[Public-List] Factory installed wheel steering

[Dominic Amann]

Wow - this is an awesome story. It should be made into a movie. I grew up
on movies like the Battle of Britain, the Dambusters, a Bridge too Far and
the Great Escape. I should talk to some of my Canadian movie producer
friends.


On Thu, Oct 3, 2013 at 8:51 PM, John Birch <Sunstone at cogeco.ca> wrote:

> Otto Kretschmer, wow Gord - maybe was him, we didn't capture that many U
> Boat officers, they usually went down with their crews and their boats. 80%
> casualties in the U Boat service, nearly all fatal.
>
> RAF Bomber Command came second with 54%.
>
> We really have no idea how lucky we are to be alive now, and not then.
>
> You might find Operation Kibitz, the 1943 Kriegsmarine plot to rescue
> Kretschmer and 3 other leading UBoat commanders held in Camp 30 in
> Bowmanville Ontario, to be picked up by U Boat off New Brunswick, an
> interesting read.
>
> Not a bad précis here even though its wikipedia
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/**Operation_Kiebitz<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Kiebitz>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Gordon Laco" <mainstay at csolve.net>
> To: "Alberg 30 Public List -- open to all" <public-list at lists.alberg30.**
> org <public-list at lists.alberg30.org>>
> Sent: Thursday, October 03, 2013 8:04 PM
> Subject: Re: [Public-List] Factory installed wheel steering
>
>
>
>  Canada had captured U Boats during the war, and the Brits had two as well.
>> All four were operated for a time.
>>
>> We used the ones we had as 'tame' submarines to practice antisubmarine
>> work
>> on out of Halifax - the Brits commissioned one of theirs into their navy
>> and
>> operated her as HMS GRAF. I think she only did one war patrol then went
>> into
>> a training role.   One of the U Boats Canada took right at the end of the
>> war was U190; her chief engineer is still alive and shows up at our Battle
>> of the Atlantic Mess Dinners.  It's a little un-nerving to see his Iron
>> Cross on his blazer.  He told me that after he survived the capture, he
>> was
>> in prison camp with Otto Kretschmer, the U Boat ace we captured in '41.
>>
>> And that reminds me of a story my Dad told me about being 14 years old in
>> '41 and standing on the sidewalk outside Union Station in Toronto, waiting
>> for his older brother to come out on leave (Henry was a pongo) Dad said
>> that
>> out of the station came striding a senior looking German naval officer
>> with
>> his cap askew and his coat draped over his shoulders.  He was being
>> followed
>> by a pair of soldiers who Dad reckoned were supposed to be his guards, but
>> the German walked as though he was running the show.  Dad saw him come out
>> onto Front Street, look at the Royal York Hotel across the road, then east
>> and west at the big buildings and the traffic.  He put his fists on his
>> hips, looked down, shook his head and walked east (trailing his guards).
>>
>> Much later I read Kretschmer's autobiography.  He describes being taken to
>> Halifax then being put onto a train for 'days and days' traveling into the
>> interior of Canada.  He was astonished to be passing several large cities
>> -
>> all untouched by the war.  When he got to Toronto, he said he'd expected
>> to
>> find 'bears, log cabins and cowboys' but found yet another great city,
>> also
>> untouched by the war.  He wrote that when he walked out of the train
>> station
>> in Toronto he knew in his heart that Germany couldn't win the war.   We'll
>> never know for sure - but I think it's likely my Dad saw that moment.
>>
>> G
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On 03/10/13 6:28 PM, "Michael Grosh" <dickdurk at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>  U 505 is the captured German sub. It's now a museum in Chicago. Adm.
>>> Daniel
>>> Gallery was the commanding officer of the capturing task force, he wrote
>>> a
>>> book about it, also a series of 'sea story' accounts of Navy life I
>>> enjoyed
>>> reading in my youth.
>>> The interesting thing is the capture of the 505 meant it slipped through
>>> cracks in the Allies Potsdam agreement and the U.S. did not have to
>>> destroy
>>> it as part of that agreement.
>>>
>>> Michael Grosh
>>> #220
>>> On Oct 3, 2013 5:48 PM, "Glenn" <brooks.glenn at comcast.net> wrote:
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>>
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-- 


Dominic Amann
M 416-270-4587

 1380907156.0