False Flags: Disguised German Raiders of World War II, by Stephen Robinson

Length, 340 pages, including index

These are the true stories of German raiders that operated in the Indian and Pacific, as well as the Atlantic Ocean. The author starts off with the World War I raiders, like the cruiser Emden and the disguised ships like Seeadler. These captains got to be the "rock stars" that inspired the World War II versions. The missions of the big scoring raiders are the emphasis here, such as the Pinguin in her Antarctic missions, the Orion, with her minelaying off New Zealand and Australia, and the Kormoran with her famous duel with the H.M.A.S. Sydney.

Robinson gives us the accounts of both the German crews and their Allied victims. He also goes into the effort the Royal Navy expended to hunt them down, and sink their supply ships.

I was disappointed that he didn't go into the other raiders, like Thor, which he mentions in the text but doesn't follow, and the Stier which he mentions in his glossary, but doesn't follow. I was really let down he didn't mention the Michel, with her battle with the American submarine Tarpon.

That aside, this will give you a terrific picture of the German effort against commerce around the world, and bringing the war to Australia's doorstep.

 

.....a not-often talked about subject--which makes it very interesting