Description
Object description
German wireless operator served aboard U 47, U48, U106, U740 and U1001 operating in Atlantic, North Sea, Bay of Biscay and Western Approaches, 1939-1940. Aboard U47 when it sunk HMS Royal Oak at Scapa Flow, Scotland, 10/1939 and aboard U48 when it sank the evacuee ship City of Benares, 9/1940. POW in USA and GB, 1945-1948. Married and settled in GB, 1948
Content description
REEL 1 Recollections of background in Freyburg, Germany, 1922-1939: family background; education; execution of socialist teacher by SA, c1934; father's anti-Nazi views; membership of pro- Hindenburg Scharnhorst Youth, training as hotel manager; Nazi anti-Semite demonstrations; signs of German rearmament; signs of approach of war, 1938-1939; opinion of Hitler; call up, 8/1939. Period on basic training with 214th Anti-Tank Regt at Asthenburg, 8/1939.: saluting drill; selection for U Boat service; parents' reactions to conscription; father's call up for naval service; relationship with recruits. Period with 2nd Schiff Stam Abteilung, Naval Barracks, Bremerhaven, 8/1939: swimming test; breathing control and tests; reception; uniform; accommodation.
REEL 2 Continues: volunteering for training as wireless operator; underwater training in 100ft tower. Recollections of training at Signal School, Sassnitz, Rugen Island, 8/1939: Morse code training; training on sonar; wireless procedure and messages. Recollections of conditions of service, daily routine and lifestyle as 2nd wireless operator aboard U47 during first patrol in North Sea while based at Kiel, 8/1939-10/1939: first impressions and reception on joining submarine, 31/8/1939; composition of crew; shared bunks; watch system; outbreak of war during cruise, 1/9/1939; boredom; prevailing smells; washing; food; prevailing temperature; question of drinking; listening to broadcast of Chamberlain declaration of war, 3/9/1939; opinion of Captain Gunter Prien.
REEL 3 Continues: relationship with lower deck and officers; story of stopping Greek freighter; story of assisting crew in lifeboats after sinking British iron ore freighter Bosnia, 6/9/1939; story of rescue of ditched German air crew, 7/9/1939; policy of cruising on surface outside of British air cover range; story of attacking British iron ore convoy, 10/9/1939, including sinking two freighters, depth charge attack by escorts, silence routine and slowly moving away from area; action stations on wireless; personal morale; reception on return to Kiel. Account of successful attack on HMS Royal Oak in Scapa Flow, 10/1939: question of Captain Gunter Prien's prior briefing; briefing; preparations; night surface entry into Scapa Flow; view from conning tower of Northern Lights; sighting HMS Repulse; damage claimed for two bow torpedoes fired at HMS Repulse; effect of stern torpedo hit on HMS Royal Oak.
REEL 4 Continues: escape from Scapa Flow; effect of tidal flow; ineffectual attack by British destroyers; reaction to Prien's announcement of results of attack; delayed wireless message to publicise achievement; return to Kiel Canal; issue of special fitted blue uniforms; bar on return to submarine during work of special re-supply and refuelling crew; flight to Berlin; story of reception and award of Iron Cross 2nd Class by Hitler at Chancellery, Berlin; opinion of Hitler; reception during special leave in Freyburg. Recollections of operations aboard U47 based at Kiel, 10/1939-1/1940: patrols between Iceland and Shetland Islands; story of sinking Louisiana and subsequent assistance given to crew in lifeboats; opinion of quality of original U Boat captains. Period at Signal School at Pillau, 1/1940-4/1940: new wireless equipment; promotion; training exercise on U67; question of operation of Enigma machine carried on U Boats. Period as wireless operator aboard U-Boat based at L'Orient, France, 5/194-9/1940: voyage around GB; situation; patrols. Recollections of period aboard U48 and operations in Atlantic while based at L'Orient, 8/1940-10/1940: reception on joining ship; opinion of Captain Heinrich Bleichrodt.
REEL 5 Continues: nature of submarine; leaving port, 8/9/1940; voyage to west coast of Ireland; duty recording captain's log; diving to avoid bad weather, 13/9/1940; use of condoms to raise aerial underwater and weather balloons; rest periods while underwater; sleeping bags; sighting Irish fishing boats and suspicions that they contained British spies, 14/9/1940; diving on approach of British aircraft; sighting Convoy SC3, 20.20, 14/9/1940; shadowing SC3 and reporting position and speed to U-Boats; first torpedo attack on convoy and sinking Empire Soldier and Kenordoc, 00.24, 15/9/1940; torpedo attack and hit on HMS Dundee, 00.25, 15/9/1940; crash dive to 150 metres on approach of escorts; depth charges; torpedo attacks to sink Alexantos, 01.23, 15/9/1940; torpedo attacks to sink Empire Volunteer, 01.51, 15/9/1940; comparison of underwater and surface torpedo attacks; use of sonar to brief Captain Bleichrodt during manoeuvres to evade depth charge attacks; loss of contact with SC3, 16/9/1940; sighting Convoy OB213, 10.02, 17/9/1940; circling convoy and lack of escort; firing torpedoes and initial failure to hit City of Benares, 00.01, 18/9/1940; firing torpedo to hit and sink City of Benares, 00.002, 18/9/1940; view from conning tower; failure of British in not designating City of Benares as Red Cross ship.
