SS Massacre of British troops at Esquelbecq/Wormhout 1940

[banjotrooper]

Tomorrow afternoon at 18.00hrs, I will be attending the ceremony to commemorate the May 28th 1940 Esquelbecq massacre.
Please join me tomorrow in a toast to remember these brave British soldiers who gave the SS a bloody nose and then paid dearly for their courage

Tomorrow is the anniversary of the infamous Esquelbecq/Wormhout massacre which took place on May 28th 1940 and became one of the worst war attrocities of WW2 against British troops. The 2nd Batt Warwicks fought the SS Liebstandarte to a standstill and after expanding all of their ammo, they surrendered. Their reward? Over a 100 men were marched into a cattle shed where the SS then carried out their infamous massacre. Grenades were thrown in, men were machine gunned down and if that wasn't bad enough, they were then pulled out 5 at a time and executed. Some were finished off with the rifle butt and bayonet. The Warwicks Officer was executed as he attempted to take shelter in a pond and another man with him was shot through the neck as he tried to hide after having one of his arms torn off in the barn by grenade explosions. Others were thrown into blazing vehicles and buildings. Bastards!! Whilst this was going on, another SS regiment was massacreing the 2nd West Norfolks at Le Paradise who likewise had surrendered after fighting to the last round. Over 100 of these men were placed against a barn wall and machined gunned down and finished off with rifle buts and bayonets likewise. Bastards!!

I know this as I have been briefed to represent the Ypres Branch of the RBL at several ceremonies being held to commemorate these brave men in France tomorrow afternoon.

Sep Dietrich and Moltke or whatever your bloody names are, I will see you both in hell one day and then!!!

 

[Alsacien]

I guess Angela Merkel won't be attending this one then.

 

[fantassin]

One of several massacres commited by either the 1st of the 3rd SS Div. but also by Wehrmacht units such as Rommel's 7 Pz Div. which never hesitated to execute French colonial POWs as they were nothing but "unter-mensch".

British and French troops were not the only victims and several villages in the North of France were also the scenes of massacres, especially by the 3rd SS Div.

It followed a sequence; every time the 3 SS Div. was given a bloody nose, it would retaliate on the local population. Altogether, more than 250 French civilians were assassinated by the Totenkopf Division between the 19 and the 27 of May 1940.



RIP to all of them.

 

[Stonker]

On the Wormhout massacre, from the Sunday Torygraph, one of the very few survivors tell his story

Wormhoudt: 'Every day I thank God we did our duty'
As hundreds of thousands of soldiers were evacuated from Dunkirk, Private Bert Evans - who helped defend the operation - escaped one of the most horrific massacres of the war. As Britain prepares to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Dunkirk, Bert - now 89 - tells Olga Craig how he’ll never forget the captain who sacrificed his life for him

MORE: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/new...dt-Every-day-I-thank-God-we-did-our-duty.html

 

[ULTRAS99]

R.I.P to those brave souls.

This kind of atrocity was not only confined to the bastard Germans though it seems: http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,692037,00.html

 

[renamed_user]

I have visited the barn several times, very tragic story. The programme Dunkirk being shown on the Yesterday Channel, sky 537 and 538 today and tomorrow recreates the incident.
However in real life the only British officer present Capt Lynn-Allan grabbed an already wounded Bert Evans and ran as the grenades were thrown in, for a small pond about 100ft away. They both made it into the water and were going to hide in the reeds, however a SS murderer saw them and shot the capt in the head, his body sank into the pond. Bert Evans was shot twice in the neck, he feigned death and survived. Amazingly the body of Capt Lynn Allan was never recovered or found.

 

[para_medic]

R.I.P to those brave souls.

This kind of atrocity was not only confined to the bastard Germans though it seems: http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,692037,00.html

There always has to be one it seems...
This thread is about "the bastard Germans" - start your own about other bastards, thank you.

 

[17THSEPTEMBER1944]

Some of the men actually survived, like one of the men in the pond, Wilhem Monck was the man responsible for this and other war crimes.

What I can't actually understand is that when the Germans asked for the first 5 to volunteer they, did so. Just before being shot in the backs they turned around to face the enemy, I further cant understand that they got another 5 volunteers to be executed after that, it was only later that the Germans threw in grenades, and poured fire into the building because they no longer willingly volunteered for execution. This was after mumblings of such phrases as "Jolly bad show" etc etc

 

[Stonker]

Some of the men actually survived, like one of the men in the pond, Wilhem Monck was the man responsible for this and other war crimes.

