Unknown German soldier buried at Gorron, France Cemetery

[henryj4123]

Does anyone have records or information about German soldiers buried at Gorron Cemetery in France(August 1944)? This was a temporary cemetery for American soldiers run by the 603rd Graves Registration Company. There was also an "enemy" cemetery(#2) with 6 plots nearby. The Americans had 754 soldiers buried there and all that weren't repatriated back to the United States after the war were transferred to Brittany American Cemetery in St. James, France. I am particularly interested in locating information about a German soldier, originally thought to be an American and was labeled as Unknown X-3. This soldier was found together with Private James Bowman, a member of my grandfathers unit. Private Bowman was a member of an M-8 Armored Car reconnaissance crew, their vehicle was blown up when they sustained a direct hit to the gas tank. The reason I am interested in this soldier(X-3) is because the American soldier in the turret with Pvt. Bowman is still considered missing in action(technically non-recoverable) and I'm wondering if there is any chance it could be this soldier. If anyone has any information about this or could give me any advice on how I could obtain information I would appreciate it. Pvt Bowman's IDPF shows that a reprocessing report for X-3 says that the soldier was completely clothed in a German uniform and was reburied as a German Unknown in Plot F, Row 1, Grave 9.

I have searched the National Archives in College Park, Maryland for information about this soldier. All I found out about the German cemetery was a map of how the plots were laid out.

I also requested the IDPF for X-3 from the US Army and was told that once the body was determined "German" the records were transferred to them.

Does anyone know how to find information about this soldier or know where I can look for information?

[Larry D.]

Have you tried contacting this organization? It's responsible for all matters concerning deceased Wehrmacht personnel and maintains scores and scores of cemeteries full of German military war dead worldwide.

Graves information (especially helpful for obtaining a few details on non-officer personnel):
Gräbernachweis des Volksbundes
Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e.V.
http://www.volksbund.de/graebersuche/content_suche.asp
[Tip for North Americans: when signing up on this site, our North American addresses do not interface with the site’s Abschrift block. This can be overcome by omitting our state or province. Just fill in street, house number, Zip code and city.]

[henryj4123]

Larry-

Thanks for your suggestion. I was able to navigate through the website good enough using a translation website to find a couple e-mail addresses for the organization. I e-mailed them with my question and got a reply stating that they are currently receiving many requests and don't know who long it will take to get an answer.

[Larry D.]

Yes, it takes WASt a couple of weeks at best to generate a reply.

L.