Helllo all, Were there instances of Germans soldats ( Heer, Luftwaffe, SS, Kreigsmarine )prehaps on a mission, even being a deserter landed up in the Far East of Asia?? Vice Versa on the Jap troops that "journeyed" to other countries out of the far east?? I heard that some U-Boats were in the vicinity of South East Asia during WW2. Care to give some info?? Just curious * Alvin * Alvin's Waffen SS Homepage SS Freiwilligen Legion Norwegen http://alvinlee_81.homestead.com/home.html
There sure were U-Boats operating in the far east. My friends of U 181 operated there from sometime in 1943 to wars end. There were several other U-Boats in the east too such as U 191. At wars end, U 181 became property of the Japanese Empire and was renamed I-501, I believe. I-501 was later lost or scuttled at sea. When U 181 became Japanese property (as afew othey U-Boats did) the crews were inturned in camps just short of prison, by their Japanese allies. Two excellent sources for more info of what happened to U-Boats in the far east are: "Shooting The War" By: Otto Giese, and the German U-Boot verlag book vol. 4. As for German Land and Air force personnel serving in the far east, there were attaches, but I don't think any sizable units that I know of.
I think i have read about a few German armed merchant cruisers being sunk and or attack in the Pacific...but like C. Evans i don't know of any larger units. That is very interesting about U-181 C. Evans! I never knew that?! Why did the Japanese treat them poorly?
Panzerman- As far as documentation goes, I'm afraid the answer is pretty straight-forward: there were no German soldiers (okay, soldats) deployed in the far east- not on a wide scale, at least. The same applies to Asia. Sorry. I have seen Turks in German uniform - complete with turbins, but if we're looking for a "SS far east division" or the like, there was none. I'm sure that there were journeys/lost u-boats or ships that made it out there, but again, nothing of memorable note.
I am unclear as why the Japanese treated their former allies worse than they should have. The U 181 crew was made to go to a village that was guarded by the Japanese. At first when the war had ended for the Germans, their allies treated them fairly well but they had to be escourted by Japanese soldiers and or police (supposedly for their protection) When U 181 had been ordered to a port of call, they had to give their boat to the Japanese AND had to train them to use the boat. As they docked, they were met by soldiers and were sort of under arrest. They were limited at what they could do or where they could go. That very evening, the Japanese threw a big celebration for the U 181 crew. Only ther crew could not enjoy it because of the feelings of animosity that was forming between the former allies. The Germans had nothing against their Japanese "hosts", but there were some minor "incidents" that began to occur. Eventually, they were imprisoned by the British and were at least treated with dignity. Some life-long friendships bloomed up between the Germans and the British. Some of the British actually let some of the Germans into town to get better food and to go to dances. I think they were all eventually sent to England, where they stayed for about 2 years and were then re-patrioated back to Germany. I highly suggest that if you can get a copy of Shooting the War by Otto Giese, get it, its more than worth what you will pay for it. When I got my copy (from the vets themselves, and autographed by Otto Giese) and when I began to read it, I could not put the book down. For fear of reading it in one sitting, I allowed myself to read only one chapter per day. This book allows you to enter the WW2 German U-Boat sailors world as seen through his eyes and his thoughts. If I could afford to, I would buy you a copy of the book because thats how good it is. If you need any other info on the U 181 or the crew, I am the one to ask. Currently, there are only 11 of the crew still living. Otto Giese is about 90 and lives in Florida, all the rest live in Germany. Hope this helps answer your question. Also, thanks for the praise, its good to know that someone can use what I post. All the best-Carl.
i guess they should have that book at all major book stores huh? I just read an account in my WW2 magazine about a B-29 crew that was forced to land at Vladivistok, Russia after bombing Japan. There they were interned for awhile and in the beginning treated not so well...being severly interogated about the new bomber. As if it was the cold war already...i guess in a very easy sense..the cold war did begin by that time...but still you wouldn't expect that treatment from allies.
I think you can get it from Barnes and Nobles and for sure at Amazon.com. I keep plugging this book because of the valuable inside info it gives you about the German U-Boat crews and what they saw and from their opinions. I don't know how much the book costs since mine was a gift from the U 181 crew, and Otto Giese (who could'nt make the reunion due to illness) This book is a great source for unknown info, and has a nice amount of photos taken by Giese. It cover much you would want to know about U-Boat life. The U-Boat Archin in Altenbruch Germany, has all of Herr Gieses original photos and many negatives, you can order photos from them for a fee of I think $20.00 for each. Most of those photos are in Gieses book. I totally agree with you on what you say about treatment of "allies". I think in the Russians case, their treatment was most likely due to the fact that Russia, really trusted nobody. You can thank 'ol uncle Stalin, for that. Its a shame because I have met a few Russians, and I find that they are a fine people. As the saying goes by Solomon Tauber (A people are not evil, just a few individuals) Solomon Tauber, was a German/Jew who survived Auschwitz. He did not hate the Germans, just the evil ones.
