Here's another extract from another book,
The State funeral of General of the Luftwaffe
Ernst Udet, the most famous of the Imperial German airmen who had flown with
Manfred von Richthofen.
He was an attractive personality, lively & gay, expansive and broad-minded. He was fond of wine, women and the atmosphere of comfortable luxury.
His funeral was the occassion for a demonstration of heart felt public sorrow. The first part of the ceremony took place in the main hall of the Air Ministry, the bier was covered in the war-standard of the Reich, and placed at the foot of the vast mosiac representing the eagle with crooked cross, which had been hung with black crepe. Eight officers chosen from the aces of the current war, led by Lieutenant- Colonel Adolf Galland, formed the guard of honour around the catafalque. At each corner were massive pillars each with a bowl burning crackling flames which diffused a flickering light.
In front of his coffin were eight wreaths being faced by the leading members of the Third Reich government and officers of the Luftwaffe, also the front row were Ministers and Field Marshals. Behind them the Under-Secretaries of State and other principal generals, including General Tedeschini-Lalli of the Italian Air Force accompanied by Italian officers in Berlin, followed by the diplomatic corps, senior officals, and Udet's immediate colleagues wearing black armbands.
Amid the stoney silence the dead man's mother and near relatives entered the hall. Finally Hitler & Goering arrived each laid a wreath and gave the Nazi salute. Goering tearfully paid tribute to a man who'd been his friend, his comrade in arms, and his administrative partner. The funeral march was conducted to the strains of 'The Twilight of the Gods' rising to a majestic crescendo. The remains were taken to the Friedhof der Invaliden where a squad of airmen in line over the grave fired three volleys, as the bier slowly sank into the tomb, which the walls were lined with foliage. Another salvo of seventeen guns resounded in the distance. then one by one the mourners stepped forward, gave an ordinary military salute ,or the boot clicking Nazi hand up, and flung three handfuls of dirt onto the coffin, on which the General's sword and helmet lay.
faster regards
wert.