Hi!

Yes, when they have dove on Bismarck, the German Government had to be asked permission, and they were not allowed to bring anything to the surface. The status of U-47 would be the same I am sure. Even in International Waters it would be considered a War Grave.  It is the grave of 45 plus German Sailors.

Regards,  

                 Would I ever like to sit down and have a cup of coffee with your dad and just listen to his stories.

                 dbauer, Thanks great info, as I said before, thank your Father for me.

  Hi !

I will tell my Father your comments. Until recently he has not said too much about his war experiences.  He has commented that too many of his fellow U-Boat Men never returned, and he has no glory in that.  He has only gone to one Reunion in his life time.  The U-Boat War for him 1942-1945  was not all that much of a happy time.  He did his duty to his country, and he leaves it at that.  He was decorated with the Iron Cross 2nd Class, the U-Boat  Award, and the Black Wound Badge.  So he did his part.

Regards,

     My Uncles never talked very much about their time during the war either, my Dad was a P-38 lightening mechanic stationed at the Panama Canal and never saw any action. My Uncles were a different story though, Donald was an armour Mechanic with 3rd Army (Patton) Dick was a navigator on B-17s and flew 33 missions including both Schwienfurt raids and my Floyd was wounded on Iwo Jima. My older brother Ray was in Vietnam and I heard him talk about that exactly once.  I did have an interesting cousin on my Mothers side in the person of Grand Admiral Erich Raeder, my Grandmother was a Raeder.

       I'm a maintainence worker at a retirement community and I've noticed that a lot of our Veterans are talking more and more about their wartime experiences. Alot of them even got involved in a project with our High School telling of their experiences. A few months back our Chaplain invited a gentlemen by the name of Heinz to talk to the mens club about his time in the German army. He talked for an hour and a half with the club, most of which were Veterans of WW2. Heinz ate six donuts and drank three cups of coffee. I know because my boss knows I'm a WW2 nut and gave me permission to sit in on the talk.

        Your Father is right about all the friends he lost, approximately 75% of U-boat men never returned. And the period 1942-1945 was the worst. Your Father was with Jost Metzler? Was it Metzler who slipped into a harbor in Africa and sank a British ship?

        I see by your profile you're a teacher, if I may ask what do you teach? Well thanks for reading my ramblings.

       P.S. My Uncle Donald couldn't stand Patton, thought him a pompous ass who spent way to much time with reporters.

       P.S.S. I have no idea why some of my post is much larger then others, must of hit something somewhere.

 Hello Again,

I will have to ask him, but I believe my father did say something about sinking a ship in a harbour. He thought the Italians and the British were terrrible.  He said you could never relay on the Italians for anything. He said the British ships were lucky to float!  He also said the Italian Naval Bases were dumps! Yes, we should at least try to document some of their expereieces because once they are gone, all of that history will be lost.

Regards,

 PS,

I forgot, yes I teach Adult Basic Education. I teach adults English as a second language, GED, and US Citizenship. I also sub for several schools in the area. I am also a member of an IPMS Club. I build Kreigsmarine ships and Armor.  I am a Vet also. I was in the Marines for 10 years. I was on the Big "J" in 1984 in Beruit Harbour. 

When I was over in Germany, I met several WWII German Vets. The most interesting was a Mechanic in the 21 Panzer Div. under Rommel.  He was a POW for over 3 years.

  Hello Dan

         The 'Semper Fi' at the bottom of your posts gave that away quite a while ago  As for me I was in the army from 1981 -1984. I enjoy my models also, I'm pretty much strictly German armor however I do enjoy U-boat models also, when I was younger I built strictly airplanes, (WW1 & WW2) two years ago I built a B-24 Liberator for one of our nursing home residents, his family asked me if I could build it for him for his birthday. I was honored to. He had me hang it up over his bed so he could, "See it while I lay in my bed".  Of all the models I built thats the one that will stick in my memory.

              Take care Dan

                                   Mike

    P.S. I thought everyone feared the British Navy?

[QUOTE=dbauer] [:)

I will forgive you for being in Army.     Just Kidding!!!!!

   Gee thanks Dan

 Hi Again!

What did you do in the Army? Were you in Armour?