I was pleased to read in the latest FlyPast that Franz Huske has been laid to rest at Chichester after he was discovered in the wreck of his Dornier 217 at Fernhurst. Many years ago I traced Huske’s sister and she was anxious that Franz be found and buried. Its a long story, but I finally got the RAF EOD to excavate the site although I am sad to relate that Huske’s remains were reburied with the wreckage after they had extracted the ordnance. The MOD subsequently granted a recovery licence to Tangmere Museum, which I find quite odd to say the least. It was no surprise that Huske was found where he had been re-buried not many years ago. The end result, thankfully, is the right one but I feel there are some questions that ought to be asked and certainly remain unanswered. Andy Saunders
By: JägerMarty - 7th February 2007 at 11:22
Always glad to see an airman of any nationality get laid to rest when overdue but….
It’s hard not to get angry reading about these sort of BS practices that went on. If the hole was dug back then they could have taken the trouble to recover the remains properly as well.
Red-tape F-wits:mad:
By: Arabella-Cox - 6th February 2007 at 16:10
Andy ,it seems that in the earlier days of wreck digging no one wanted to risk upsetting MOD because they issued the licences. Now that the truth is being revealed about about incompetent practice such as you have just highlighted I expect more examples to be exposed.I am no longer surprised just sad that such things happen.When conditions are imposed on a recovery group then the same must apply to MOD teams.
Exactly so. All of this wreckage was dug out and reburied by EOD (obviously with Franz Huske) who told me their brief was to recover ordnance only and maintain the status quo, and this was post the PMR Act. When a licence was granted in the last year or so to a third party it was inevitable that the remains would be found. And they were. In that sense, its a good thing obviously. But the question must be asked: Why were the remains reburied by the MOD in the 1980’s only for a private group to be granted a licence and to go and find them last year?? Much more of this story to be told…..!
By: scotavia - 6th February 2007 at 15:49
re buried
Andy ,it seems that in the earlier days of wreck digging no one wanted to risk upsetting MOD because they issued the licences. Now that the truth is being revealed about about incompetent practice such as you have just highlighted I expect more examples to be exposed.I am no longer surprised just sad that such things happen.When conditions are imposed on a recovery group then the same must apply to MOD teams.
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February 6, 2007 at 3:29 pm