A HEADSTONE is to be placed on the Porlock grave of an airman 86 years after he was killed in World War Two - fighting for Germany.

Wilhelm Reuhl held the rank of corporal in the Luftwaffe and died when the Junkers 88 in which he was a gunner was shot down by RAF Spitfires over the West Somerset coast.

The aircraft crashed on a beach in Porlock Bay on September 27, 1940, and the remains of Reuhl were found in the wreckage after three other crew who survived were taken prisoner.

Reuhl, who was only 18 years old, was buried in the cemetery in Hawkcombe, on the edge of Porlock, and given full military honours with a Nazi swastika over his coffin.

Villagers were said to have left flowers on his grave.

Now, the Volksbund, the German War Graves Commission, which works with the UK’s Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC), has said Reuhl’s grave has not been properly marked and identified.

Porlock parish councillors have been told the situation needs to be corrected and therefore the Volksbund has commissioned a gravestone which will be sent to the village to be erected on Reuhl’s plot.

A council spokesperson said: “Once it has arrived a date will be planned to install the memorial and hold a small ceremony to mark the event.

“An exclusive right of memorial permit has been granted, and a standard pattern German war grave headstone will be installed by CWGC staff once it is ready.

“Council are currently assisting CWGC with historic information for the event.

“The installation of several temporary markers over the years is a significant gesture and this installation will make this memorial a more permanent and official headstone.”

The Hawkcombe cemetery also holds the war graves of four British Servicemen, William McGowan, James Williams, Owen Passmore, and Lionel Priscott.