MARK BELLIS writes from 1993 - I thought it was interesting that even though he was born in Germany, Brinkmann did not think of himself as German but as a Danziger and was very proud of the Baltic city-states independence.
WATERLOO, Aug 26 - A former German officer of a sunken World War II U-Boat rumored to be loaded with gold, art treasures or even escaping Nazi officials says that his boat was on no other mission than to surrender when it was sunk in the last days of the war.
"I don't think any U-boat would have taken a Nazi aboard at that time," says William Brinkmann, 82,who was first officer on board the U-534, which was raised from the bottom of the sea near Sweden by a Dutch salvage company this week. "The Nazis were never that popular among people in the navy."
Brinkmann, who now lives in retirement in Waterloo, was on shore when his boat was sunk by a British bomber in the Kattegat sea, between Sweden and Denmark, on May 5, 1945, a day before the war ended, but spoke to all surviving members of his crew a few weeks after the sinking. "Admiral Donitz (who assumed control of Germany after Hitler commited suicide) wanted to keep the harbors in Germany open - there were millions of refugees fleeing Eastern Europe by boat and some of the Navy comanders had scuttled (delibarately sunk) their ships in German harbors, against his orders -he ordered U-534 out to sea to Oslo, to surrender."
Salvagers announced yesterday that they had found 100 bottles of wine and 144 condoms on the boat. Brinkmann thinks he knows the reason why. "Alcohol was never allowed on a U-Boat, and we had hardly heard of condoms in my time - there was also some schnapps - I think that the crew had figured out that they were going to surrender in Oslo and wanted to have one last good time! I'm thinking of asking the salvage for some of that wine!"
After showing pictures of the boat being attacked from the air while on the surface of the water,taken by the British plane that sunk the U-534 with depth charges, he describes the submarine's last moments. "The U-534 had been fitted with a schnorkel - a device that allowed use to run our diesel motors under the water and remaine submerged for a long time - we spent 26 days underwater on our last trip back from Bordeaux (in France) to Germany - but the Kattegat sea was too shallow to go underwater - the boat was hit in the rear torpedo room by a depth charge - three men were killed by the explosion, and one was drowned escaping but everyone else managed to get out before it sank through the two loupes (conning towers) except for six men in the forward torpedo compartment - they were stuck inside but the compartment was sealed, so, you know, when the boat sinks, you have to wait until everything gets quiet, you settle to the bottom, and they got out through the escape hatches in rescue suits with oxygen bottles." The U-Boat had a crew of 52.
Brinkmann doubts that there was anything of value on board his boat. "We were a fighting ship -there really was no room for anything else on board." but remembers that he left a set of drinking glasses on board. "They were special - they were given me by my father, who was a Freemason -when Hitler took power in 33 the Freemasons were banned [and some members were sent to concentration camp] and my father said to me 'here, you better take these'" and gave him a set of glasses with the Freemasons insignia of a compass and a ruler on them. "I saw that they were quite solid so I decided to take them to sea - they should still be hanging up in the officers' quarters!" Brinkmann said he was not worried about having glasses with the outlawed Freemason's insignia on them. "There was a special sort of Kameradeschaft (spirit of friendship) on board the U-boats, everyone ate together, slept together, used the same toilet - everyone was extremely close." Brinkmann still remains in touch with all surviving crew members of his boat.
Brinkmann dislikes talking about the U-534 battle record "I wouldn't like to talk about it - we did some damage." but remembers the fear he felt as the boat dived to 160 metres to avoid allied destroyers and planes depth-charging them. "I still get nervous thinking about it. We were very fardown and the vents would start to crumple under the pressure and leak." Brinkman received the Iron Cross, first class, in 1944 for his service onboard.
Brinkmann was born in Hesse, Germany but lived in Danzig Free State before the war, now the city of Gdansk in Poland. "We were a free city for 200 years - we only became part of Germany in 1939 after Hitler had invaded us. We knew what was going on in Germany before the war because we got the papers from Berlin and Sweden." Speaking of life under the Nazis he said " We knew that there was something wrong, but it was a total dictatorship. You were a dead man if you said anything against them."
Brinkmann spoke of the one U-boat he knows of that was carrying special cargo "Near the end of the war, the U-234* was sent to Japan carrying new military technology, periscopes and some A-bomb parts, but it was captured in mid-Atlantic by the Americans. There were two Japanese colonels on board, but they committed suicide rather than be taken prisoner."
When the U-534 was sunk, Brinkmann was in Flensburg, Germany, training to become a U-Boat captain. "If the war had continued, I'd have gotten my own boat - good thing it didn't!" Admiral Donitz,who had been commander of the U-Boat service was also there, and on May the Sixth, Brinkmann witnessed Donitz leaving the Sportshalle in Flensburg with other German officer under British guard after he had signed Germany's unconditional surrender to the Allies, marking the end of World War II.
The U-Boat service had the highest casualty rate of all German wartime forces - 72.8% of their crews did not survive the war.
