, Sonia Olschanezky and Diana Rowden, were moved from Fresnes to the Gestapo's Paris headquarters in the Avenue Foch along with four other women whose names were Yolande Beekman, Madeleine Damerment, Eliane Plewman and Odette Sansom (aka Odette Churchil), all of whom were F Section agents. Later that day they were taken to the railway station, and each handcuffed to a guard upon alighting the train. Sansom, in an interview after the war, said:

'We were starting on this journey together in fear, but all of us hoping for something above all that we would remain together. We had all had a taste already of what things could be like, none of us did expect for anything very much, we all knew that they could put us to death. I was the only one officially condemned to death. The others were not. But there is always a fugitive ray of hope that some miracle will take place.'

Some time between five and six in the morning on 6 July 1944, not quite two months after their arrival in Karlsruhe, Borrel, Leigh, Olschanezky and Rowden were taken to the reception room, given their personal possessions, and handed over to two Gestapo men who then transported them some 100 kilometres south-west by closed truck to the Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp in France, where they arrived around three in the afternoon. They were led down to the cell-block at the bottom of the camp by SS men and held there until later that night. They were initially together but later put into individual cells.

Through the windows, which faced those of the infirmary, they managed to communicate with several prisoners, including a Belgian prisoner, Dr Georges Boogaerts, who had passed one of the women (whom he later identified as Borrel from a photograph) some cigarettes through the window. Borrel threw him a little tobacco pouch containing some money.

Albert Guérisse (a Belgian army physician who had helped set up an escape organization in Marseille), whose PAT escape line Borrel had been part of and known her, recognized Borrel but had only managed to exchange a few words with another one of the women before she disappeared, who had said she was English (Leigh or Rowden). At the post-war trial of the men charged with the murder of the four women, Dr. Guérisse had stated that he was in the infirmary and had seen the women, one by one, being taken from the building housing the cells (Zellenbau) to the crematorium a few yards away. He told the court:

'I saw the four women going to the crematorium, one after the other. One went, and two or three minutes later another went. The next morning the German prisoner in charge of the crematorium explained to me that each time the door of the oven was opened, the flames came out of the chimney and that meant a body have been put in the oven. I saw the flames four times.'

The prisoner Dr. Guérisse referred to was Franz Berg, who assisted in the crematorium and had stoked the fire that night before being sent back to the room he shared with two other prisoners before the executions. The door was locked from the outside during the executions, but it was possible to see the corridor from a small window above the door, so the prisoner in the highest bunk was able to keep up a running commentary on what he saw. Berg said:

'We heard low voices in the next room and then the noise of a body being dragged along the floor, and he whispered to me that he could see people dragging something along the floor which was below his angle of vision through the fanlight. At the same time that this body was being brought past we heard the noise of heavy breathing and low groaning combined…and again we heard the same noises and regular groans as the [next two] insensible women were dragged away.

The fourth, however, resisted in the corridor. I heard her say 'Pourquoi?' and I heard a voice as I recognized as the doctor who was in civilian clothes say 'Pour typhus'. We then heard the noise of a struggle and the muffled cries of the woman. I assumed that someone held a hand over her mouth. I heard the woman being dragged away too. She was groaning louder than the others. From the noise of the crematorium oven doors which I heard, I can state definitely that in each case the groaning women were placed immediately in the crematorium oven.

When [the officials] had gone, we went to the crematorium oven, opened the door and saw that there were four blackened bodies within. Next morning in the course of my duties I had to clear the ashes out of the crematorium oven. I found a pink woman’s stocking garter on the floor near the oven.

The women were told to undress for a medical check and have an injection for medical reasons by a doctor, which was in fact what was considered a lethal 10cc dose of phenol. More than one witness talked of a struggle when the fourth woman was shoved into the furnace. According to a Polish prisoner named Walter Schultz, the SS medical orderly (Emil Brüttel) told him the following: 'When the last woman was halfway in the oven (she had been put in feet first), she had come to her senses and struggled. As there were sufficient men there, they were able to push her into the oven, but not before she had resisted and scratched [Peter] Straub's face.' The next day Schultz noticed that the face of the camp executioner (Straub) had been severely scratched.

