10 YEARS AGO in our KTB

In KTB #12 we announced that an article of ours seems to have been "pirated" in the Australasian POST. JAK MALLMANN SHOWELL (73-1984) had discovered that the AdmiralStab (Admiral's Baton) of GrossAdmiral Donitz had been removed from the Shropshire Light Infantry Museum and placed in a bank vault. JAK also reported that a friend of his had found U-40 off the British coast. We reported the death of Adalbert Schnee, the "SNOWMAN" who was I.W.O. on U-23 under OTTO KRETSCHMER (122-LIFE-1985) and later was Skipper of U-60, U-202 and U-2511. He was only 69 when he died in 1983.

KTB #12 was only four pages in length, and would require about one page of our computer typeset KTB Magazine of today. That means we are getting 32 times more information at a fraction of the cost. In 1984, annual dues were $25, the magazine was a tiny fraction of what it is today, and was published every other month. How times change.....

5 YEARS AGO in our KTB

In KTB #58, we announced that the Revel Model Company was selling what they showed as a model of U-505, but once the box was opened - you had a TYPE VII-B, not a TYPE IX-C as it should have been. We also reported a guy who was trying to sell what he said were the binoculars of OSTMR ERICH TOPP (118-LIFE-1985), which were captured with U-552 by a US NAVY destroyer etc. etc. If you know this history at all, you can spot any number of errors in this guy's claims. We reported that a young diver had lost his life diving the wreck of U-853 off Block Island. We reported that we were forced to expel Member Earl Cousins; the reasons were given. We learned that Heinrich Liebe, Skipper of U-38 was alive and living in the DDR. When we contacted him, he became HEINRICH LIEBE (1679-1990). From OBLT HANS-GEORG HESS (125-LIFE-1985), we learned that a U-Boat, with its small silhouette on a moonless night could get to within 100 meters of an intended victim. HESS also said that the men normally did not carry their soldbuchs with them on patrol. We reported that the MOST SUCCESSFUL submarine ever in history was U-35 of W W I with a total of 224 ships (535,900 GRT)! Our MUSEUM APPRECIATION FUND was started with the idea and donations from Canadians PHILLIP and ARNOLD ATTENBOROUGH (440 and 461-1988). There was more shame and disgrace on the way USS REQUIN was treated in Tampa and we remembered the comment made by the Mayor's guy that "..this 'thing' would soon be turned into razor blades". An inspection team made up of HARRY COOPER (1-LIFE- 1983), ED OWENS (640-1988), CDR BILL PEDDICORD (664-1988) and CAPTAIN BOB O'NEILL (904-1989) found 2 empty whiskey bottles and a six-pack of beer in the C.O.s cabin (which the Boy Scout leader used as his room) and we found an American Flag balled up and lying on the deck in the after torpedoroom like an old rag! We also reported that the Boy Scout leader was soon arrested for molesting his Scouts on board - all this fuss helped get the US NAVY to take REQUIN away from Mayor Sandy and her pitiful group, and give it over to a group in Pittsburgh where the sub is in great shape and is open to tourists by the millions. The 16 page KTB #58 would require only 4 pages of the computer-set KTB of today - but the Membership dues were the same as they are today.