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25T19 Berlin’s own piece of the Commonwealth

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E18, B13.

In Berlin’s Westend is a 4-hectare site on Heerstrasse that is administered by an international commission under the protection of the British Crown. To that end, the site is a little piece of the United Kingdom, albeit in an unofficial capacity.

The British 1939-1945 War Cemetery is managed by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) whose members are Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. The cemetery is home to about 3600 burials, most of whom were aircrew killed in action over Germany in World War II. Of those buried, 75% are from the United Kingdom, but the next group are Canadians at 15%.

I’ve returned here on a warm overcast late-spring evening; feels different than my first visit here in late-November 2021 when the world slowly returned to travel and autumn prepared its cold continental grip. I’ve come back to re-engage with a Vancouver connection.

Known also as “Britischer Soldatenfriedhof” (British Soldiers’ Cemetery), the location is 1.5 km (1 mi) from Olympic Stadium.
Stone of Remembrance: “Their name liveth for evermore.”
Q.J. Louie was a member of the Royal Canadian Air Force’s 420th “Snowy Owl” Squadron 🇨🇦. On an Allied bombing raid over northern Germany, their plane was shot down, killing 5 of the 7-man flight crew, including Q.J. Louie, who was a member of Vancouver’s Louie merchant family.
“Per ardua ad astra – Flying Officer Q.J. Louie – Air Bomber – Royal Canadian Air Force – 16th January 1945”. The graves for the other 4 crew killed on the same mission are found along the same row 5G: A.K.Parker 🇬🇧, W.J.D.Partridge 🇨🇦, E.W.Watson 🇨🇦, and C.W.Way 🇬🇧.
Register of all persons buried at the Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery, April 2024 version.
On page 131 is the entry for Quan Jil Louie; his listing in the CWGC database is located here. He died 2 weeks shy of his 24th birthday.
A peek from the late-afternoon sun.

Q.J. Louie’s final fatal mission: Royal Canadian Air Force Bomber Command 420 “Snowy Owl” Squadron: 16 January 1945, evening takeoff from Royal Air Force base Tholthorpe (England); nighttime bombing raid with over 120 Allied Halifax bomber planes targeting Magdeburg in northern Germany; their Halifax III plane NA192 PT-Q shot down; 5 dead and 2 captured as prisoners of war. See Aircrewremembered.com and 6BomberGroup.ca.

I made all images above with an iPhone15 on 26 May 2025. This post composed within Jetpack for iOS appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com.

2 Responses to “25T19 Berlin’s own piece of the Commonwealth”

  1. Lailah's avatar
    Lailah

    This is very interesting to see! It is important to preserve the history for those who have made life comfortable us. I recently did a graduation collection on the process of grieving for those who have passed based on World War 2! I remember you spoke to me about wanting to create art that inspired me. And I did!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    • HL fotoeins's avatar
      HL fotoeins

      Thanks for your comment, Lailah, and for stopping by. I’m happy to learn you are continuing to create art. 👍🏽

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