Only the camp doctor (Werner Rohde) was executed after the war. The camp commandant (Fritz Hartjenstein) received a life sentence, while Straub was sentenced to 13 years in prison. Franz Berg was sentenced to five years in prison.

We salute the heroines of SOE!!

See Leigh, Vera • Olschanezky, Sonya • Rowden, Diana

See also: tribute to Violette Szabo GC on this site

Verbatim trial transcript available. WO 235_336 Struthof-Natzweiler Case No I. Please contact us via Helpdesk

Boynton, Robert H. (12-1542)

Review and Recommendation paper, 12-1542 available. Please contact Helpdesk

Bradley, James Francis (005-100)

Review and Recommendation paper, 12-1542 available. Please contact Helpdesk

Brady, William Alvin (WO 235/217)

Brainard, Newell W. (12-551 and 12-1915)

Review and Recommendations Trial Papers available. Please contact us via Helpdesk

Branston, Kenneth William (TS 26/857)

Braswell, Homer Hildred (12-1949)

Identification (yet unconfirmed) according to "Losses 8th & 9th Air Forces, Stan D. Bishop & John A. Hey"

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Brennan, Lawrence William

Brent, Donald Eugene (12-1418)

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Brettell, Edward Gordon (WO 235/573)

Verbatim trial transcript available. Please contact us via Helpdesk

Brocious, Harold Dwight (05-66, 012-2256)

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Brosko, Peter Paul (WO 235/215)

Brown, Donald P. (005-100)

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Brown, Kirby M. (No record of a trial)

Brown, Jr. George Frederick (012-765)

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Brown, Jr. Quince Lucien (No record of a trial)

Bryson, Charles Kenneth Lesbirel (No record of a trial)

Bull, Leslie George

Bundy, Lincoln Delmer (WO 235/560, 235/561, 235/711 )

Burleigh, Hubert W. (012-1299, 012-3193B (3rd of four))

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Burman, Dennis Cecil (WO 309/989)

Burnette, Hubert Ray (005-100)

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Bushell, Roger Joyce (WO 235/425ff - 3rd Count)

Law-Reports_Vol-11 Available

Butlin, Ernest J.

Murder mentioned in the Case No. 12_1813. Please contact us via Helpdesk

Bryson , Charles Kenneth Lesbirel

Brzezowski, Stanley E. (012-1368/4)

Review and Recommendations Trial Papers Available. Please contact us via Helpdesk.

Caldwell, Frank A. (012-1395)

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Callander, Edward (United States vs Hans Altfuldisch et al)

Callanan, Michael J.

Carino, Pasquale J. (012-447 (not tried))

Carley, Henry J.

Carlson, Melvin C.

Carter, Lloyd Charles (012-2313)

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Carter, Roy Edward (WO 235/345)

Verbatim trial transcript available. WO 235_345 Tilburg Case.pdf. Please contact us via Helpdesk

Casey, Michael James

Catanach, James (WO 235/425ff - 7th & 8th Count (Law Reports_Vol-11))

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Caust, Morris

Cederlind, John Arthur (No trial record)

Celeste, Charles F. (012-447 (not tried))

Cherrington, Ronald W.

Chinchilla, Francis P. (012-0481, 012-2064)

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Chojecki, John M. (012-1745)

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Churchill, Harold E. (012-1813)

Full transcript of this trial available. Please contact us via Helpdesk

Christensen, Arnold George (WO 235/425ff - 7th & 8th Count (Law Reports_Vol-11))

Verbatim trial transcript available. Please contact us via Helpdesk

Clark, Denis (No trial record)

Clark, Kevin G. (WO 235/125)

Verbatim trial transcript available. WO 235_125. Please contact us via Helpdesk

Claude, Joseph (WO 235/185 Gaggenau Trial)

A British Military Court was convened in Wuppertal, Germany, between the 6th and 10th May 1946, the trial record of which may be obtained via Helpdesk (WO 235_185 Gaggenau Trial).

