Читать книгу The Philatelist - D.H. Coop - Страница 14

Chapter 9

Wehrmacht Series, Pioniere—issued March 21, 1943

March 17, 1945, at 2:50 a.m.—Santa Barbara, California

Looking at the scattered blinking lights of the California coastline, the kapitän could not help but smile. With the Allied armies closing in on Germany and Japan, the Americans had become overconfident of victory. So much so that they appeared to be totally unconcerned about the possibility of invasion. True, there was never a real possibility of that occurring. But they did not know that then and disregarded it now.

Even early in the war, sightings of U-Boats off the eastern coast of America were often exaggerated or untrue. Von Holstein even heard stories of Americans believing U-Boat crews came ashore to shop for food and clothes! What a simpleminded culture these Americans have, he thought.

Von Holstein did remember the easy pickings of merchant marine ships off the Atlantic coast that were made easier by the foolish American Atlantic Coastal Command. Believing that the East Coast was too densely populated to suffer an invasion, they had not ordered the blackout of the resort cities until May of 1942, and this illumination had provided a fine backdrop for the sinking of merchant ships. He laughed at the memory of the frightened American Coast Guard attacking large numbers of whales, thinking they were U-Boats. Well, they had gotten better since then, that was certain. It was this early success that encouraged the later exaggeration of the stories on both sides. If only Germany had the three hundred U-boats back in 1939, England would not have survived until America came into the war.

Von Holstein gave the signal to Helmut, who was down with the gun crew.

Helmut led the gun crew over to a small rubber boat, which they were able to quickly manhandle over the side. Once it was in the water, they secured it with holding lines next to the hull before Helmut turned to motion to the kapitän that it was ready. The kapitän sent one of the lookouts down the ladder, and a few moments later, three dark figures emerged on the deck of the U-Boat near the rubber boat. They turned and gave the party salute with their right arm outstretched before climbing into the rubber boat. After they were all securely in the craft, Helmut and the others released the lines and cast the boat loose.

The entire topside crew saluted. Then, just as quickly as they had arrived, the men disappeared, and the U-Boat slid under the waves. The tiny rubber boat and its passengers headed into the night on a secret mission to save Germany.

The kapitän and crew were happy. They had crossed two oceans undetected. Now they would see how well the U-Boat performed in combat on their return trip home. Meanwhile, their three passengers were heading toward the destination that could change the course of the war.