Villeneuve-Loubet mass grave
Encyclopedia
Villeneuve-Loubet mass grave is a grave site near the village of Villeneuve-Loubet
, near Nice
, in southern France
. On October 18, 2006 the bodies of 14 German soldiers killed during World War II were exhumed at the site. The bodies were discovered by a local medical student, Jean-Loup Gassend, and were then exhumed by a team of local volunteers under the supervision of Mr Julien Hauser, representative of the Volksbund (German War Graves Commission
) in France.
The soldiers in the grave were members of Reserve Division 148 who had been killed in battle against soldiers of the Second Regiment of the famous First Special Service Force, also known as the Devil's Brigade
, on August 26, 1944, shortly after the Allies landed in southern France on August 15, 1944.
The bodies of the dead Germans were buried by local civilians in a specially dug trench after the battle, and forgotten about. Jean-Loup Gassend managed to relocate the grave by interviewing some of the surviving locals. The bodies were rediscovered at a depth of approximately one meter, along with helmets and military equipment. Battle wounds caused by bullets or shrapnel fragments were found on several of the bodies. Seven dog tags, including one that was pierced by a bullet, were also discovered and led to the identification of six of the bodies. Of these six, the oldest soldier was aged 34, and the youngest, Hubert Pilch, had been killed the day before his 18th birthday.
The exhumation team carefully analysed the objects found in the grave, and found some interesting conclusions about the events surrounding the burial. For example only one of the fourteen bodies was still wearing his shoes, meaning that all the other pairs of shoes had been taken off the bodies by local civilians before the bodies were buried. Also, the only two canteens that were found had been pierced by shell fragments, rendering them useless, and it can be suspected that all the other canteens that should have been on the bodies were taken by the civilians.
All the bodies were reburied in the German military cemetery in Berneuil, France, on June 23, 2007, in the presence of 60 German families, as well as many French and German officials.
Villeneuve-Loubet
Villeneuve-Loubet It lies between Cagnes-sur-Mer and Antibes, at the mouth of the Loup River.It was created by the joining two old villages: the old village of Villeneuve inland and the village of Loubet on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, near Nice
Nice
Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of...
, in southern France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. On October 18, 2006 the bodies of 14 German soldiers killed during World War II were exhumed at the site. The bodies were discovered by a local medical student, Jean-Loup Gassend, and were then exhumed by a team of local volunteers under the supervision of Mr Julien Hauser, representative of the Volksbund (German War Graves Commission
German War Graves Commission
The German War Graves Commission is responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of German war graves in Europe and North Africa...
) in France.
The soldiers in the grave were members of Reserve Division 148 who had been killed in battle against soldiers of the Second Regiment of the famous First Special Service Force, also known as the Devil's Brigade
Devil's Brigade
The Devil's Brigade , was a joint World War II American-Canadian commando unit organized in 1942 and trained at Fort William Henry Harrison near Helena, Montana in the United States...
, on August 26, 1944, shortly after the Allies landed in southern France on August 15, 1944.
The bodies of the dead Germans were buried by local civilians in a specially dug trench after the battle, and forgotten about. Jean-Loup Gassend managed to relocate the grave by interviewing some of the surviving locals. The bodies were rediscovered at a depth of approximately one meter, along with helmets and military equipment. Battle wounds caused by bullets or shrapnel fragments were found on several of the bodies. Seven dog tags, including one that was pierced by a bullet, were also discovered and led to the identification of six of the bodies. Of these six, the oldest soldier was aged 34, and the youngest, Hubert Pilch, had been killed the day before his 18th birthday.
The exhumation team carefully analysed the objects found in the grave, and found some interesting conclusions about the events surrounding the burial. For example only one of the fourteen bodies was still wearing his shoes, meaning that all the other pairs of shoes had been taken off the bodies by local civilians before the bodies were buried. Also, the only two canteens that were found had been pierced by shell fragments, rendering them useless, and it can be suspected that all the other canteens that should have been on the bodies were taken by the civilians.
All the bodies were reburied in the German military cemetery in Berneuil, France, on June 23, 2007, in the presence of 60 German families, as well as many French and German officials.