Eleven German nationals were charged with committing a war crime in that they, at Rotenfels Security Camp, Gaggenau, Germany, on the 25th November 1944, in violation of the laws and usages of war, were concerned in the killing of six British prisoners of war, namely Major D.B. Reynolds, Capt. Gough, Capt. A.R. Whitely-Smith, Parachutist M.A. Griffin, Lieut. G.D. Dill, Gunner C. Ashe, all of 2^ndSpecial Air Service Regt.; four American Prisoners of war, namely Michael Pipcock (sic), Garis P. Jacoby, Curtis E. Hodges, Maynard Latten and four French nationals namely Abbé Pennrath, Abbé Claude, Abbé Roth and Werner Jakob.

Since there were French nationals among the victims, a French Air Force Captain (Capt.) was a member of the court, sitting with one Brigadier (Brig.) four Majors (Maj.) and a Judge Advocate.

The accused were Karl Buck, SS-Hauptsturmführer (Capt.) and commander of the Sicherungslager (Security Camp) Schirmeck La Broque (Alsace) and Sicherungslager Rotenfels/Gaggenau, Robert Wünsch, SS-Untersturmführer (2nd.Lt.) and administrative officer at the Gaggenau camp, Karl Nussberger, Oberleutnant (1st.Lt.) in the Police and Commanding Officer (CO) of the police unit responsible for the security at Gaggenau camp, one Karl Zimmermann, SS-Sturmscharführer (Sgt.Maj.) and several police Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs) of varying rank, Erwin Ostertag, Josef Muth, Bernhard Josef Ulrich, Heinrich Neuschwanger, Karl Wilhelm Dinkel, Helmut Korb, and Franz Xaver Vetter.

The court heard that during November 1944 at Schirmeck La Broque, prisoners of various categories were held, some of them in the “Block“ (a prison within a prison). When the Allied forces approached, orders were given to move the “Block“ prisoners from Schirmeck La Broque further to the east. The victims named in the charge were transported to Rotenfels/Gaggenau, which was also under Buck's orders.

On the morning of 24th or 25th November 1944, Buck came to Rotenfels/Gaggenau and issued orders to Wünsch that certain prisoners were to be killed. Wünsch related this order to Nussberger who in turn conferred with his subordinates who then started to make the preparations they thought necessary. At 1400 hrs on the 25th November 1944, a van appeared at the camp gate to take the prisoners and their escort, comprising the accused policemen, except for Nussberger, plus four Russian prisoners who had picks and shovels with them.

The lorry drove to a place outside Gaggenau called Erlichwald (Erlich woods). There the accused made the prisoners, in four groups of three and one group of two, dismount from the lorry and walk some distance into the wood where they were shot dead from behind, their bodies falling into a bomb crater. One of the French victims, a priest, “tried to break away. He made it 100 yards into the woods before being gunned down.” (Reference: Lewis, Nazi Hunters, p. 254)

The individuals who did the shooting were Neuschwanger, Ulrich and Ostertag. The bodies were stripped of their clothes and personal effects. The bomb crater was then filled in and the clothes and effects burned on the spot, although in their haste they left several vital clues which later assisted in identifying the remains.

When French troops reached Gaggenau end of April 1945, word of the atrocities reached them fairly quickly, and they ordered the exhumation of the bodies from the bomb crater, using local Nazis as the workforce. Identification was only partly successful, and the victims were reburied in individual graves in the local cemetery on 13th May 1945. On 10th June, Maj. Eric ‘Bill’ Barkworth of the 2nd Special Air Service (SAS) Regiment arrived and ordered a fresh exhumation. Careful examination of the bodies and graves, together with investigations at the bomb crater site, established the identities of the victims as named in the charge. Maj. Barkworth, in his evidence in court, gave detailed information on the facts and findings upon which he based his identifications.

In one case it took years to identify the French victims, but meanwhile it has been established that they were:

Abbé Joseph Claude, born 24 November 1891 at L. Vallois. One of his fellow prisoners called him “the quietest, most God-loving and selfless person in the prison”. (Reference: Lewis, Nazi Hunters, p. 352)

Werner Jakob, born 18 August 1914 at Strasbourg,

Abbé Jean Justin Pennerath, born 14 June 1902 at Barst,

Abbé Joseph Alphonse Roth, born 7 September 1911 at Roppwiller.