REEL 6 Continues: torpedo attack to sink Marina, 00.07. 18/9/1940; scattering of OB213; torpedo attack to sink Magdelena, 17.05, 18/9/1940; exchange of fire with tanker that subsequently escaped, 18/9/1939; warning message from U47 to concentrate U-Boats against Convoy HX72; orders to return to L'Orient; voyage to intercept Convoy SC7 off Halifax, Canada, 5/10/1940; shadowing SC7; composition of escort; torpedo attack to sink Corinthic, Languedoc and Scoresby, 15/10/1940; crash diving under aircraft bombing attack and effects of bomb hit; ear drum damage; repairs; depth charge attack by HMS Scarborough; effect of water pressure on diving deeper; resuming movement after 9 hours; loss of contact with SC7; return to area of Halifax; return to L'Orient; relationship with Captain Bleichrodt; reactions to subsequent news of death of children carried aboard City of Benares.
REEL 7 Continues: results of attacks on SC7 and William Joyce broadcast; recall to Kiel; story of being award Iron Cross 1st Class by Admiral Donitz. Recollections of period with U48 based at La Rochelle, France, 1941: refresher course; story illustrating activities of Gestapo; story of fanatical Nazi ex-school friend; hotel accommodation; U-Boat pens; replenishing stores and fuel; death of leading U-Boat 'aces'; opinion of new officers drawn from surface fleet. Recollections of period aboard U106 based at L Rochelle and Cherbourg, 1941-1943: selection to accompany Captain Bleichrodt from U48 crew; nature of submarine; increasing U-Boat losses caused by aircraft and escorts; vulnerability ion crossing shallow continental shelf; advantage of Bleichrodt's experience; restrictions of surface attacks caused by aircraft; necessity for calm seas during underwater torpedo attacks; reconnaissance role during patrols off African coast; move to Cherbourg; story of being attacked by Spitfires whilst surfaced off Sark, 12/1942; attachment to German infantry unit during repairs in Guernsey harbour; night patrols and story of shooting and drunk Guernsey breaking curfew, 1/1/1943.
REEL 8 Continues: night patrols and story of shooting and drunk Guernsey breaking curfew, 1/1/1943; resuming patrol off north-west Ireland; increased number of British escorts and aircraft; mental state of Bleichrodt and his removal from command; leaving ship, 1943. Period as warrant officer wireless operator aboard U-Boat based at La Rochelle and Cherbourg, 1943: opinion of captain; story of dispute with captain over tactics employed in attack on tanker and escort during patrol in bay of Biscay; dismissal from crew; role as warrant officer; view of effects of allied air raids and rationing during leave in Freyburg and Dortmund. Period aboard training U-Boat based at La Rochelle, 1943-1944: role training new wireless operators; relationship with French civilians. Period with U 740 based at Cherbourg, 6/1944: nature of submarine; snorkel device and danger posed by engine fumes; post-war meeting with Professor Snorkel.
REEL 9 Continues: successful air bombing/torpedo attack on U-Boat pens and destruction of U740; story of passing through US lines in unmarked lorries and being fired on by German troops on reaching St Malo; presence of Hitler Youth SS Division and story of them shooting supply officer refusing to release supplies; meeting Captain Heinrich Bleichrodt on entry into Brest; escape of 3 U-Boats to Norway. Period based at Christiansand and Flekkefijord, Norway, 1944-1945: selling coffee and cigarettes on blackmarket during leave in Freyburg; reactivation of U-Boat campaign by Admiral Donitz; operations with U 1001 as part of U-Boat wolf pack off east coast of US and based in West Indies, 1945; intercepting wireless reports indicating war had ended, ca 24/5/1945; wireless contact with US forces and arrangement of surrender off New Orleans, US, 5/1945. Period as POW at EL Paso Air Base, 6/1945-2/1946: reaction to end of war; food; radio propaganda recording and subsequent reduction in rations; question of awareness of concentration camps; picking cotton on farm; relationship with black farm workers; pay.
REEL 10 Continues: rumoursof execution of Captain Gunter Prien for refusing to make second attack on Scapa Flow, 1941; voyage to GB, 4/1946; background to decision to stay in GB. Recollections of period as prisoner at Bela POW Camp, Milentrop, 1946-1948: prior cleaning of camp by advance party; camp layout and hut accommodation; volunteering for farm work; food; working parties; question of escape; work on farm in Winderemere; story of meeting German refugees; story of meeting future British wife in cinema; relationship with British civilians; American uniform; story of entering fell race; learning English language; story of hospital operation under Jewish German surgeon; story of roll call dispute and punishment; story of test used by American authorities to discern Nazi sympathies amongst German POWs; marriage and reaction of father-in-law, 4/1948. Post-war career: work as farm labourer, driving lorry and in building trade; reaction to visit to Germany, 1954.
REEL 11 Continues: question of contacts with parents and father's escape from East to West Germany; absence of anti-German prejudice; story of meeting Beth Williams survivor of sinking of City of Benares and subsequent nature of press reports; question of contacts German ex-submariners and servicemen; question of effects of wartime experiences; story of visit to U-Boat museum and to nuclear submarine.
