Whilst there have been many memoirs written by U-boat commanders of the Second World War, a book such as this, based upon the diaries of senior Petty Officer telegraphist, written in 'real time' is something very special. Wolfgang Hirschfeld, whose diaries Geoffrey Brooks has translated is a born story teller.The principal characters describe his experiences during six wars patrols in U-109, in which he served as the senior telegraphist. His is a tale which covers the whole kaleidoscope of emotions shared by men at war - a story of immense courage and fortitude, of remarkable comradeship born of the dangers, frustrations and privations shared and of transitory moments of triumph.Throughout runs a vein of humor, without which resistance to stress would have been virtually impossible. We get to know one of Germany's great U-boat aces, 'Ajax' Bleichrodt, holder of the Knights Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, and in a special biographical appendix. learn how he finally cracked under the strain. The role of Admiral Karl Donitz, the dynamic commander of the U-boat service, so fascinatingly described by Hirschfeld, is of special interest - not least because even this dedicated Nazi had clearly realized by September, 1942, that the war was fast being lost.In 1944 Hirschfeld was promoted Warrant Officer and found himself on a large, schnorkel-equipped boat (U-234) heading for Japan with a load of high technology equipment and, in addition, a quantity of uranium one. The possible significance of that uranium has been deeply researched by Geoffrey Brooks and is discussed in a second appendix.

Hirschfeld: The Story of a U-Boat NCO, 1940-1946

Wolfgang Hirschfeld

Geoffrey Brooks

Biographies & Memoirs

PEN SWORD BOOKS

Durante mentioned a 40-foot mast he has growing on his property. "Mr [Elmore] Stoutt said that each village should have a sloop," Durante said, "and it would be good for the kids to learn how it's built and how to sail it." Once the creative team was assembled, they had to find a way to fund the project. "To us, it was important to keep the production of the book as local as possible: designing it in the BVI, with a boat built in the BVI, a book written by a BVI resident, with paintings by an artist who was creating artwork in the BVI, and we found someone locally to fund the printing of the project-VP Bank. They have been very focused on educating the population on the BVI's maritime heritage." Sjoerd Koster, Head of Banking at VP Bank said, "We believe that this publication is both a culturally and historically important event as it describes the 'how-to-build-a-sloop' steps as well as, through colourful paintings, the early boat-building history of the Virgin Islands and the important economic role the sloops played in the early stages of the territory's commercial development." He added that the publication seems to have been perfectly timed with the final homecoming of the historically significant Virgin Islands sloop Intrepid. "We are pleased to have been a part of the return of the 'lost sloop,'" he said, "as well as our involvement in this project."

Building a Virgin Islands Sloop

Children's Books

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Books by Geoffrey Brooks