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WW2 U-BOAT PHOTO ALBUM U-108

Discussion in 'Submarines and ASW Technology' started by hornetsfan, Feb 19, 2010.

  1. hornetsfan

    hornetsfan Member

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    I have recently received an excellent original photo album containing 137 photos ( all related to service on U-108 ) . Album which belonged to a crew member who served on U-108 from date of commissioning through to 1942 .... Mirroring the service period of its commander Kptlt. Klaus Scholtz. ( knights cross / oakleaves )
    During the command of Klaus Scholtz ... U108 sank 26 ships ( 135, 366 tonnes ) making Scholtz and U-108 one of the most "successful" U-boats of WW2 .
    The album is special for several reasons ...it is very well captioned , nearly all the crew are named and pictured individually and in groups . There are around 10 original photos of Commander Klaus Scholtz ..including a nice snap shot of him reading a book in his bunk . A further 16 rare photos were taken inside u-boat .
    There are 10 photos which show 2 ships under attack ..British steamer Effna and Norwegian Tanker Norland . 9 photos show surviving crew of sunken ship being given supplies by the crew of U-108 ...captain onboard being questioned and then given details of direction of nearest land .
    4 of the u-boats crew named / photographed went on to command their own u-boats ..3 of these men eventually died in their respective u-boats .
    I will add low resolution images of this album to this thread in the coming weeks ...it would be interesting hear your comments and see any other photos of the crew from this period that may exist ....I would especially like to know more about the albums owner .. Ob.Mech. Willi Wilke ... what he did before and after his service on U-108 .... I know there are many well informed individuals on this forum , I'm hoping someone will be able and willing to help .
    many thanks
    jim

    THROUGH THEIR EYES - U-108 PHOTO ALBUM KPT SCHOLTZ
     
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  2. hucks216

    hucks216 Member

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  3. hornetsfan

    hornetsfan Member

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    Hello Hucks, I had already come across the information you provided re no Willi Winke on U-108 ,but thanks all the same for taking the time and trouble . A Willi Winke serving and dying on U-655 is news to me .
    This album actually adds to and confirms the information thats on various websites .
    Many of the other crew members listed as U-108 , are in photos within the album and with Willi Wilke ..so I have little doubt that he actually served in the u-boat U-108 ..there is a personally written/ signed photo of Kptlt.Klaus Scholtz addressed to Willi Wilke . Of course somebody could have done something very naughty with this album,but it all seems well / authentic to me ..
    I have posted this to several forums ,so hopefully in the coming days any inconsistances will be explained ...I will keep you informed .
    many thanks
    jim
     
  4. hucks216

    hucks216 Member

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    Winke? My apologies - in your first post you said his name was Willi WILKE so I searched for that name. Having re-done the search, there is no-one listed under Winke on U-655.

    I have also done a search on the Volksbund grave site and there is only one Winke listed as being KIA and he was killed at Cassino so it isn't him.
     
  5. hornetsfan

    hornetsfan Member

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    Hello Hucks ..I've been having too many late nights ...the name in the album is indeed Willi Wilke ..not Winke ..a typo me thinks .
    What are the chances of there being 2 different men with this name serving on u-boats ?
    Is Wilke a fairly common surname in Germany ?
    If there was only one Willi Wilke in service and he died as you state on U-655 24th march 1942..then there is certainly need for more investigation ,because Norland was sunk after this date May 1942.
    Firstly I need definative confirmation that Willi Wilke served on U-108 , I'm convinced he did from the evidence in the collection of photos .
    I have been very impressed by the depth of knowledge shown on different forums ..I'm sure we will find the answer .
    Watch this space :confused:
    many thanks
    jim
     
  6. hucks216

    hucks216 Member

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    It does seem to be a fairly common name as there are over 2,600 listed in the Volksbund database with 48 of them having the christian name Willi, and an additional 130 with the christian name of Wilhelm.
     
  7. hornetsfan

    hornetsfan Member

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    Hello Hucks ,
    I have spoken to the chap that runs the Ubootwaffe website crew lists ..he also said the surname wilke was very common and that the crew lists are very much work in progress .
    He pointed me in the dircetion of the German military service archives....unfortunately it may take up to a year to get the information I require ( according to their website ) .
    The evidence within the album is pretty conclusive that Willi Wilke did serve on U-boat 108 during the period I stated ....loads of names / photos of different crew members which match with crew list , many original photos of Scholtz , U-108 itself and the ships it sunk .
    thanks
    jim
     
  8. hucks216

    hucks216 Member

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    And the chances are they won't help you either. Although there are the odd exceptions the WASt tends to only release information to relatives of the soldier/sailor/airman and don't usually help collectors etc. They are also known not to respond to any correspondance - even if they accept the task the first you might know of it is when it arrives through your letterbox months later.

