Plate of identity of an English Airman Fond in Natzweiler

[alain BArtier]

All informations on the FB page: Ancien camp de concentration de Natzweiler-Struthof or contact informations there: www.struthof.fr

Extraordinary and very moving discovery in the pit in ashes of the former(old) concentration camp of Natzweiler.

During maintenance works, a young temporary replacement of the European Center of the resistant transported convict, Anna, extracted from earth(ground) a plate(patch) of identité* (dog tag).

After searches(researches), the Center was able to determined that she(it) belonged to an English airman, Frederic Harold HABGOOD, a roll 16 02 535, a crew member of type(chap) Avro Lancaster's bomber of the RAF.
At night from 28 till 29 July 1944, his(her,its) device, committed(hired) in a raid(trek) on Stuttgart, is brought(shot) down by the German hunting.
The bomber crashes in the sector of Ottrot ( Bas-Rhin). The pilot(driver) and the co-pilot(navigator) are killed in the crash but the rest of the crew(equipage) succeeds in jumping in parachute.
Three of the airmen are captured and Interned in a camp in Poland. The fourth is saved by the resistance.
Sergeant HABGOOD, as for him, managed to hide from Ottrot but maybe denounced(cancelled), he(it) is captured by the Gestapo. Interned to the camp of Schirmeck, he(it) is then transferred to the KL Natzweiler where he(it) is executed by hanging on July 31st, 1944. He was 21 years old.

As all the dead transported convicts and the people executed to the camp were cremated in the crematorium, Frederic's body doubtless experienced the same fate and its rests were thrown(cast) in the pit to ashes with his(her,its) plate(patch).

*La bare plate(patch) is not statutory. It is about a personal plate(patch) made by the Canadian company Birks Sterling.