General Discussions
This is the place to discuss general issues related to the U-boat war or the war at sea in WWII.
Re: Tomb raiders - International Ban on Wreck Diving?
Posted by:
Rob Hoole
()
Date: January 29, 2008 10:50AM
Jukka Juutinen Wrote:
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> In my opinion people should be able to dive to
> such wrecks freely as long as they don´t remove
> any personal objects of the deceased from the
> wrecks (without permission from the deceased
> person´s family). It is pure hypocrisy to
> Westerners cry out loud "disturbing a grave" when
> e.g. Indian burial grounds are trampled upon all
> the time.
There is a world of difference between 'graves' and 'graveyards/cemetaries/burial grounds'. People are welcome to visit the latter to pay their respects but the unauthorised penetration of any grave for whatever purpose should not be tolerated. The unauthorised penetration of an official war grave for recreational purposes, whether on the battlefields of Flanders or lying on the seabed, is particularly despicable. Even the well-worn excuse 'Take only photos, leave only bubbles' did not prevent videos and photos of skeletal remains inside the wreck of HMS Repulse (including a skull posed on top of a collapsed ladder) being offered for sale on eBay recently, complete with the option to buy mugs, fridge magnets and mouse mats bearing the photos. Although the culprit subsequently withdrew these objects from sale following an outcry led by the Force Z Survivors' Association ( [www.forcez-survivors.org.uk] ), he has yet to apologise for forcing open a hatch and penetrating this underwater tomb. Indeed, he seems proud of the fact (See Day 4 of account at: [e-nekton.com]).
A good acid test is whether such intrusions will distress living relatives and comrades of the dead or the survivors and their relatives. However, speaking as an ex-Royal Navy man and a diver at that, a seaman's grave is meant to be his eternal final 'resting' place, not the subject of idle curiosity by tourist divers. By all means dive ON wargraves but don't ENTER them, don't touch them and certainly don't remove anything from them, even the dignity of those interred inside. Leave them in peace and let nature take its inevitable course.
Rob Hoole
[www.mcdoa.org.uk]
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> In my opinion people should be able to dive to
> such wrecks freely as long as they don´t remove
> any personal objects of the deceased from the
> wrecks (without permission from the deceased
> person´s family). It is pure hypocrisy to
> Westerners cry out loud "disturbing a grave" when
> e.g. Indian burial grounds are trampled upon all
> the time.
There is a world of difference between 'graves' and 'graveyards/cemetaries/burial grounds'. People are welcome to visit the latter to pay their respects but the unauthorised penetration of any grave for whatever purpose should not be tolerated. The unauthorised penetration of an official war grave for recreational purposes, whether on the battlefields of Flanders or lying on the seabed, is particularly despicable. Even the well-worn excuse 'Take only photos, leave only bubbles' did not prevent videos and photos of skeletal remains inside the wreck of HMS Repulse (including a skull posed on top of a collapsed ladder) being offered for sale on eBay recently, complete with the option to buy mugs, fridge magnets and mouse mats bearing the photos. Although the culprit subsequently withdrew these objects from sale following an outcry led by the Force Z Survivors' Association ( [www.forcez-survivors.org.uk] ), he has yet to apologise for forcing open a hatch and penetrating this underwater tomb. Indeed, he seems proud of the fact (See Day 4 of account at: [e-nekton.com]).
A good acid test is whether such intrusions will distress living relatives and comrades of the dead or the survivors and their relatives. However, speaking as an ex-Royal Navy man and a diver at that, a seaman's grave is meant to be his eternal final 'resting' place, not the subject of idle curiosity by tourist divers. By all means dive ON wargraves but don't ENTER them, don't touch them and certainly don't remove anything from them, even the dignity of those interred inside. Leave them in peace and let nature take its inevitable course.
Rob Hoole
[www.mcdoa.org.uk]
Array
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