German War Cemetery Cannock Chase

The Cannock Chase German war cemetery is on Cannock Chase, Staffordshire, England.

On 16 October 1959, the governments of the United Kingdom and the Federal Republic of Germany made an agreement about the future care of German military personnel and German civilian internees of both World wars interred in scattered cemeteries not already maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. It was agreed that the remains would be transferred to a single central cemetery established on Cannock Chase for this purpose.

The German War Graves Commission (Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge) made the necessary arrangements and the inauguration and dedication of this cemetery - which is maintained under the inter-government agreement by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission - took place in June 1967. It contains nearly 5,000 German and Austrian graves. There is a small separate section for the crews of the four airships (SL 11, L32, L31, L48) shot down in World War I.

According to the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge, there are just over 1000 German WW2 casualties who are still buried elsewhere, including 111 at St. Peter Port (Foulon) on Guernsey, and others at Brookwood in Surrey. The remainder are interred in Commonwealth War Graves Commission administered plots all over the UK, often near to where their bodies were found or where they died. For example, three Luftwaffe bomber crew whose Dornier ditched in the sea off Kingsdown, Kent in 1940 were buried in the military section of Hamilton Road Cemetery, Deal, Kent.This is a distance of less than 2 miles.