    I don't see any reason why Wilke wouldn't be a crewmember either as how else would he be able to get those sort of pictures?
     
  9. hornetsfan

    hornetsfan Member

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    Hello Hucks ,The National archives in Britain are Brilliant ..just search the site ,get the information usually within minutes and pay a few pounds ... download to Pc ..dead easy .
    Not so sure I can be bothered with all the fuss of The German site .
    I'm confident that all is well with the album , just hoped for some definative answers ....but if this album has not previously seen the light of day ,then perhaps now is the time for this albums strory to be told .

    Crew Painting Polar bear emblem on U-108
    View attachment 10792

    www.throughtheireyes2.co.uk
     

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  10. hornetsfan

    hornetsfan Member

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    Hucks ..the chap who maintains the crew lists on ubootewaffe .net is happy to add 8 new names of crew from the album , including Willi Wilke to the u-108 records ... I also have a further 14 photos of identified crew which were already on the existing crew list .
    jim
     
  11. hornetsfan

    hornetsfan Member

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  12. harry2

    harry2 Member

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    Have you seen u-571 its amense 1 of the best war movies ive ever seen
     
  13. hornetsfan

    hornetsfan Member

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    Hello Harry ...surely a wind up ?!
    Now my 2 favorite WW2 productions were made by Americans ..Saving Private Ryan and the excellent TV series Band of Brothers .
    However ,I think I started watching the film you mention and gave up after just 20 minutes ...I thought it was dreadful...and apparently factually nonsense , because if it was following the truth it should have featured the British and not Americans ...Hollywood using artistic licence and rewriting history . Far too clean for my liking ...a bit like a low budget made for TV film
    The best Submarine film ever made was the German Film Das boot . It goes on forever ,but very atmospheric , giving a real flavour of life aboard a U-boat during WW2.
    I certainly would not have volunteered for service , submariners are a special breed .
    jim
     
  14. C.Evans

    C.Evans Expert

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    Hi Jim, I can't really add anything to this discussion about U 108, except that I too own photographs taken by a crewmember of this Uboat. I was lucky to get two of about 20 or so I was trying to get which were being auctioned off seperately by a guy I buy loads of photos from. The two photos I was able to snag were taken by that boats second in command. Both of these photos do not show personnel because both of my photos were taken from the conning tower of this uboat by the 2nd in command-as they were in the process of diving in heavy seas.

    To date, these two photos have not been posted on this site but will be posted sometime in the future-I just dont know when?

    Anyway, thanks for a great thread and I look forward to knowing more about this boat and its crew-especially the name of the 2nd in command who took the two photos I was able to get ;-))

    Oh and, I was the one who gave the site admin the names of the U 181 crew-which were given to me by one of the crews mates who is a good friend of mine. I basically quit contributing to that guys site as I had asked him to give credit for the list to my friend to which to date, he still has yet to do. I also sent other info about a few of U 181s crew to the same guy-but I have not seen that info listed-at least ince the last time I visited the site sometime last year.
     
  15. hornetsfan

    hornetsfan Member

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    Hello C.Evans ,
    If you value your images and dont want to see them copied and then offered all over ebay as very poor quality , tea stained fakes " from the Russian or KGB Archives" ...please take my advice and never post a photo to a forum site ever again .:(
    I spent the large part of last week publically exposing what I believe is an organised network of ebay photo sellers that only sell fake crap photos . A vipers nest of thieves and conmen ...and it appears a murky world of phoney bidding syndicates ...to make these people appear that they are legitamate by falsely paying high amounts and leaving glowing feedback ....its a major criminal scam .
    Even more alarming ...I am hearing some rotten things about some more esablished dealers on ebay . I am now fully aware of many sharp practises in this collecting field . And to be perfectly honest ,I'm contemplating giving up and going back to devoting my time and efforts to the garden and the boss lady :D
    feel free to PM me and I will see if I can help you with your photos .
    jim
     
  16. C.Evans

    C.Evans Expert

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    Hi Jim, I agree with you and you gave some very sound advice. There are several photos I have which will never be posted anywhere-all are Uboat-related. Most are from U 181, and also show four of that boats NCOs including a good friend of mione) recieving their DKiGs as awarded by CzS Wilhelm DOmmes in Singapore in 45 ;-)) Another that will never see the light iof day here is my Luth photo ;-)) Outside of Julio, nobody else has that image with the exception of all the U 181 Vets I met almost 10 years ago.

    I think I know of that scam artist sellers team. One of them has to be Kiev1943. That guy also sells under at least three other accounts that I found. I dont have them writtem down or id be exposing all of thopse too. He got me for over $400 but I was able to get back over $300 of it due to threats and such and also his stupidity. ;-)) This dork still owes me at least $100 and if I don't get it back, I will declare war on he and his cronies ;-)) Hes alread lost at least 10 potential new customers and almost 20 regulars. I posted in his feedback the one negative thing he got(from me) and if the others dont want to heed my advice and offer-thats their loss.

