JSlavick

last for tonight! pretty sure this M1 was in Mosul. Enjoy! Joe

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Lorenzo: I took the photos 2004-2005. The T-72s were on the road between Camp Victory and BIAP (Baghdad International Airport). We stopped, climbed over all the concertina wire around the tanks and explored them. They were in bad shape. Joe .

The last secretary of the HK Komet Kameradschaft was Herr Otto Schmidt. Joe

Mark: What a great Soldbuch! Fantastic piece of history. Thanks for sharing. FYI: The last HK Komet Kameradschaft treffen was a small gathering of 7 or 8 Kometen in 2005. Joe Slavick

last for now! Joe

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Here are some of my photos Joe

Good Day All: I have missed this photo twice in the last 12 years. Once in the entire album, and once more recently as a single photo (I HOPE it is a another print of the photo and the album has not been "parted-out") Anyway, I think I have a research connection to one of the men in the photo. I may have a lot of his very interesting and action-packed Kriegsmarine career detailed-out. If you own the photo I'd be VERY interested in purchasing. Thanks for your indulgence in tolerating my singular quest for yet another single photo. And once again, thank you for any other Hilfskreuzer photo leads or assistance! Joe

Arromanches: Can I ask for some amplifying data? Was Trendtel---Fregattenkapitän Werner Trendtel who was assigned to Kriegsmarine High Command from Apr 1938 until May 1941 and then transferred to the German embassy in Tokyo as part of the Marine Attaché staff from May 1941 until Apr 1943? if so, do you know the dates he was in command at Penang? And was Erhardt----Korvettenkapitän Wolfgang Erhardt who served as leader of naval attache office in Malayasia and military attache office in Singapore from Mar 1943 until the end of the war. Released from captivity in Mar 1947. Later commanded Bundesmarine's sail training ship GORCH FOCK from 1958 until 1962. if i have matches on these two do you have any other biographical information about them? Joe

Small world! I have a BB that looks like it may have come from Naxos' collection. Joe

What a FANTASTIC portrai! Wow!

Researchers and Collectors: I have spent the last six weeks going into the SKL Ops division archives looking for references to auxiliary cruisers. I literally went through hundreds of thousands of pages from 15 August 1939 to 31 Mar 1945. Unfortunately crucial files and data for the “core” Hilfskreuzer months were missing. Missing records were the files for: Sep-Dec 1940; Jan-Nov 1941; Oct-Dec 1942; Jan, Feb and Aug 1943; Feb, Apr, May, Jul, Sep-Nov 1944, and Jan 1945 were missing!!!!!!! I went through hundreds of thousands of pages during the nights in the archive and I have over 400 pages of data and references about the auxiliary cruisers. FANTASTIC!!!!!!!! I am not a Kleinkampfverbande researcher, but I saw this reference and it resonated with me, so I copied it down. Can anyone shed any light on the action mentioned? What was it and why was this action being discussed at the staff and Admiral level? It really got me interested, but as I have mentioned it is not my area, so I don’t want to research it! Here is the text: War Diary of the German Naval Staff Operations Division, 04 August 1944, Section III. Chief of Operations Branch, Naval Staff, Operations Division, Paragraph a., Subparagraphs 1 and 2, Page 53: “Admiral, Small Battle Units reported on the evening of 03 August: ‘Before the commencement of last night’s successful operation I sent a message to each man taking part. In which I challenged them to act as “Winkelriede” for the hard-fighting land front.” “Today Kapitän zur See Böhme reported the following: The following soldiers who took part in this action have not yet reported as yet returned deserve extra special mention. Before starting they reported to the Commander of their Unit that they would not return without having sunk a large Man-of-War or a transport and thus earn then name “Winkelriede.” These men were: Oberleutnant Winzer, Oberleutnant Schiebel, Leutnant Hasen, Fähnrich Pettke, Obersteuermann Schröger, Maschinenmaat Guski, Matrosen Glaubrecht and Matrosen Roth.” “We are convinced that these men were especially connected with successes which we may never be able to attribute to them directly as they have not returned. Apart from the visible success it seems to me that the spirit of these men is both an example and encouragement, and an indication of the absolutely unconquerable spirit of the Kriegsmarine. Therefore, I suggest that they be cited as outstandingly brave men in the Naval Gazette, unless they are to be mentioned in a High Command Communique.” “The Commander-in-Chief, Navy has issued orders for these men to be specifically mentioned in the Naval Gazette.” Incredible bit of history, I hope it helps some of you! Joe If you have ANY Auxilary Cruiser paperwork (or especially photos) available---I AM interested!!!!!!!!!!

Got the website! Thanks! I'll get the book next week----after I let the wife know about it! Joe

Concur. Looks like: "My Friend Maschinenobergefreiter Otto Müller.' Joe

Sascha: I was unable to find a direct link to purchase the book. Please let me know the link for direct purchases of this new book! Thanks! Joe

Wow! Update: With the help of another researcher, this mention of Kriegsmarine men serving aboard a aircraft carrier in the logs is confirmed. He referenced and pointed me to material that confirms three Germans did board an IJN Carrier! In late May 1943 Kapitänleutnant Hoppe, Oberleutnant zur See Schrein and Matrosengefreiter Rudolf (interpreter) did spend two weeks aboard the Japanese aircraft carrier ZUIKAKU to gather information about carrier operations. They were planning on sailing with the carrier but, the Japanese plans got all thrown out of whack by the American ambush of Admiral Yamamoto. The Germans watched the training regime and a large naval air exercise and then returned to shore duties in Japan.

I am not familiar with the IJN at all, so even that is news to me. Still it would be interesting to find out if any men went to ships and if they did to what ships. Knowing that would provide some data points to their fates. Thanks! Joe

Hello fellow collectors and researchers: I have been going through the war diaries of SKL's Operations Division. They are logs grouped by month. I've gone through about 9 month's worth so far and have secured just a CRAZY amount of information about the auxiliary cruisers. What an absolute coup for my database! Here is an interesting passage that I found (Source: War Diary of the German Naval Staff Operations Division, 13 March 1943, Section I. War In Foreign Waters, Paragraph 2. Own Situation, Page 158): “The Naval Attaché, Tokyo reports that his proposal to assign German officers from Ship “10” to Japanese aircraft carriers has been welcomed by the Japanese.” Does anyone have any further information or knowledge of any German Navy Officers serving aboard Japanese aircraft carriers? Thanks! Joe

Martin: Your cap badge is an absolute perfect example of what was "issued" at the early crew meetings for Atlantis (circa ~1955.) You'll see various pin set ups on the reverse. Yours has a reverse pin which is new to me, but I have no doubt to the "originality" of the badge. It is exactly like my examples. Note that the nickname "Papa Kühn" stayed with him (among others) during his time on ATLANTIS too. Nice aquisition Martin. Joe

Martin: Oberzimmermannsmeister Ernst Miersen was lost with the sinking of MICHEL (second cruise). He does not appear on any other crew lists. Should be pretty easy to ascertain how he came to be in-place to join the second cruise of MICHEL . More to follow. I'll return home on Tuesday and have the rest of the week to do a bit of research. Joe

For me, this one is close enough that I would take the chance on it....what do the experts say??

Grunt: Can we have a look at the reverse of the insignia please? Joe

What a great photo and especially meaningful with the family connection. Thanks for sharing!