The court found all accused, with the exception of Muth, guilty of the charge and rejected their defense of Superior Orders (in this case: Hitler’s Commando Order of 18th October 1942). The court pronounced sentences as follows:

Buck, Neuschwanger, Nussberger, Ostertag and Ulrich were to die by shooting, Wünsch got 4 years imprisonment, Dinkel 8 years, Korb 3 years, Vetter 2 years and Zimmermann 10 years. The sentences were confirmed by the Commander in Chief of the British Army of the Rhine on 6th July 1946, but not all of them were promulgated and executed.

The French authorities wanted to try some of the accused in this case for other, similar crimes and demanded their extradition. It is not clear why Neuschwanger was the only one to pay with his life for the murders of 25 November 1944. He was executed in the shooting range adjacent Neheimer Straße, Werl, Germany, by a British firing party on 26th September 1946 at 0800 hrs. It is speculated that he may not have been named on the extradition list.

Buck, Nussberger, Ostertag, Ulrich and Wünsch, but also the acquitted Josef Muth were extradited to the French and stood trial before the Tribunal Général at Rastatt, Germany, in the French Zone of Occupation, from 20th February to 18th March, 1947.

The charge accused them of war crimes under Control Council Law No. 10, committed by murder and ill-treatment of Allied nationals in Security and Work Camps.

Buck, Muth, Nussberger, Ostertag and Ulrich were sentenced to death; Wünsch received 1 year imprisonment.

Upon appeal, the (French) death sentences of Buck and Nussberger were commuted to life imprisonment with hard labour. The sentences of Muth and Ostertag were both commuted to 15 years imprisonment with hard labour.

Ulrich’s (French) death sentence was carried out by shooting on 26th August 1947 at 0700 hrs in a gravel pit to the southwest of Sandweier (today part of Baden-Baden).

It is not quite clear at which date the British decided to reprieve Buck, Nussberger and Ostertag and to commute their sentences to prison terms, seeing that (a) the French would not hand the prisoners back any time soon and that it (b) would be very much against British tradition anyway to execute a death sentence years after sentencing.

Buck and Nussberger stood another trial in January 1953 in Metz, in which Robert Wünsch, too, was tried in absentia. All three of them received a death sentence, and again Buck and Nussberger were reprieved, their sentences being shortened to 20 years. Both were released from the British prison at Werl on 9 September 1955. It is not known since when they were back in British custody.

According to archival records, Ostertag was still in prison in 1954.

Otherwise, the final disposition of the sentences for Muth, Ostertag, Wünsch, Dinkel, Zimmermann and Korb is unknown.

Clement, James McVicar (WO 309/1088)

Cochran, Dennis Herbert (WO 235/425ff - 5th Count (Law Reports_Vol-11))

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Coggeshall, Chester Elmer (012-1155, 012-1155-1)

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Conn Jr., Arthur Alexander

Cook, Eugene D. (012-2058)

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Cooke, Arthur William (WO 235/141 & WO 235/683)

Costello, George Arnold (WO 235/347)

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Cothran, Charles Bluford (No record of a trial)

Couch, William M. (012-1086, 012-1145)

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Cowgill, John W. (012-0551, 012-0551-1, 012-1915)

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Cox, Joseph A. (008-0027)

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Crary, Willard D.

Crawley, Joseph P.

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Cross, Ian Kingston Pembroke

Crossley, Ernest (WO 235/351)

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Crow, Arthur Maurice

Cruse, Leroy Desmond (012-1967)

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Cudrak, Steven (05-66, 012-2256)

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Cummins, Peter Maurice

Cuthbertson, Frederick William

Czarnecki, Zigfryd Valentino (012-3121)

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D'Avril, Jean-Maurice

Dale, James Edward (012-80)

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Danno, James W. (012-0489, 012-0489-1)

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Dater, Harvey (012-1034, 012-3193B)

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Davenport, Paul Charles (012-819)

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Davis, John Clement (WO 235/205 and WO 235/153)

Delavan, Robert E. (012-1247)

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DELIEU, Albert William (No Trial)

Dennerle, Almo Wilson (012-851)

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Dennis, James Gordon (No case number)

Dill, David Gordon (WO 235/185 Gaggenau Trial)

A British Military Court was convened in Wuppertal, Germany, between the 6th and 10th May 1946, the trial record of which may be obtained via Helpdesk (WO 235_185 Gaggenau Trial).