What I can't actually understand is that when the Germans asked for the first 5 to volunteer they, did so. Just before being shot in the backs they turned around to face the enemy, I further cant understand that they got another 5 volunteers to be executed after that, it was only later that the Germans threw in grenades, and poured fire into the building because they no longer willingly volunteered for execution. This was after mumblings of such phrases as "Jolly bad show" etc etc

Mebbe they believed that after the first 5, the SS would stop, having "made their point". Brave lads, if that was the case, bless 'em.

Greater love hath no man.

 

[mercurydancer]

Banjotrooper

What you are doing is important. I thank you for your commitment. We may buy a poppy every November and perhaps pretend that we remember but what you are doing is ensuring that after the last soldier is gone and memory is not possible, that the men who died are truly not forgotten.

With delight I see the Dunkirk little ships flotilla go across the channel, an active and signficiant memorial which grows stronger every year. I tried to buy Anne, a Dunkirk little ship when it was on sale last year but was too daunted by the restoration required. I was delighted by the quality of the resotration and that it made it to this anniversary.

I can more often than not, be found at Etaples Military Cemetery every Nov 11 and every year the number of laminated phototgraphs of the fallen are placed there. It is a joy to see the faces of the men who rest in that place. Its a trend that should continue.

 

[Goldbricker]

One of several massacres commited by either the 1st of the 3rd SS Div. but also by Wehrmacht units such as Rommel's 7 Pz Div. which never hesitated to execute French colonial POWs as they were nothing but "unter-mensch".



RIP to all of them.

Would you hapen to have an English language link to that?, I can't seem to find anything Corroborative on 7th Pnzr.

 

[squeekingsapper]

Some of the men actually survived, like one of the men in the pond, Wilhem Monck was the man responsible for this and other war crimes.

What I can't actually understand is that when the Germans asked for the first 5 to volunteer they, did so. Just before being shot in the backs they turned around to face the enemy, I further cant understand that they got another 5 volunteers to be executed after that, it was only later that the Germans threw in grenades, and poured fire into the building because they no longer willingly volunteered for execution. This was after mumblings of such phrases as "Jolly bad show" etc etc

Mebbe they believed that after the first 5, the SS would stop, having "made their point". Brave lads, if that was the case, bless 'em.

It might have been an acceptance of the inevitable that the SS were going to shoot them all anyway and no one wanted to drag it out.

Either way, a terrible waste that should not have happened.

Greater love hath no man.

 

[on_leave]

There is a reference to atrocities in Poland at least. Didn't find any in France, but I didn't spend very long looking.

 

[ULTRAS99]

R.I.P to those brave souls.

This kind of atrocity was not only confined to the bastard Germans though it seems: http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,692037,00.html

There always has to be one it seems...
This thread is about "the bastard Germans" - start your own about other bastards, thank you.

Likewise, the moment I posted that I knew there had to be one who would take offence. Weird that...

 

[ASICarrot]

You do understand that there is very little equivalence between the two events?

One is the barbaric act of an aggressor at the beginning of a war when the rules of civilised conflict still remained very much inground in the psyche of the defending nations.

The other was the act of the defending parties (albiet on the attack) having been brutalised by the attitudes that the aggressor brought into play.

That is why trying to enter into tit for tat, morally grey or everyone had a few bad eggs, type of arguments are offensive when people are pointing out the institutional evils of Nazi Germany and the Waffen SS. There is no need to play devils advocate with the devil himself.

 

[ULTRAS99]

If you say so. I am not trying to excuse either side for their evil actions, but that is your prerogative.

 

[Stonker]

There is no need to play devils advocate with the devil himself.

It's a living in't it ?

(I'll get my coat )

 

[Cuddles]

Well if we are playing the "poor Germans, they get a bad press and just look at the evil British/Canadian/US forces" card don't lets forget Guards Armoured and the Scots Guards in particular!

Or alternatively let's not feel obligated to try and compare breaches of decency under operational pressures with a systematic, repeated and embedded culture of cruelty to prisoners over a six year period? Eh?

Of course there are those who think the SS looked well ally in those uniforms...you just have to watch their apologists at re-enactment and militaria shows.

 

[Speedy]

I notice that almost all of the incidents that Beavor reports in the Speigel article are individual acts, not organised executions, and I wonder if he'll report on how many allied servicemen were charged after such incidents?

 

[Stonker]

Cuddles - check yr PMs