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U Boot POW records
Hello folks, I've noticed a wealth of knowledge on these pages. I've been researching U464 for a while now and I wonder if there are any submarine buffs here as members who might give me some pointers to more than i have found out already.
Basicaly U464 left Bergen in Norway in 14 August 1942. Somewhere between the Farao Islands and Iceland on 20th August the U Boat was spotted above the surface by a US Coastal Command PBY Catalina. Bombed and damaged, subsequently scuttled, Crew where picked up by an Icelandic fishing vessel Skaftiellingur. Transfered to HMS Newark and HMS Castleton.
The Crew where to spend the rest of the war as prisoners.
I've basically got all the info that available on the internet, which is far more than than i started out with. Particularly interesting would be actual interrogation reports of individual crew, and hints on how to track and trace their internment.
The reason i'm interested in this U Boot is that my wife's Grandad was a chief petty officer on board. Obersteuermann.
Is there anyone on here who knows thier way into prisoner of war records?
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04-19-2020 05:31 PM
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Originally Posted by
Pete110119
Icelandic fishing vessel Skaftiellingur. Transfered to HMS Newark and HMS Castleton.
Pete, As the named vessels were involved with the crew of U464, there should be some mention of these in there log books etc, the UK National Archives is the first point I'd go to, the fact he was a POW there should be some record.
interviews etc I'm not sure on but you may get lucky.
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Thank You to Lee Enfield For This Useful Post:
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Thanks Guys, i'd got all those details from the U-boat archive. what i didn't know was where to turn to next. 3. and 3.1 have pointed me in the right direction on that.
Unfortunately Grandad passed away before i met the wife, she says he and I would have got on well. We know he was a POW in Yorkshire and was highly impressed with the kindness of the British. So much so that he learned the language well and was employed by the Royal Navy after the war, before serving in the Deutsche Marine after its founding in 1956. Motherinlaw says Grandad was sunk more than once, so he was one of the experienced chief petty officers mentioned in the U-Boat archive and hat previous tours under his belt, but as of yet i've not managed to find anything on that, its highly difficult trying to find such military information here in Germany and I'm putting snippets here and there together as i can. Looks like a visit to the National Archives will be on the cards in the future. Thanks Guys.
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Originally Posted by
Flying10uk
Eden camp near York, Yorkshire,
England is a very interesting place to visit and was an
Italian, then German POW camp during WW2. Many of the original huts are still on site and form part of the privately run Museum that is normally open to the public. It is currently closed because of the virus. Obviously I don't know if your relative was held in this particular camp but it would have likely been a similar camp to this.
Award Winning Visitor Attraction, Malton, North Yorkshire - Eden Camp
Some interrogation reports, like some other material, may not necessarily have been declassified yet because 100 years hasn't passed yet since they were made. Some things are still secret from WW2 with the relevant files not yet having been made public.
Yes mate, I know it well, originaly bieng from that area of the world (i was born in Beverley). Eden Camp is certainly worth a visit. I was there not to long ago with some of my German mates whilst on a lads trip to York. Certainly apparent to us all that its better when Brits and Germans don't fight each other and what an entwined history we have. There where loads of POW camps in the North East though. You might be right about not declassified yet.
The old adage of "Don't mention the War" seems to be the key word here in Germany, so many facts are lost or hidden. Our 2nd oldest boy is a Luftwaffe officer and i think its important for him to be aware of his family Military history, but the Bundeswehr seem to put less of an onus on studying such.
I do get further with it 1 step at a time, and the links above to Kew are probably the way to go.
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Originally Posted by
Pete110119
The old adage of "Don't mention the War" seems to be the key word here in
Germany, so many facts are lost or hidden.
For me growing up it was totally different as both my parents had lived through the war, as children, and the war was constantly being discussed and analysed. Added to the mix, one of my Grandmothers lived with us for quite a few years and she had lived through WW1 as a child but was old enough to help out doing odd jobs, part-time, in a Red Cross hospital.
One of the most unusual but true events to happen to my Grandmother and her mother during WW1 was to be held at gun point by a German spy. It is slightly complicated as to how and why my Gran and her mother came to be held at gunpoint by a German spy during WW1 but my Gran's mother was able to resolve the matter by thrusting the ornamental handle of her walking stick hard up the nose of the German spy. Unsurprisingly, the German spy did not like having the ornamental handle of a walking stick thrust hard up his nose, especially when it is done with such force that it damaged part of the decoration of the handle to the walking stick. The spy legged it but my understanding is that he was eventually caught. I do still have the walking stick somewhere and when I rediscover it, I will post some photos of it.
Back in 2018 the German president took part in the UK's remembrance day event in London for the first time which I regard as a great act of reconciliation between Britain and Germany.
Last edited by Flying10uk; 04-21-2020 at 07:40 PM.
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Same with me growing up, most of the family had served in one capacity or another, or been in reserved occupations. Veterans don't tend to talk about experiences much with civies, but when you've a family full of vets, its like been down the workshop bar on a Friday night..so i was ear wigging plenty of stories as a kid. This influenced my career choice. Once i'd joined up and served a while myself, i could relate to these oldtimers and often spent time with them. But the Germans seemed to do just the opposite, very touchy subject in most circles. It annoys the hell out out of me that they don't look after their war memorials properly, sets a crap example for current generations of service personell
Funnily enough, Charles de Gaul was a WW1 POW held in what eventualy became a British Army Camp in Osnabrück Germany. What used to be Scarborough Barracks, is just round the corner from my parents in laws place. And one of the camps i served in here Quebeck Barracks, was also a POW camp, mostly for captured Jugoslavian officers.
Surrounded by history we are. we live in a village on the southern edge or what was Achmer trainig area.. which was a Luftwaffe base during the war, and where Messerschmitt ME262 flew from. The estate where i shot my first ever wild boar (Ostenwalde near Melle) was Montgommery's HQ for a while, and the cellar rooms of the large house still bear the british markings from the occupation.
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Back in th late 1970's I did tour the U-505 in Chicago, very close quarters
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