Eleven German nationals were charged with committing a war crime in that they, at Rotenfels Security Camp, Gaggenau, Germany, on the 25th November 1944, in violation of the laws and usages of war, were concerned in the killing of six British prisoners of war, namely Major D.B. Reynolds, Capt. Gough, Capt. A.R. Whitely-Smith, Parachutist M.A. Griffin, Lieut. G.D. Dill, Gunner C. Ashe, all of 2nd Special Air Service Regt.; four American Prisoners of war, namely Michael Pipcock (sic), Garis P. Jacoby, Curtis E. Hodges, Maynard Latten and four French nationals namely Abbé Pennrath, Abbé Claude, Abbé Roth and Werner Jakob.

Since there were French nationals among the victims, a French Air Force Captain (Capt.) was a member of the court, sitting with one Brigadier (Brig.) four Majors (Maj.) and a Judge Advocate.

The accused were Karl Buck, SS-Hauptsturmführer (Capt.) and commander of the Sicherungslager (Security Camp) Schirmeck La Broque (Alsace) and Sicherungslager Rotenfels/Gaggenau, Robert Wünsch, SS-Untersturmführer (2nd.Lt.) and administrative officer at the Gaggenau camp, Karl Nussberger, Oberleutnant (1st.Lt.) in the Police and Commanding Officer (CO) of the police unit responsible for the security at Gaggenau camp, one Karl Zimmermann, SS-Sturmscharführer (Sgt.Maj.) and several police Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs) of varying rank, Erwin Ostertag, Josef Muth, Bernhard Josef Ulrich, Heinrich Neuschwanger, Karl Wilhelm Dinkel, Helmut Korb, and Franz Xaver Vetter.

The court heard that during November 1944 at Schirmeck La Broque, prisoners of various categories were held, some of them in the “Block“ (a prison within a prison). When the Allied forces approached, orders were given to move the “Block“ prisoners from Schirmeck La Broque further to the east. The victims named in the charge were transported to Rotenfels/Gaggenau, which was also under Buck's orders.

On the morning of 24th or 25th November 1944, Buck came to Rotenfels/Gaggenau and issued orders to Wünsch that certain prisoners were to be killed. Wünsch related this order to Nussberger who in turn conferred with his subordinates who then started to make the preparations they thought necessary. At 1400 hrs on the 25th November 1944, a van appeared at the camp gate to take the prisoners and their escort, comprising the accused policemen, except for Nussberger, plus four Russian prisoners who had picks and shovels with them.

The lorry drove to a place outside Gaggenau called Erlichwald (Erlich woods). There the accused made the prisoners, in four groups of three and one group of two, dismount from the lorry and walk some distance into the wood where they were shot dead from behind, their bodies falling into a bomb crater. The individuals who did the shooting were Neuschwanger, Ulrich and Ostertag. The bodies were stripped of their clothes and personal effects. The bomb crater was then filled in and the clothes and effects burned on the spot, although in their haste they left several vital clues which later assisted in identifying the remains.

When French troops reached Gaggenau end of April 1945, word of the atrocities reached them fairly quickly, and they ordered the exhumation of the bodies from the bomb crater, using local Nazis as the workforce. Identification was only partly successful, and the victims were reburied in individual graves in the local cemetery on 13th May 1945. On 10th June, Maj. Eric ‘Bill’ Barkworth of the 2nd Special Air Service (SAS) Regiment arrived and ordered a fresh exhumation. Careful examination of the bodies and graves, together with investigations at the bomb crater site, established the identities of the victims as named in the charge. Maj. Barkworth, in his evidence in court, gave detailed information on the facts and findings upon which he based his identifications.

