Thieves strike at historic war cemetery
OVERNIGHT, between March 13 and 14, thieves ripped a lock from a metal gate on Cannock Chase, Staffordshire in order to drive down in the dark with one purpose: to steal the copper roof from the buildings and entrance, as well as the roof above the Memorial Chamber, at the German Military Cemetery.
They even took with them the special lock, made so that the police, fire brigade, ambulances, and rescue teams have access onto Cannock Chase to deal with emergencies.
The damage to the roof is estimated at around £250,000.
The land is controlled by the Ministry of Defence and the graves of nearly 5,000 German and Austrian soldiers from WWII and WWII are lovingly tended by the staff of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission on behalf of their German counterparts, the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge.
CCTV footage of the vandalism and theft has been provided to the police, who are studying the images. Although the number plate of the white van was covered in a reflective substance, the route taken by the thieves to arrive at the scene of their audacious theft is also being looked at.
One of the five cameras had a sweat shirt or similar garment thrown over it, although there is a good chance DNA samples taken may help the police. However, the thieves failed to notice a hidden camera during the 6-7 hours it took to strip the copper and roll it up before placing it into the rear of the white van.
Throughout this time the thieves wore masks. Blood samples from sharp metal edges and nails are believed to have been taken for DNA testing.
Entrance was gained from the left side by climbing round a wrought iron gate at the rear and climbing onto the roof. The thieves were aware of most of the CCTV cameras and so when a call of nature came, they relieved themselves over the side of the buildings. DNA samples of the bushes and grass below are believed to have been taken.
Police investigations are ongoing, with a focus on Midlands scrap merchants who may have been approached by the thieves, and the police have explained that any scrap merchant who has purchased the copper, and anyone melting the copper down into ingots is an accessory and could be charged with handling stolen goods and also fined (minimum £5,000). If trading in cash, these merchants will lose their licence to trade and receive an unlimited fine under
The graves of nearly 5,000 German and Austrian soldiers from WWI and WII are lovingly tended
the Scrap Metal Act of 2013. The thieves would also be treated similarly. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (based in Maidenhead, Tel 01628-634221) is waiting for the police investigations to finish and is assisting the police, including making available the CCTV footage from the six cameras. Plans for the Deutscher Soldatenfriedhof (German Military Cemetery) Cannock Chase was initiated in late 1959 when the Minister for Defence, John Profumo, had talks with the then West German Government to have one central location as a focal point in Britain whereby the disparate graves were all brought to one site, so that relatives could visit. The plans eventually came together in 1967, when the cemetery was opened. German schoolchildren have, apart from the last two Covid affected years, visited to tend the graves and research the names of those buried here. The gravestones are German granite and around the beds heather has been planted, brought over from Germany.
In a side area from the main section are the graves of the four crews of German airships from the First World War. Those buried in the cemetery include Feldwebel Wolfgang Rosterg, who was ‘executed’ by fellow Germans at Comrie prisoner of war camp, near Perth), SS General Maximilian von Herff, who was involved in the Warsaw uprising of 1944, and also Field Marshal Ernst Busch, who surrendered to Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery on the Lunneberg Heath in Northern Europe on May 4, 1945. Had Britain been invaded Busch was earmarked to be Reichprotektor Gross Britannien, and would have run the country.