LUDENDORFF’S FUNERAL

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 80, Issue 305, 24 December 1937, Page 7

LUDENDORFF’S FUNERAL

A SIMPLE BURIAL WIDOW'S 20-MLNUTE SPEECH BERLIN, Dec. 22. In the sonw-covered cemetery overlooking Lake Stahrenbcqj, General Ludendorff was laid to rest near his home at Tutzing. No priest or minister was present at the graveside. A guard of honour of infantry drawn up on either side, was the only mark distinguishing the ceremony from the simple funeral which Ludendorff desired. As the coffin was lowered, Prince Oscar, the ex-Kaiser’s son, dropped a wreath on behalf of his father. The widow spoke for 20 minutes and extolled her husband’s deeds. BLOMBERG’S ORATION HITLER PLACES WREATH MUNICH, Dec. 22. General von Blomberg delivered a funeral oration on Ludendorff, which was broadcast throughout Germany paying tribute to his genius and leadership, especially at Tannenberg. Herr Hitler placed a wreath on thccofiin “in the name of the German people,” after which thousands of people filed past in procession to the cemetery at Tutzing, attended with full military pomp. A wreath from the British Army was also laid on Ludendorff's grave. Herr Hitler, in a message to General Ludendorff’s widow, said: “Th< General was a great soldier and War Loard and one of Germany’s best and truest sons. His name will live for ever. In a time of the greatest national need he joined in the struggle to better the future of Germany.”