Ashe, Christopher, Private (Gunner), service number 847426, SAS (Special Air Service). 27 years old. According to www.specialforcesroh.com he was born in the Republic of Ireland and belonged to Operation PISTOL. He was taken prisoner on 23 September 1944.

Based on his dental records, he was identified as the body found in row 4 grave 7 of the Gaggenau Cemetery. Today his grave is in Dürnbach War Cemetery, Bavaria, Germany, field 3 row K grave 12.

Dill, David Gordon, Lieutenant, service number 265704, originally served with the King’s Royal Rifle Corps before joining the SAS (Special Air Service). According to www.specialforcesroh.com he took part in Operation LOYTON and was taken prisoner on 6 October 1944. On 8 November 1944 he was seen alive in Security Camp Schirmeck-La Broque by a representative of the American Red Cross. 20 years old, son to an officer from South Stoke, Oxfordshire.

He was identified thanks to his service issue wrist watch bearing a number which identified it as having been issued to Lt. Dill. Originally buried in row 4 grave 5 of the Gaggenau Cemetery, he is now buried in Dürnbach War Cemetery, Bavaria, Germany, field 3 row K grave 10.

Gough, Victor Albert, Captain, service number 148884, originally served with the Somerset Light Infantry before joining the Special Operations Executive. He was born 11 Sept 1918 in Hereford. As a member of Jedburgh team JACOB he took part in Operation LOYTON. His group parachuted into the Vosges mountains on 12 August 1944. His last radio message to headquarters dated from 18 September 1944, 1900 hrs. He must have been captured on one of the following days while trying to reach Allied lines. On 8 November 1944 he was seen alive in Security Camp Schirmeck-La Broque by a representative of the American Red Cross.

Based on his dental records, he was identified as the body found in row 4 grave 9 of the Gaggenau Cemetery. Today his grave is in Dürnbach War Cemetery, Bavaria, Germany, field 3 row K grave 22.

Griffin, Maurice Arthur, Private (Parachutist), service number 873123, SAS (Special Air Service). According to www.specialforcesroh.com he served originally with the Royal Artillery before joining the SAS. According to the same source he was born in London, lived in Bristol (his parents residing at Sea Mills, Gloucestershire) and was part of Operation LOYTON. He was taken prisoner some time during Sept.-Oct. 1944. 23 years old.

Based on his dental records, he was identified as the body exhumed from row 2 grave 5 of the Gaggenau Cemetery. Today his grave is in Dürnbach War Cemetery, Bavaria, Germany, field 3 row K grave 1.

Reynolds, Denis Bingham, Major, service number 130586, originally served with the King’s Royal Rifle Corps before joining the SAS (Special Air Service). According to www.specialforcesroh.com he took part in Operation LOYTON and was taken prisoner on 30 October 1944. On 8 November 1944 he was seen alive in Security Camp Schirmeck-La Broque by a representative of the American Red Cross.

The body found in grave 3 of row 3, Gaggenau Cemetery, bore his ID tags. Today his grave is in Dürnbach War Cemetery, Bavaria, Germany, field 3 row K grave 5.

Whately-Smith, Anthony Robert, Major, service number 113612, SAS (Special Air Service). 29 years old (born in 1915), son of a priest from Milford-on-Sea, Hampshire. According to www.specialforcesroh.com he took part in Operation LOYTON, he was taken prisoner on 30 October 1944. On 8 November 1944 he was seen alive in Security Camp Schirmeck-La Broque by a representative of the American Red Cross.

The body found in grave 6 of row 2, Gaggenau Cemetery, bore his ID tags. Today his grave is in Dürnbach War Cemetery, Bavaria, Germany, field 3 row K grave 2.

The court found all accused, with the exception of Muth, guilty of the charge and rejected their defense of Superior Orders (in this case: Hitler’s Commando Order of 18th October 1942). The court pronounced sentences as follows:

Buck, Neuschwanger, Nussberger, Ostertag and Ulrich were to die by shooting, Wünsch got 4 years imprisonment, Dinkel 8 years, Korb 3 years, Vetter 2 years and Zimmermann 10 years. The sentences were confirmed by the Commander in Chief of the British Army of the Rhine on 6th July 1946, but not all of them were promulgated and executed.

