Tom Wingate emailed us to tell us about how his Great Uncle came to have three funerals...
 Colonel Selle, Bodyguard to Kaiser Wilhelm I, and father of Tobias |
Great Uncle Herman or 'Uncle Curly' was the closest thing that Tom had to a grandfather. Herman's father Tobias was German who'd escaped subscription when he came to England where he met and married Rosalind.
Tobias, being a German was carted off to the Isle of Mann where he was interned during WW1. He nearly died there.
His son Herman was born in the 1890's and, half German, half English, he'd had signed up and was fighting for 'King and country' while his father was interned. After the war Herman married Tom's Great Aunt Alice.
Herman was the oldest of four children. The others were: May, Pops and Agnes. Agnes remembered being sent round to a neighbour during the First World War when a mob came to fire the house. A bobby sent the mob packing. Agnes was left very shaken.
Herman's war was dramatic. A mechanic, he fixed the troop transporters. Walking behind the lines with a couple of friends they were shelled. His friends were atomized and Herman was buried alive for two to three days. Rain washed away some of the soil and his curly hair was spotted. It was assumed that he was dead, but he'd been able to breath through the fissures in the ground. Meanwhile his mother Rosalind received a letter telling her that Herman had died, and set about organizing a requiem mass (Tobias was interned on the Isle of Mann at the time). But Herman was sent back to the UK, recuperated and volunteered to go back again.
 Herman in a Renault in France after the First World War |
Back in Flanders, Herman was leaning over London bus engine upon which the troop transporters ran, when a Howitzer bomb landed nearby. He sustained a terrible injury. His skull was flattened and he was put on a stretcher to die. A letter was again sent to Rosalind. Another mass was said and the family were then told that he was still alive. Herman recuperated and went out to the war again - which he saw out without further injury.
After the war, Herman fixed cars, and during WW2 found work at Vicars fixing the wings on to Wellington Bombers. Afterwards he ran a corner shop in Byefleet. When he and Alice died their bungalow passed to Agnes. She sold it to Tom. Agnes had burned all the photos of the German side of the family at the start of the Second World War for fear of reprisals from the local community. But Tom found an old album of Uncle Curly and Aunt Alice. Agnes was at Herman's funeral when he was finally buried (third time around), and Tom remembers that she gave the coffin an affectionate pat.
More Information
Herman worked on Wellington bombers at Brooklands.
The Brooklands Museum
