Erik Krogh

Many thanks, Martin!

Martin, Congrats on a great find! The photos are excellent. Here is a tradition badge attributed to Atlantis (the same badge depicted on page 11 of your book, post #12). Although the badge does not have any provenance, it was originally purchased from Steve Wolfe and certainly looks convincing to me. So - here it is for your perusal. Best, Erik

Thanks, Martin! Woszek's first pattern badge surely doesn't look like a zincer... Peter - thanks for posting your Kurland doc signed by Holzapfel. Great to see another! All The Best, Erik

Erich, Richard, and Nesredep, Thank you for your nice words! I really love groupings because they tell a more complete story than single items. All The Best, Erik

Dr. Hess' biography.

I have just heard that OzS Hans-Georg Hess, Ritterkreuztr?ger, and former Kommandant of U-995, has passed away. I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Hess in 2005, and he was truly a warm and generous gentleman. So passes another of the brave men from "the greatest generation".

Here is a summary of Hankammer's service record. 50 S-Boot enemy patrols!

Finally, Hankammer's preliminary doc for the Kurland cufftitle. This document was signed by the 5 flottilla commander, Hermann Holzapfel.

Here is Hankammer's EKI doc, once again signed by Petersen.

Following are three documents for Obermaschinenmaat Adalbert Hankammer of the 5th Schnellbootsflottille. First up is his Schnellboots-kriegsabzeichen signed by KzS Rudolf Petersen.

Fran?ois, Fabulous officer's cap and kill pennant! What a terrific set!! Best Regards, Erik

Thanks for posting your Mercedes stickpin, Sto! Is yours marked "300" like mine is? All The Best, Erik

More "small" photos. Clockwise from top left: Wall hanging in Saltzwedelkaserne, map of the Trocadero, military traffic presumably in Lorient, officer's Wohnbunker in "Louis Chapelle" (as identified in my U-103 photo album).

More "small" photos of living quarters and messhall.

Some more "small" photos. from top: Sch?tze's Christmas message, U-Bunker, bunkers and quarters.

Nesredep, Martin, and Richard: thank you for your comments! Here are some of the "small" individual pictures grouped into 3s and 4s. The subject matter is interesting: many "daily life" shots of Saltzwedelkaserne, the U-Bootheim, officer's quarters, etc. The first batch of shots include (clockwise, from top left): U-103 entering port, entrance to the Lorient Arsenal, arrival of the Japanese submarine I30 on 5 August 1942, and the entrace to the Saltzwedelkaserne. The I30 arrival was chronicled on page 161 in Lawrence Paterson's "Second U-Boat Flotilla": "Lorient received an unusual visitor , the huge 2,584-ton Japanese Kaigun/B1 class long-range submarine I30 arriving in France after four months journeying from Japan. Commanded by Chu-sa (Commander) Shinobu Endo, the huge submarine (thirty-four meters longer than a Type IXC) eased into Lorient carrying vital cargo for the Wehrmacht. The entire 2nd and 10th U-Flotilla staffs, headed by both D?nitz and Raeder, turned out to greet the Japanese crew as I30 slowly edged into its moorings against the Isere before transferring to the relative safety of the Scorff bunker."

Another page from the U-116 album with 3 of the "small" pictures.

Small photos.

Large packet photos.

Reverse of the packets.

Obverse of the two packets.

U-116 album page.

U-103 album page:

Among my U-Boat photo albums are two from the 2nd U-Flottille: U-103 (Type IXB) and U-116 (Type XB Minelayer). Both of these albums contain some common photos as well as portions of what appear to be packaging that featured the 2nd Flottille insignia in gold. I recently attended the SOS in Louisville and purchased an example of the source of these images: what I believe to be a complete set of Viktor Sch?tze's Christmas "gift photos". I would assume that these sets would have been handed out to the entire Flottille. The photo set consists of two identical (except for size) packets: the large set measures 13 x 18 cm and contains 8 photos (including the famous one of Kaptlt. Johann Mohr); the small set measures 13 x 9 cm and contains 30 photos. The small set contains a message from Sch?tze commemorating the Flottille's successes on the occasion of Christmas 1942 ("4. Kriegsweihnachtsfest"). Here is a small sampling of some of the pictures as displayed in the U-103 and U-116 photo albums. U-103 album page, with Sch?tze's message:

L/18 MS hinge