PETER HANSEN (251-1987) spent some time working for the ABWEHR during World War II, and he has information for us that is known to a mere handful of people in the world. Here he tells us:

"Regarding the LAUGHING COW symbol; yes it was copied from the French cheese outfit. You can read the details and reasons in the book 'THE LAUGHING COW' by Jobst Metzler, which I gave to the SHARKHUNTERS LIBRARY, and it is in English too. This will answer all your questions on this subject, I should think!

Regarding U-77, Heinrich Schonder, one of the finest captains around, former HSO officer who had sailed both on sailingships as well as merchant steamers and travelled all over the world. One of his slogans was - there are three kinds of people; good folks, bad eggs, and men who sail the seven seas! Hein Schonder was enormously popular with his officers and crews. It so happens that I was slated to report to him on U-200 shortly before it sailed for its short initial war patrol and I would have been happy and proud to do so, but, again, I was 'pulled' off to my chagrin and replaced in the last minute.

Now you state that U-200 had embarked a group of the BRANDENBURG DIVISION under the leadership of Lt zS dR Brueggemann. However, their ABWEHR designated task was not to train and instruct the FREE INDIAN forces that had been developed for and by Subhas Chandras Bose because Donitz was opposed to the entire idea. ABWEHR Berlin, Colonel Lahousen in sabotage, compromised and scratched that initial idea and trial balloon. The Brueggemann group of six was to be landed in South Africa instead, where previously a sailing yacht had dropped off Bobby Leibrand, the boxer, who was supposed to start unrest among the Boers and their anti-British organizations. This does not work out too well and Leibrand was caught by the police under British supervision.

Then the BRANDENBURG troop was to be landed in the former German colony of EastAfrica, today the Tanzania and Kenya area largely, to resurrect the old black ASKARIS from Lettow-Vorbecks troops in the First World War. But this was opposed by people with more sense for reality and South Africa became the target. Donitz made a deal, on his insistence the BRANDENBURGERS were to be landed near Durban with the object to damage and if possible destroy the dockyard there, the main base for British and South African warships operating in the southern part of the Indian Ocean and off EastAfrica also.

(HARRY'S NOTE - our SHARKHUNTERS group that traveled to South Africa in 1990 were at that very dock.)

The reasoning of Donitz was - considering that the U-Boat arm was involved and ordered to be tied in with this operation, as a tit for tat, ought to at least get some benefits from it too, and Durban was the place that hurt the U-Boats severely. The Brueggemann group was supposed to then start sabotage elsewhere and fortify as well as train the LEIBRAND volunteers, the majority of whom largely existed on paper or were figments of Bobby's imagination. He had lost touch with developments in South Africa during the time he was in Europe as a boxer, student and general drifter. Hein Schonder had also been captain of U-9 at one time, like so many fellows.

(Regarding the change of officers on U-234 prior to her departure to the USA) HEIN FEHLER (32-+-1984) caught his I.W.O., a reserve Oberleutnant, screwing a sailor and arrested him on the spot, dragging him to the Commandship of Admiral von Friedeburg in Kiel and the U-Boat Command Personnel Office.

I happened to be in that office accidentally and the Senior Personnel Officer (P-1) Korvettenkapitan Harald Jeppener-Hantenhoff took charge of the arrested chap and agreed that Karl Bulla, who was both a naval officer as well as a qualified pilot who had flown the aircraft aboard SHIP 16 ATLANTIS whilst HEIN FEHLER was Demolition Officer aboard, should become the new I.W.O. rather than travelling only as a special technical guest, as there was no time to dig up another qualified man for the job.

Three days later, this 'arrested' fellow was out again and handled the embarkation of ships for the Eastern Baltic and the off-loading of arriving refugees, because the KRIEGSMARINE was so desperately short of qualified subaltern officers, though overloaded with overage captains & admirals! The L.I. of U-234 was however Horst Ernst, GUNTHER PAGENSTECHER (33-1984) was W.I. or Second Engineer only, KARL ERNST PFAFF (157-1985) was the II.W.O. and loading officer.

The medico was Dr. Walters. DR. SCHLICKE (1820-1991) was not a medical man, he was a diplom engineer who had a doctoral (technical) in Europe. SCHLICKE was in LUFTWAFFE uniform, but was actually a high-frequency and radar specialist, who was immediately grabbed by the Americans after surrender and employed for many years in technical/civilian contract positions in the USA.

(HARRY'S NOTE - SCHLICKE was one of the scientists grabbed up in OPERATION PAPERCLIP)

General Ulrich Kessler was supposed to be LUFTWAFFE attache in Tokyo. He was a regular LUFTWAFFE Commander before being put aboard U-234. There was also a Navy Captain G. Falck, a ship construction & building specialist. LUFTWAFFE Oblt Menzel, an aircraft torpedo specialist, civilian aircraft and jet engine construction engineers/specialists Bringewald and Ruf. Most of these technical specialists were grabbed and kept in the USA and turned into contract civilians quickly.

The two Japanese officers aboard were Navy Captain Hideo Tomonaga and Army Colonel M. Shosi, another aircraft construction specialist and production planner.

The name of the canned I.W.O. was Alfred Klingenberg. By the way, the only flamboyant case of a faggot that I did know of in the KM. There may have been other hidden ones in the closet, but I never noticed them.....perhaps I was too dumb.