Burial of Willi's radio operator, 6-'43

 From "Life of WLK":  "I got lucky again during a bombing raid in June over the railway junction Wolhov-Stroj (also spelled Wolhof), near Leningrad. A Russian anti-aircraft shell tore a big hole into my fuselage and killed my radio operator. Two German fighters from the Gruen Herz squadron winged me back to the Luga airfield."  

Eugene Merz, Funken-Uffz, the radio operator from Rottweil, Baden, is pictured at top (see attched pdf). Willi was grieved at the loss of this good friend. In center picture, Willi and his crew are at the front of the funeral procession at the military cemetery Pleskau (Pskow), Korovje Selo, on June 21, 1943. Below, standing at attention and (right) lowering the casket. (Not shown on this page: the 21 gun salute at the burial site.)