General Discussions
This is the place to discuss general issues related to the U-boat war or the war at sea in WWII.
Re: Emblem?
Posted by:
Vidart
()
Date: January 30, 2009 09:34PM
- second thoughts....
Your description resembles the drawing of the drawing in Georg Högel's "Embleme Wappen Malings deutscher U-boote 1939-1945" precisely.
However this excellent book has many "quite close, but not quite" drawings or descriptions.
If you go to the interrogation report of survivors from U-357 at [www.uboatarchive.net] and look for "badge", you will find a slightly different description:
"A black raven with red bill and claws, holding a black umbrella in one claw"
Another place in the book Högel mentions an umbrella as a symbol of Neville Chamberlain, who was prime minister of UK at the beginning of the war. He died in 1940, U-357 was commissioned in 1942, but the umbrella may have persisted as a symbol of the UK.
The raven can be found in the old Norse/Germanic mythology. The god Odin/Wodan had two ravens who functioned as lookouts for him. In this mythology the raven was associated with battle, death, and victory.
So perhaps the symbolism in short was: Victory over Britain.
Vidar
Your description resembles the drawing of the drawing in Georg Högel's "Embleme Wappen Malings deutscher U-boote 1939-1945" precisely.
However this excellent book has many "quite close, but not quite" drawings or descriptions.
If you go to the interrogation report of survivors from U-357 at [www.uboatarchive.net] and look for "badge", you will find a slightly different description:
"A black raven with red bill and claws, holding a black umbrella in one claw"
Another place in the book Högel mentions an umbrella as a symbol of Neville Chamberlain, who was prime minister of UK at the beginning of the war. He died in 1940, U-357 was commissioned in 1942, but the umbrella may have persisted as a symbol of the UK.
The raven can be found in the old Norse/Germanic mythology. The god Odin/Wodan had two ravens who functioned as lookouts for him. In this mythology the raven was associated with battle, death, and victory.
So perhaps the symbolism in short was: Victory over Britain.
Vidar
| Subject | Written By | Posted |
|---|---|---|
Emblem?
|
{1.SS}Eberhardt | 01/30/2009 06:54PM |
|
Re: Emblem?
|
Vidart | 01/30/2009 08:08PM |
|
Re: Emblem?
|
Vidart | 01/30/2009 09:34PM |
|
Re: Emblem?
|
{1.SS}Eberhardt | 01/31/2009 06:02AM |