Vermandovillers Kriegsgräberstätte - German War Cemetery
Historical Information (Volksbund)
There are 22.665 German war graves from the First World War in this cemetery.
4 of the "Richthofen Crew": Hans Weiss / Hans-Joachim Wolff / Robert Eiserbeck / Edgar Scholtz.
Lieutenant Hans Weiss was a World War I German Ace. 16 Aerial Victories. Best known for being a squadron commander in Richthofen's Flying Circus. He was attending the Technische Hochschule in Munich, studying mechanical engineering, when the war broke out, and he volunteered with a Pioneer brigade in early 1915. He attended flight school in Darmstadt and began his active service as an enlisted observer/gunner.
In May 1917, after becoming a pilot, he attacked an enemy train and destroyed it, for which he received the Iron Cross First Class and a promotion to Sergeant. He then transferred to fighters in August 1917 and was commissioned in October as a lieutenant, whereupon he joined Jasta 41, where he earned his first 10 victories. That success allowed him to transfer into Jasta 10 in Richthofen's Flying Circus in March, and he then took temporary command of Jasta 11 in the same unit in early April, which position he held until his death. He was killed in action flying his white Fokker Dr 1 triplane (the color being a play on words, as his last name means "white" in English) in combat against two Sopwith Camels, shot down by Canadian ace Merrill Taylor while chasing the second aircraft.
Lieutnant Hanns Joachim Wolff was a World War I German flying ace credited with ten aerial victories. Wolff served with FA(A) 216 until 6 July 1917, when he was reassigned to Jagdstaffel 11. He was wounded in action fighting No. 1 Squadron RNAS on 14 August, and again on 23 November in combat against No. 56 Squadron RFC. On 18 March 1918, Wolff shot down and killed his first victim, which was possibly Lt. John McCudden. Wolff then steadily scored for the next two months, downing his tenth victim on 15 May 1918. He and his Fokker Dr.I were shot down the following day, most probably by Lt. Horace Barton of No. 24 Squadron RAF. He's the only German pilot who scored all of his victories in the Fokker Dr.I.
Robert Eiserbeck, born on May 13, 1896 in Grimme, was a fighter pilot of the squadron of the legendary "Red Baron" in the First World War. On April 11, 1918, Eiserbeck died on the Western Front at the age of 22.
Edgar Scholtz was born on September 21, 1898 in Suhl, Thuringia. During the First World War he flew with the German air force in the bomber squadron of the top army command 2 and with the combat squadron Staffel 10, where he also won his first aerial victory. In January 1918 he was transferred to Jagdstaffel 11 as Vice Sergeant. There, in the "Richthofen Staffel", he achieved another five air victories.
He crashed with his Fokker Dr. 1 (No. 591/17) died on May 2, 1918, crashed when taking off from the airfield in Cappy. He was promoted to lieutenant shortly after his death.
Two famous literary figures rest in the common graves; the Roman Catholic war poet and playwright Reinhard Johannes Sorge, and the Expressionist writer Alfred Lichtenstein (writer).
Alfred Lichtenstein
BIRTH 23 Aug 1889 Wilmersdorf, Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, Berlin, Germany
DEATH 25 Sep 1914 (aged 25) Vermandovillers,
Expressionistic Writer and Poet. Son of a Jewish factory owner, he studied law at first in Berlin and then at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, where he received his Doctorate of Law in 1913. During his studies, starting in 1910, he began to write poetry and short stories in a grotesque style full of irony and wit. In October 1913, he joined the 2nd Bavarian Infantry Regiment as a volunteer, and his unit was sent right to the front on the Somme when the war broke out in August 1914.
He is best known for his 1913 collection "Die Dammerung" as well as his war poems, which are satirical and full of dark humor. His despair at the war and foreshadowing of his own death may be seen in one of his last poems, "Abschied" ("Farewell"), where he writes "Perhaps I'll be dead in 13 days." He was killed in action shortly thereafter.
Reinhard Johannes Sorge
BIRTH 29 Jan 1892 Neukölln, Berlin, Germany
DEATH 20 Jul 1916 (aged 24) Ablaincourt-Pressoir
Expressionist Playwright and Poet. Born in the Rixdorf section of Neukölln, he grew up living with a Lutheran family in East Prussia, due to his father's mental illness and early death. In 1909, he moved with his mother to Jena, where he attended Gymnasium, but did not finish, as he decided to become a writer. He was heavily influenced by Nietzsche, which caused him to lose his faith in God.
His first major works was the poem "The Youth" and the play "The Beggar". The latter won the Kleist Prize in 1912, the prize money from which allowed him to marry in 1913. During his honeymoon in Italy, he and his wife were impressed with the deep faith of the Italians they met, which caused them to convert to Catholicism later that year. From then on, his work was influenced by his faith. In 1915, he was drafted into the army and he spent his time in the trenches attempting to share his faith with his fellow soldiers. During the Battle of the Somme, he was severely wounded and died at a field hospital later in the day. A number of his works were published posthumously.
