General Discussions
This is the place to discuss general issues related to the U-boat war or the war at sea in WWII.
Re: Sunken U-boat of PEI, Canada?
Posted by:
W Richthofen
()
Date: December 06, 2005 03:59PM
Hi Christoph.
On May 6th, 1943, U-262 was in or around P.E.I., but made it back to La Pallice okay. On May 7th local residents reported a nightime naval engagment - this was most probably a RCN live-fire excercise rather than a real attack aimed at any boat in particular.
U-262 had been in the area hoping to collect POWs who were to have broken out of a POW camp (#70 Fredericktown possibly?)but the deal seems to have fallen through and I do not think anyone showed up. (Incidentally, P.E.I. had (probably still has?) a Ukranian population, which might explain the 'odd' accents.)
There is a remote - very, very, very, remote, (Axel would probably know more about this than anyone I guess - no offence to the rest of you! although it is also briefly speculated upon in this site) that U-376 may have been in or around the area. It too was, apparently, part of the rescue operation, having left La Pallice early April. BUT - U-376 is believed lost in the Bay of Biscay, April 13th of that year. (Could/Would U-376 have actually continued his mission without radio I do not know - perhaps some of the more experienced hands here could answer that?) I suggest this only because another boat turned up not a few years ago on the other side of the Atlantic from where it was thought to have been origianlly sunk. Not impossible, but improbable?
However, there is also a third possibilty here. In 1941 a film was made in Canada - "49th Parallel" which, if memory serves, featured an air attack on a U-Boat and was filmed in part in that region. Doubtless folk would have been watching the filming-in-progress, a small child might think it the real deal, and so grow up with a memory of an incident which although happening, did not happen, if you get my drift.
I believe what you may have here is part fact: U-262 in the area on the right week, part fiction: the naval attack/practice on an unidentified 'target' the night after, total fiction: movie as folk-memory, and part extreme conjecture: U-376 making it only to be sunk by means as yet unknown.
Cheers ~ Wolf
On May 6th, 1943, U-262 was in or around P.E.I., but made it back to La Pallice okay. On May 7th local residents reported a nightime naval engagment - this was most probably a RCN live-fire excercise rather than a real attack aimed at any boat in particular.
U-262 had been in the area hoping to collect POWs who were to have broken out of a POW camp (#70 Fredericktown possibly?)but the deal seems to have fallen through and I do not think anyone showed up. (Incidentally, P.E.I. had (probably still has?) a Ukranian population, which might explain the 'odd' accents.)
There is a remote - very, very, very, remote, (Axel would probably know more about this than anyone I guess - no offence to the rest of you! although it is also briefly speculated upon in this site) that U-376 may have been in or around the area. It too was, apparently, part of the rescue operation, having left La Pallice early April. BUT - U-376 is believed lost in the Bay of Biscay, April 13th of that year. (Could/Would U-376 have actually continued his mission without radio I do not know - perhaps some of the more experienced hands here could answer that?) I suggest this only because another boat turned up not a few years ago on the other side of the Atlantic from where it was thought to have been origianlly sunk. Not impossible, but improbable?
However, there is also a third possibilty here. In 1941 a film was made in Canada - "49th Parallel" which, if memory serves, featured an air attack on a U-Boat and was filmed in part in that region. Doubtless folk would have been watching the filming-in-progress, a small child might think it the real deal, and so grow up with a memory of an incident which although happening, did not happen, if you get my drift.
I believe what you may have here is part fact: U-262 in the area on the right week, part fiction: the naval attack/practice on an unidentified 'target' the night after, total fiction: movie as folk-memory, and part extreme conjecture: U-376 making it only to be sunk by means as yet unknown.
Cheers ~ Wolf
| Subject | Written By | Posted |
|---|---|---|
Sunken U-boat of PEI, Canada?
|
Christoph Kretzschmar | 12/05/2005 09:51PM |
|
Re: Sunken U-boat of PEI, Canada?
|
W Richthofen | 12/06/2005 03:59PM |
|
Re: Sunken U-boat of PEI, Canada?
|
Rodney Martin | 12/07/2005 04:27PM |
|
Re: Sunken U-boat of PEI, Canada?
|
Christoph Kretzschmar | 12/07/2005 10:07PM |
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Re: Sunken U-boat of PEI, Canada?
|
Paul Lawton | 12/07/2005 11:28PM |
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Re: Sunken U-boat of PEI, Canada?
|
Rodney Martin | 12/08/2005 04:26PM |