One morning he was discussing binoculars with an elderly fellow guest. My letter published in 25th April issue of Ileach resulted in a letter from Harry Gardner, who in the early 60s had been staying in Miss Nora McAdams guest house in Machrihanish. I now wanted to know who were these bold U-boat commanders. The bay is remote from human civilisation and a U-boat in the bay could only be observed from the top of the surrounding steep sided hills. A U-boat could also have sat on the sandy bottom partly submerged in the middle of the bay. Once tied up alongside the rocks it would be difficult to see the U-boat.
This is sufficient depth for a surfaced U-boat type U, UB or UC with overall lengths from 36 to 70 metres and beam up to 6.3 metres. On the south east side of the bay there is a nearly straight rock peninsular on which there is an old sheep droving jetty with water depth of some four metres alongside the jetty. We anchored in four metres in the middle of the bay, which penetrates the land, some 200 metres and is only 50 metres wide at the entrance. The little bay is not obvious when approaching from seaward. U-77 The submarine responsible for torpedoeing the Tuscania These stories caught my interest so in July 2008, I decided to visit Clas Uig in my yacht 'Blue Iris'. Chas also gave me a copy of a letter that he had received from Sir John Mactaggart, which told a similar story about a U-boat commander met by a shepherd walking near Clas Uig on the Ardtalla Estate in late 1940s. This told the story of a U-boat commander returning to the White Hart Hotel, Islay in 1921 and wanting to go to Clas Uig, where, during the war, he had taken his U-boat and sent his crew ashore to shoot sheep. As I did not, he gave me a copy of 'Hidden Harbour' written by Rosemary Hamilton and published in Scottish Field. (As commonly seen on Kriegsmarine awards, the swastika was relatively understated compared with awards in other branches of the military and civilian services.The following story, written by Tim Henderson, was published in the Ileach of 3 July 2009Ĭhas Batchelor asked me if I knew anything about a German U-boat going into Clas Uig, Islay during the 1914-18 war. The obverse design of the new badge was provided by Berlin artist Otto Placzek, and consisted of a central water plume from an underwater explosion surrounded by an oak leaf wreath and topped by the ever-present national symbol of the eagle clutching a swastika. The supreme commander of the Kriegsmarine
In recognition of the responsible and successful activities of these forces, I order the introduction of a war badge for the minesweeping, U-boat chasing and security units.
The service is particularly austere and unnerving, as in most cases the deployment of the individual does not allow him to distinguish himself before his comrades in direct combat against the enemy.
#U boot fahrten full
“The hard and perilous service of the minesweeping, submarine chasing and security units, who with their small vessels in combat against U-boat, mine and airplane dangers are constantly at the mercy of the elements, requires of every man on board full commitment and high nervous tension. Commonly shortened to “Minesweeper Badge” for convenience, was introduced in 1940 by Grand Admiral Erich Raeder with the above announcement, translated as follows:
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