    I definately hear ya on possibly stopping from buying but, the good news about one of my favorite dealers I but from is that he's been checked out and I know many militaria dealers who know about him and give him good press. I have 3 others I buy from on occasion but have not bought anything from them since last year.

    Ohn and, Kiev1943 is a master at the tea-staining-aging thing as well as beibng real slick on the deception part. I hate the guy and tell it so almost everytime I get a PM or email from it.
     
  17. hornetsfan

    hornetsfan Member

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    I spotted kiev1943 sometime back...the joker that recently was selling copies of my fallschirmjager and u-boat images was nlevental ...this criminal is registered as Canadian but ships out of the Ukraine .
    I spent a few hours searching for the low res tea stained fakes and found around 10 such sellers worldwide . I know they are being sold as "originals " in British militaria fairs and heard they are also being widely sold throughout Europe ...its making someone very good money .
    nlevental sells only tea stained fakes ...just look at the prices he has got for some of his images . Ebay have been so frustrating to deal with in this regard . They are making money by allowing fraudulent criminals to use their site ...this makes them no better than pimps in my eyes .
    Because I'm just a wee bit of a rottweiler . I will continue emailing all of his buyers to alert them to the fraud . ...and when eventually his id is closed . I will move on to his other ebay ids ( his poor quaility fakes are so easy to spot ) ...I'm already on full war footing , have been for the past month ..the tit will not response to any of my emails .
    Some people have lost $ 1000s ....or perhaps more likely from their responses are part of a false bidding scam to give credibility to these fakes . I have noticed the same strong bidders are buying only from the fake sellers ...I'm getting around to believing that possibly up to 75% of WW2 German photos sold on as originals are actually fakes .
    Perhaps this forum would consider posting a major warning to unsuspecting / inexperience photo collectors .
    I will repeat in passing , I'm also hearing some hair raising comments about a few more established "respected " dealers ...its definately a case of buyer beware .

    jim
     
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  18. Spaniard

    Spaniard New Member

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    Hornetsfan you should know that Evilbay is full of sellers that are selling WWI, 2 +++++++ collectibles that are fake especially Cap Badges I see many Like Canadian Airborne Regiment many fakes. I also found in my time on EvilBay over 30 13th Battalion from WWI cap badges I guess somethings are not Sacred, Blasphemy and sacrilege I say.

    You shouldn't get yourself all worked up over something which is not nor will it ever be under your control. I have made many complaints on EvilBay against sellers that were selling Fakes and the week after or months after they were selling the same Badges or items, I complained about it again and nothing was done.

    If You want vengeance for the injustice that has been inflicted on you, So be it, your right.

    P.S. As for false "Bidding Scam" Happens on many Items every day, to bring up the price to what the seller is looking to get for the Item, the oldest game played on EvilBay.
     
  19. hornetsfan

    hornetsfan Member

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    Spaniard ...never heard of evilbay , but I'm guessing its a very similar place to " feepay " .( God knows why we let them get away with taking such a high cut ) .
    Those fake badges/ patches are everywhere .. Of course repros are fine , but when fakes are sold as originals then thats a different issue . I understand the majority of German helmets are also fakes ..and they sell for big money .....is definately a case of buyer beware !
    jim
     
  20. C.Evans

    C.Evans Expert

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    Hi Hornetsfan, same here. Im at war with Kiev1943 and I have been planning on setting up a fake account or two on ebay *when time permits) then im going to make high shill bids on items-then when the auctions are over and before eh can claim my shill accounts as non-opay accounts- I will be posting as many negative feedback posts as i can. This jerk is about to get his just dues and in spades.

    On Ebay, I started 8 cases against kiev1943, ebay did abslutely nothing about them to kiev even after I sent them paper proof and photographic proof that his wares were all fakes and that I also happened to be living next door to a NASA photographic specialist who confirmed for me though I already knew) that all of Kievs pics were fakes. I kept 11 of these fakes and I also have a 12th fake I kept because I love the image-which shows an abgry croud of Russians jeering and flipping of a column of mostly unseen German PWs beinh marcher through Kievs streets. One old lady is giving them the thumb through the fingers gesture which is their version of our middle finger salute ;-)) That seller is: Ranutek and I suspect he is associated with kiev.

    Like you though, I have saved several people money and a few of the others who bought but now question kievs pics are finally asking for refunds on some of their purchases. I am still getting mew inquiries weekly about kiev1943.

    Because of what I have done against that dork, it sent me three emails and three pms basically crying to me about how my war against it is hurting it and its family saying that im making it more difficult for it to feed its starving family. The last time I replied, I basically said I can't wait to hear about them all starving to death-I used much more colorful language of course ;-))
     

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