This memorial page is dedicated to Jürgen Schwalbe, one of more than 725 war victims connected to the municipality of Deurne documented by Stichting Oorlogsslachtoffers. The municipality of Deurne and the surrounding villages of Liessel, Vlierden, Helenaveen, Neerkant and Zeilberg were liberated in the autumn of 1944 during heavy fighting. Victims fell on all sides: Allied soldiers from countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and New Zealand, and German soldiers.

But the archive covers more than just the combat victims on Deurne soil. Residents of Deurne who lost their lives elsewhere are also commemorated: civilians who were murdered in concentration camps, forced labourers who died in Germany, people who were executed or succumbed to the effects of persecution and oppression. In addition, residents of Deurne who entered German military service and were killed elsewhere are also included.

Stichting Oorlogsslachtoffers has been documenting the story of all these people since 1995, without distinction of nationality, side or background. The goal is to give every person a name and a face, and to keep their memory alive.

 

Name: Schwalbe
First names: Jürgen
Nickname: –
Date of birth: 28 June 1922
Place of birth: –
Residence: 9 Weinbergstraße, Lübeck
Rank / Occupation: Reserve Lieutenant
Identity tag: 6651 – 1st Company, Infantry Replacement Battalion 377
Unit: –
Date of death: 16 October 1944
Place of death: Deurne
Cause of death: –
Cemetery: German Military Cemetery at Ysselsteyn
Memorial site: –


Additional information

Grave location: Section TJ, Row 12, Grave 140 (possibly Grave 139)

Son of Kurt Schwalbe

“He fell about one kilometre south of the Deurne–Venray road, by an anti-tank trench near an old Dutch bunker. Due to a withdrawal, Jürgen Schwalbe could not be buried by his German comrades.” (He was killed in action approximately one and a half kilometres south of the Deurne–Venray road, near an anti-tank trench close to an old Dutch bunker. As a result of a retreat, Jürgen Schwalbe could not be buried by his German comrades.)

Jürgen Schwalbe’s remains were initially mistaken for those in grave 139, because during re-identification, Jürgen Schwalbe’s ‘Erkennungsmarke’ (Identity tag) was found in grave 139; and this grave now holds ‘Ein Unbekannter Deutscher Soldat’ – an unknown German soldier. It is therefore quite possible that Jürgen Schwalbe is, in fact, buried in grave 139.

Jürgen Schwalbe’s field grave was situated north of the Deurne–Venray road, 17 metres west of the Defensiekanaal and 70 metres south of a casemate.

A report on the transfer, containing identification details, drawn up by the Identification and Recovery Service, may be available for inspection from the author.

View all persons in the category: German soldiers killed in action