The French authorities wanted to try some of the accused in this case for other, similar crimes and demanded their extradition. It is not clear why Neuschwanger was the only one to pay with his life for the murders of 25 November 1944. He was executed in the shooting range adjacent Neheimer Straße, Werl, Germany, by a British firing party on 26th September 1946 at 0800 hrs. It is speculated that he may not have been named on the extradition list.

Buck, Nussberger, Ostertag, Ulrich and Wünsch, but also the acquitted Josef Muth were extradited to the French and stood trial before the Tribunal Général at Rastatt, Germany, in the French Zone of Occupation, from 20th February to 18th March, 1947.

The charge accused them of war crimes under Control Council Law No. 10, committed by murder and ill-treatment of Allied nationals in Security and Work Camps.

Buck, Muth, Nussberger, Ostertag and Ulrich were sentenced to death; Wünsch received 1 year imprisonment.

Upon appeal, the (French) death sentences of Buck and Nussberger were commuted to life imprisonment with hard labour. The sentences of Muth and Ostertag were both commuted to 15 years imprisonment with hard labour.

Ulrich’s (French) death sentence was carried out by shooting on 26th August 1947 at 0700 hrs in a gravel pit to the southwest of Sandweier (today part of Baden-Baden).

It is not quite clear at which date the British decided to reprieve Buck, Nussberger and Ostertag and to commute their sentences to prison terms, seeing that (a) the French would not hand the prisoners back any time soon and that it (b) would be very much against British tradition anyway to execute a death sentence years after sentencing.

Buck and Nussberger stood another trial in January 1953 in Metz, in which Robert Wünsch, too, was tried in absentia. All three of them received a death sentence, and again Buck and Nussberger were reprieved, their sentences being shortened to 20 years. Both were released from the British prison at Werl on 9 September 1955. It is not known since when they were back in British custody.

According to archival records, Ostertag was still in prison in 1954.

Otherwise, the final disposition of the sentences for Muth, Ostertag, Wünsch, Dinkel, Zimmermann and Korb is unknown.

Dinsmore, Walter Francis (012-1745)

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Dittmer, Arthur H.

Dold, William F. (012-0489, 012-0489-1)

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Dole, Lyle E.

Dolecek, Victor D. (012-1368/4)

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Donahue, John J. (012-0551, 012-0551-1, 012-1915)

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Dornburgh, Edmund L. (012-1871, 012-1871-1, 012-2000 (Incident 3 of 10))

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Dorrell, Matthew (WO 235/351)

Verbatim trial transcript available. WO 235_351 Solingen Case. Please contact us via Helpdesk.

Dottoviano, Marccena F. (012-1395)

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Dowell, Charles W. (WO 235/339 Rheine Airfield Case (Charge 6))

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Doyle, Gray H. (WO 235/339 Rheine Airfield Case (Charge 2))

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Doyle, Joseph William

Draper, Thomas Maynard (WO 309/339, WO 309/1255)

Dubé, Henri Edouard (No record of a trial)

Duke, William A. (012-2000 Charge (Incident 7&8 of 10))

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Dumont, William A. (012-2381, 012-1497)

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Dykeman, Robert ‘Bob’ (012-485)

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Edwards, William James

Eggleston, Jon E. (012-2175)

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Eike, George Walden (Belgian war crime trials)

Erich Milton, Benjamin (012-0468)

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Ertel, Raymond C.

Eschinger, Edward G.

Espelid, Halldor (WO 235/425ff - 7th & 8th Count (Law Reports_Vol-11))

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Evans, Brian Herbert (No Trial)

Evans, Charles Howard (12-0468)

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Evans, Hugh Legar (012-0468)

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Every, Thomas Victor (WO 235/291)

Rifleman Every died at BAB 20 (a Work Camp for POWs under Stalag Lamsdorf) situated near a synthetic oil plant, near Blechhammer (now Blachownia Śląska, Poland) when on 22nd August 1944 the oil plant was raided by elements of the 15th US Air Force.

