Memorials/The Battle of Jutland

Memorials » The Battle of Jutland

Hvidbjerg
In an article written in 1991 by a local who was a boy at the time of the Battle of Jutland, he writes that it was said that the three seamen, when found by a motorboat from Lyngby, were floating in their lifejackets not yet stiff corpses. One had cried himself to death; otherwise there was no other injury on any of them. When brought onto land they were taken to the beach bailiff’s cottage (wreckmaster). Here the three bodies were placed sitting up against the wall of the garage and their photographs were taken. When knowledge of this spread people were upset at this disrespectful treatment of the deceased. None of the photos were however seen in public. Knud M.Nielsen finishes his article about the battle by musing over why the Danish fishermen didn’t immediately take to the sea looking for survivors. Of course the battle had to be over for it to be safe and then the sea was full of corpses. He believed that they were forbidden to take them up as it would be a major task identifying and burying so many. Contemporary Danish newspapers write of bodies and artifacts being washed up on the beaches and that the fishermen in fear of getting their nets full of corpses stayed at home.