Description
The project began when Axel Urbanke wanted to write an article about “Panzerjagdkommando Cremer”, which fought south of Hamburg in April 1945. However, it was discovered that information about the deployment of this commando did not correspond with the facts. Most of the literature on regional events of the war contained brief, erroneous accounts.
As the article grew in scope, the decision was made to work up the topic as a book. It was quite difficult to research, starting with finding out which submarine crews were actually called up for combat duty. Information on the battles and the locations of the Marine-Panzerjagd-Regiment 1 at the war’s end also had to be gathered from many disparate sources.
A highlight is an extra chapter on the construction of the Type XXI and Type XXIII boats, in which Herr Urbanke was allowed to use unique colour slides of the construction and commissioning of these boats, thanks to the support of the son of Walter Frentz (war correspondent at the Führer’s headquarters). The slides were taken by Oblt. Frentz in mid-1944, when he was commissioned by Hitler to film all modern new weapons in colour. On this occasion, Frentz took colour slides privately.
*** Coming December 2022. Sample pages to come. ***
Axel Urbanke. Hardcover. Landscape format. English & German text. 192 pages. 158 photos (48 in colour). 15 maps.
