General Discussions
This is the place to discuss general issues related to the U-boat war or the war at sea in WWII.
RE: U-33
Posted by:
Brian D. Osborne
()
Date: June 30, 2001 05:12PM
<HTML>I am using a photograph of the burial of the dead from U-33 in a forthcoming book on the Clyde at War and am quite fascinated by the story. According to my photograph and the Greenock Cemetery records 23 crewmen were buried there on 15th February 1940 - this is two fewer than the recorded number of survivors. The name of the U-33\'s skipper, Hans-Wilhelm von Dresky, is not on the list nor is it visible in the photograph. The burial was certainly not carried out at night, there is what looks to be a carefully staged photograph taken by a local professional photographer with the survivors lined up around the graveside and what appears to be a German officer addressing them. There are white crosses and boards with the names of 4 dead (in one case 3) neatly written in German gothic script, with undeneath in Roman capitals, GERMAN NAVY, 12.2.1940.
According to Hugh Sebag-Montefiore\'s \"Enigma\" - the 25 (not 23) bodies of crew members from U-33 were moved in the late 1950s early 1960\'s to the German Military Cemetery at Cannock Chase, Staffordshire. One survivor, Max Schiller, had a headstone erroneously erected at Cannock Chase, and a \"Schiller\" appears on the Greenock list and on one of the name boards.
Assuming the Greenock authorities could count the bodies one of the 25 dead presumably was registered as Schiller - but this still leaves a discrepancy of 1 body.
I am sorry if this is all rather confusing. I am not at all clear who the carefully staged funeral service was meant for. I expected to find the photograph used in the British press - but so far I haven\'t found it used and the loss of the U-33 does not seem to have been reported by the press at the time. Whether the fact that British authorities recovered three of the Enigma rotors from one of the survivors explains the news blackout I don\'t know. Certainly other U-boat sinkings were reportedn in the press and the sinking of the U-33 in the Firth of Clyde would surely have been a good news story and the photograph of the captured sailors and the burial of a boost to British morale.</HTML>
According to Hugh Sebag-Montefiore\'s \"Enigma\" - the 25 (not 23) bodies of crew members from U-33 were moved in the late 1950s early 1960\'s to the German Military Cemetery at Cannock Chase, Staffordshire. One survivor, Max Schiller, had a headstone erroneously erected at Cannock Chase, and a \"Schiller\" appears on the Greenock list and on one of the name boards.
Assuming the Greenock authorities could count the bodies one of the 25 dead presumably was registered as Schiller - but this still leaves a discrepancy of 1 body.
I am sorry if this is all rather confusing. I am not at all clear who the carefully staged funeral service was meant for. I expected to find the photograph used in the British press - but so far I haven\'t found it used and the loss of the U-33 does not seem to have been reported by the press at the time. Whether the fact that British authorities recovered three of the Enigma rotors from one of the survivors explains the news blackout I don\'t know. Certainly other U-boat sinkings were reportedn in the press and the sinking of the U-33 in the Firth of Clyde would surely have been a good news story and the photograph of the captured sailors and the burial of a boost to British morale.</HTML>
Subject | Written By | Posted |
---|---|---|
U-33 | S. Chris Kelly | 05/09/2001 02:36PM |
RE: U-33 | Marc Haldimann | 05/09/2001 06:09PM |
RE: U-33 | Brian D. Osborne | 06/30/2001 05:12PM |
Re: U-33 | Robert Ethier | 03/10/2014 01:29AM |
Re: U-33 | Houdini | 12/20/2023 09:58PM |