On this day the prisoners of war had been allowed to leave their camp, which was close to the oil plant being raided, as soon as the "Voralarm" (pre-alarm) was sounded. This gave them about ten minutes' time to disperse in the surrounding area. According to witness statements, three British POWs were killed during this raid, Every being one of them. After having been first buried in Cosel (now Koźle, Poland), he was transferred to Krakow Rakowicki Cemetery after the war and now rests there in plot 4, row C, grave 10.

His name is entered in the VitzArchive because his death was the subject of a war crime charge against Lieutenant General Kurt Wolff, officer in charge of prisoners of war in Wehrkreis VIII, for failing to provide air raid shelter for the prisoners of war or to move them to safer quarters outside the target area, thereby causing the deaths of four named British prisoners of war of whom Every was one. A British Military Court found Wolff guilty of the charge and sentenced him to 7 years imprisonment of which he served about four and a half.

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Ewing, William R. (012-1395)

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Faber, Kenneth (012-0489, 012-0489-1)

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Farrington, William Robert (005-100)

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Fielden, John 'Maxie' (TS 26/613; WO 309/106, WO 309/804; WO 309/1012)

No Trial. Investigation files WO 309/106, WO 309/804; WO 309/1012 available. Please contact us via Helpdesk

Ferrari, Calvin C. (012-2074)

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Fetterhoff, Willard R. (12-1545 (Charge 2))

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Fields, James T. (012-0551, 012-0551-1, 012-1915)

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Flach, Ferdinand (012-472)

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Folds, Donald Francis Foster (WO 235/291)

Craftsman Folds died at BAB 20 (a Work Camp for POWs under Stalag Lamsdorf) situated near a synthetic oil plant, near Blechhammer (now Blachownia Śląska, Poland) when on 22nd August 1944 the oil plant was raided by elements of the 15th US Air Force.

On this day the prisoners of war had been allowed to leave their camp, which was close to the oil plant being raided, as soon as the "Voralarm" (pre-alarm) was sounded. This gave them about ten minutes' time to disperse in the surrounding area. According to witness statements, three British POWs were killed during this raid, Folds being one of them. After having been first buried in Cosel (now Koźle, Poland), he was transferred to Krakow Rakowicki Cemetery after the war and now rests there in plot 4, row C, grave 11.

His name is entered in the VitzArchive because his death was the subject of a war crime charge against Lieutenant General Kurt Wolff, officer in charge of prisoners of war in Wehrkreis VIII, for failing to provide air raid shelter for the prisoners of war or to move them to safer quarters outside the target area, thereby causing the deaths of four named British prisoners of war of whom Folds was one. A British Military Court found Wolff guilty of the charge and sentenced him to 7 years imprisonment of which he served about four and a half.

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Folsom, Robert Hilton 'Buck' (012-1833)

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Forman, William Howard (012-2000 charge 10)

In 1947, at Dachau, Higher SS and Police Leader Jürgen Stroop and 21 of his Gestapo and SS underlings in the area around Frankfurt and Wiesbaden were tried for the murder of allied servicemen who were prisoners of war, among them notably parachuted allied airmen. Nine cases were individually charged. Charge 10 named as victims “Lt. William H. FORMAN, T.D., AGO Card No. 652973, and Pvt. Robert T. McDONALD, ASN 32773939”, killed “on or about 24 March 1945, at or near BENSHEIM”. The victims were buried at the scene of the crime – the backyard of the Gestapo headquarters at Bensheim – and exhumed only a few days later, on 27^thand 28^thMarch 1945, when American troops reached the area. Research has found that these two men were in all probability not airmen but members of the 705^thTank Destroyer Battalion, attached to the 11^thArmored Division. It has not been possible to find out where Lt. Forman’s remains are buried today. The Gestapo men involved were all sentenced to death and executed

Forsythe, William K. (012-658)

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Frame, Daniel (WO 235/211 - Opladen Case )

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Fraser, Thomas Andrew (TS 26/857)

Frazer, Charles

Frost, Harold (WO 235/235, WO 235/420)

Fry, Arthur George (No trial found)

Fuller, Harrel William (012-1881)

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Fuglesang, Nils Jørgen (WO 235/425ff - 7th & 8th Count (Law Reports_Vol-11))

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