More Richthofen questions...

[Amy]

In the book "Who Killed the Red Baron" by Carisella & Ryan, Carisella writes that in 1969 he traveled to France to dig around in the Bertangles cemetery to recover the identification plate from MvR's coffin lid. One of the locals told C. that in 1925 he watched the exhumation for re-burial in Germany but that they only took MvR's skull. According to C., when they started digging around MvR's original burial site, they found his remains but no skull. Carisella said he turned the remains over to a Lufwaffe colonel. Carisella had two requests 1) if the ID plague ever found, he gets it 2) the remains be sent to Bolko.

Does anyone know the follow-up to this story? Did Bolko ever get the remains and thus reuniting Manfred's skull and other bones? Or did they not believe this from the beginning? And if they were Manfred's remains, why did they only take a skull and not all of his remains in the first place? And did Carisella ever get that ID plaque?

Thanks in advance. And sorry if this has been hashed-out before. I missed it.

[Vigilant]

This question has popped up before but I can't remember if a definite conclusion came out of it. I do recall some morbid speculation about the state of MvR's body after several years in the ground - it was not a thread to read while eating your dinner - and doubt being cast on the alleged 1960's exhumation. Any one got any more?


PS - I have new email address.
vigilant2@hotmail.com

Amy: I have not read Carisella's book in 40 years, but I vaguely recall that MvR's remains, namely some leg bones were remove by Carisella and wrapped in ordinary newspaper. Carisella went to the German air attache in Paris and presented his grisly package there. He never knew what the Germans did with those bones. I believe that he found the metal plate...I think he said that the Baron was buried with his feet to the cross; and that when they dug up the grave they lifted up the coffin that had not rotted away...Go back and read that section carefully.EOM/BH/7/13/99.

[Amy]

Vigilant:

Thanks for the input. The 1925 exhumation does seem fishy but then again, the whole darn story seems fishy to me.

Bill:

The book I have is a 1974 White Lion edition. Carisella's epilogue at the end written in May 1969 describes the incident I'm asking about. I read it carefully before and I took your advice and re-read it again carefully. Unfortunately, all of my questions remain. Thanks for the input.

Amy