Hi All,

At 93 years and seven months he had a long life.

Arthur served in the E-Motor room of U-859 as a MaschGfr. When U-859 was sunk September 23, 1944 near Penang in the Straits of Malacca, by torpedoes from the British submarine HMS TRENCHANT he was one of the few survivors that escaped from the boat after it had sunk to the bottom at a depth of around 164 feet.

Arthur Baudzus was born in the East Prussian town of Lyck. He was ten when Hitler came to power and only 23 when the Nazi regime collapsed.

An electrician by trade he was exempt from conscription because of his job in a shipyard engaged in the construction and repair of U-boats. Arthur later joined the Navy and was posted to U-859 as an electrician for her six-month voyage from Kiel to the Japanese held Malayan port of Penang. U-859, and her cargo of mercury, was sunk by a torpedo from HMS TRENCHANT less than an hour from her destination, and Baudzus had to swim up from the shattered hulk, then spent the next 24 hours floating in the Malacca Straits before being rescued by the Japanese. He was one of only 20 survivors.

After the war he settled in Australia. He retired from Siemens as a marketing manager.

Arthur was a good friend to the U-boat community & he helped me with my research for years. He also wrote about his WWII experiences:

Baudzus, Arthur. U-859. Riverdale GA: Riverdale Electronic Books, 2003 (www.riverdalebooks.com). ISBN: 0-9712207-7-8. Copyright: Arthur Baudzus, 2003. This is the first U-boat book of his that I read and it is a novel. It does however have the story of how he escaped from the sunken U-859 and is full of facts.

Baudzus, Arthur. The Nazi: Coming of Age in Hitler's Germany and the Voyage of the U-859. Riverdale GA: Riverdale Electronic Books, 2003 (www.riverdalebooks.com). ISBN: 1-932606-13-0. Copyright: Arthur Baudzus, 2006. This is my favorite book of his. It is a frank description of what it was like growing up under Hitler’s regime and it addresses a number of questions that are rarely discussed in a frank & honesty way. I consider it a “must read” if you want a better understanding of who the U-boat men were. It also contains the story of his escape from the sunken U-boat.

Arthur Baudzus also wrote The Hunter and the Hunted but I can’t find my copy at the moment.

Arthur Baudzus was my friend and he will be missed.

Regards,

Ken Dunn