219832 Capt. Charles Benjamin Kemp Jickling British Army Royal Norfolk Regiment (d.14th Apr 1945) My Uncle Charles Jickling was captured at Dunkirk and imprisoned in a camp in Germany. He was a Captain in the Royal Norfolk Regiment.
On the last day of the war they were being marched from their camp. They were shot by Americans, who thought they were Germans as they flew over. This was on the 14th April, 1945. He was 29 when he died.
Benjamin is buried at Durnbach War Cemetery. He was army No. 00238BA; service umber 67110.
I found out from my other Uncle that Ben had been in Eichstatt, Southern Germany; though I suspect not for the entirety of his time in captivity.
He is mentioned in the book, 'The Last Escape', by John Nichol and Tony Rennell. You may be interested to have the following information.
The German commanders had been ordered to evacuate the camp and march to Moosburg due to the advance of the Russians. This event took place on the 14th April 1945. The brigade moved out in Battalions. Two aeroplanes had been circling overhead; American Mustangs. Six other planes arrived and circled the camp. The leading plane took a dive and burst into machine gun fire. Plane after plane then came roaring over the column blasting the men with machine gun fire. The Americans were in charge of much of the Airspace in Bavaria.
The total death toll was 11 British Officers with 50 wounded. It turned out that the Americans thought they were a column of Hungarian troops, who had similar uniform. After the incident they refused to march in the daylight and went by night. They reached Moosburg and were liberated 8 days later. Other methods they used to avoid similar incidents were to make a flag out of old sheets and paint it with a red cross.
There is an article about the incident on the City of Kingston Historical Website.
How can I find out more information about where exactly he was. Did anyone serve with him?
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