Obergefreiter Alois Pflugmacher.
The deathcard above is of Obergefreiter Alois Pflugmacher. It is strange that Mr. Pflugmacher cannot be found in the online archives of the Deutsche Volksbund für Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge1. Further search in the casualty register of the Dordtse 40-45 museum also does not yield any results2. However, it is noteworthy that the register contains 14 other casualties who died on the same date without a known location of death. This raises several questions. The prayer card states that Obergefreiter Pflugmacher was killed in action on the Hollandsche Diep and was part of a FLAK unit (Flieger abwehr kanone - antiaircraft). It is possible that he was part of the FLAK air defense guarding the Moerdijk bridges and died during an Allied air raid.
However, there is another possibility. Further internet research has shown that on November 4th, there was an Allied air attack on the village of Zevenbergen3. This resulted in many casualties. It strongly suggests that Obergefreiter Pflugmacher was one of those killed. In that case, it is still peculiar that the Hollandsche Diep is listed as the location of death.
If we search the data from the Dordtse 40-45 museum in the search engine of the Deutsche Volksbund für Kriegsgräberfürsorge, we come to the following conclusion: Out of the 14 casualties on November 4, 1944, that we find in the casualty lists of the Dordtse museum, 6 cannot be traced in the register of the Volksbund für Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge. For only one soldier (Ernst Amrhein), the Volksbund has a known location of death, namely Dordrecht. The remaining 8 casualties are listed in the casualty register of the Volksbund, but their exact location of death is unknown.
| Naam gesneuvelde | Location of death | Volksbund register |
|---|---|---|
| Ernst Amrhein | Dordrecht | Yes |
| Willi Behnke | unknown | No |
| Otto Dietrich | unknown | Yes |
| Walter Eitelbus | unknown | No |
| Josef führmann | unknown | No |
| Karl van de Kamp | unknown | No |
| Johannes Koenig | unknown | No |
| Konrad Kühbauch | unknown | Yes |
| Alfred Merle | unknown | Yes |
| Walter Reichle | unknown | Yes |
| Edmund Risler | unknown | Yes |
| Franz Scheckenbach | unknown | Yes |
| Bruno Schmidt | unknown | Yes |
| Engelbert Teil | unknown | No |
In the later years of the war, the quality of casualty registration deteriorated. Due to chaotic battles and rapid retreats, German soldiers often remained on the battlefield and the Allies naturally made less effort to identify the German dead compared to the Germans themselves. The author of this website suspects that Obergefreiter Alois Pflugmacher most likely had a hasty and makeshift burial, possibly in an assumed field grave, if there was any burial at all. Afterwards, the remains were presumably transferred to Ysselsteyn, where he was buried as an unknown soldier along with the six others who are also not listed in the Volksbund register.
Obergefreiter Alois Pflugmacher was killed at the age of 24 near the Hollandsche Diep. We are very curious if someone can provide further information about his person.