Iron Coffins - Part 40 | Commanding a German U-Boat during WW2 | Trench Diaries
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- čas přidán 1. 07. 2024
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00:00 Intro
00:07 Norway
08:50 Back to Germany
09:57 Germany
14:18 On Leave
25:11 After-Action-Report
Part 40 - Back Home
Music:
Audionautix - Atlantis
Creative Commons Music by Jason Shaw, www.audionautix.com
B-Roll:
Free B-Roll by Videezy!, www.videezy.com
In this Video series, I bring you the memoir "Iron Coffins" written by German U-boat captain Herbert A. Werner, who served in the Kriegsmarine from 1939 to 1945. Join me, as we explore the incredible experiences and harrowing challenges faced by this naval officer during World War II.
"Iron Coffins" offers a unique perspective from the other side of the conflict, providing an intimate account of the intense life aboard a German U-boat. Based entirely on his personal notes, the author paints a vivid picture of the dangers, triumphs, and sacrifices endured by U-boat crews in the treacherous North Atlantic Ocean.
Through this book, we gain insight into the immense pressure faced by German naval officers, the tactical maneuvers they executed, and the extraordinary camaraderie that developed within these submerged vessels. From tense encounters with Allied warships to battling the unforgiving elements, this gripping memoir takes us on a thrilling journey beneath the waves. Through the captain's eyes, we witness the complexities of command and the moral dilemmas that arose in this deadly conflict.
The German U-Boat force suffered immensely during World War 2. Of the 35.000 men who went on patrol, 28.000 would remain at sea, never to return. The chances of survival were extremely slim, especially during the later years of the conflict. It is exceptional to accompany Herbert for the duration of almost the entire war.
This series is based on his book "Iron Coffins". I have transcribed and re-translated parts of this book to make them accessible to you in this format. Enjoy.
There is some (very) slight audio distortion in the first minute of the video for some reason. Sorry for that, it goes away quickly!
Nope! Never heard it! 😉
Just ensure that it never happens again and we’re all good, okay!
@@PercyPruneMHDOIFandBars haha yeah me neither but I’m grateful for a quality driven channel
This has been a fabulous journey, I hope that younger listeners will try to imagine the daily stress, fear and hardship of those times...
Different times back then, unimaginable hardships for everyone involved. Absolutely no comparison to today!
War is hell. That's all I can take away from this episode. At least he is alive.
It truly is!
A very moving episode today TD, great channel that I enjoy alot mate 👍
Happy to hear it! Enjoy!
So sorry to hear about Herbert's family's end. But that is war and a real possibility for those involved.
It was to expected 🫤
His father moving the family to the city was the cause of their demise. Even a blind dog could see that moving to any city during late wartime Germany was stupid. Far better to find accommodation in a town or village far enough away from a city to be safe from bombing. Even that effort can't guarantee that everyone will survive, because your house might get hit from a bomb being dumped from an aircraft in trouble or have a shot down aircraft come crashing through your roof spilling fuel and ammunition everywhere only to catch fire and burn everything to the ground. You can have the only house in the valley and for some strange reason it will attract the bomb or the crippled aircraft in it's final plunge to earth. Why that happens I don't know, but it certainly does seem to happen frequently in war stories that I have read.
Mark from Melbourne Australia 🇦🇺
TY 🙏🙏. Finally getting home after evading capture or death, then finding he has no home, very sad, & repeated across too many homes at that time.
Indeed, the contrast after having been away for so long must have been extreme.
Thanks another great episode
Happy you like it!
Somehow I wasn't surprised about his family. It seems that they were risking annihilation wherever they lived.
His father should have known better than to move his family to a city. Cities large and small were obvious targets because of factories and railway facilities.
Moving to a small town or village would have been a better option if available. However being out in the countryside can't guarantee your safety from wayward bombs or crippled aircraft crash landing. If your number has come up there is very little that you can do to change the outcome.
He told them to move away multiple times :/
Thank you for another excellent video!
You're always welcome!
So many sad stories. It's beyond imagination to know what it felt like to make a homeward journey like that, under those conditions. The smart thing might be to not return to the boat, but there are no options. So sad.
No. Failure to return to the Boat after leave is classed as being AWOL! Absent With Out Leave, at the very least it could get you thrown into a jail or if you are too close to the Front, the Field Gendarmes could decide to shoot you on the spot as a Deserter.
You could also be press ganged into a makeshift infantry unit and then sent to the Front to fight and die in the meat grinder. Not knowing or trusting anyone else in your unit, with no training or experience and improvised weapons, your chances of survival are virtually nill.
Far better to return to your boat for as long as possible before you too are required as improvised infantry.
Mark from Melbourne Australia 🇦🇺
Unthinkable to not return to the boat. I'm sure the thought never crossed his mind, him being a naval officer and the crew being the only thing that he had left. He'd never desert.
"the people on my boat... were all I had left"
Sadly, yes...
I can only guess how trauma like this, repeated a million-fold across the country, reverberates into the present.
Most has been forgotten, unfortunately :/
Or in the case of Japan, never taught correctly. They are only taught that they were the victims of two Atomic Bombs, but they are never taught Why Japan was bombed!
That is a grievous mistake to hide the real truth from your future generations.
I have worked in the homes of a number of Jewish people whose parents survived the Concentration Camps. The parents made very little mention of their times in the Camps, not wanting to burden their children with their wounds. However the children were well aware of some of their strange behaviours that had resulted from their time in the camps.
The Grandchildren are for the most part ignorant of their own families stories about the Camps.
By the time it will get to the Great Grandchildren of the Camps Survivor's the story will be very weak and just a part of the community story.
One thing that I did find strange is that the survivors and their children were happy to buy German cars here in Australia? Whereas I know Danish families who refused to buy German cars because of the Occupation of Denmark? They were happy to buy Volvo. 😊
What a shock to hear of his parents death.
Indeed, but to be expected, unfortunately.
There is no rest for the wicked.
No rest for the good or the innocent either. Death was on a murderous rampage, and busy harvesting as many souls as he could while the fighting continued.
Very sad to learn about his family. I’m sure with his family gone, and his boat in bad shape he has to be very depressed and wondering about his future! ⚓️⚓️⚓️⚓️
All the time, probably. But work keeps him busy, I'm sure.
Get them out by Sa.
What do you mean?
Terrible way to find out such depressing news. Did anyone notice in the final photo of the boat half submerged on it's side,there is a face with what looks like a "Pope hat" on? It's just forward of the tower in the middle of the picture .
That's probably an upturned life raft or something, looks peculiar.
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