Hilse, Rolf (Oral history)

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644399981
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Accepted Non-commercial Use

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Use on websites that are primarily information-led, research-oriented and not behind a paywall.
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Non-Commercial educational use for the purpose of teaching and instruction, including internal training.
Downloading audio-visual for non-commercial offline listening or viewing.
Free exhibitions held in venues, which do not charge an entry fee.

If you would like to use IWM collections materials in a way that is not covered above, require a commercial licence, high-resolution copies, or have manipulation requests, please contact the Image and Film Licensing Team. Digital files of films and sound recordings are available at cost depending on intended use.

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.

Object Details

Category: Sound
Related period: 1990 to the present day (production), Second World War (content)
Creator: IWM (Production company)
Hart, Peter M (recorder)
Hilse, Rolf (interviewee/speaker)
Production date: 2004-04
Dimensions: whole: Duration 320, Number Of Items 11
Catalogue number: 26952

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Hilse, Rolf (Oral history)

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