Kriegsmarine: They Met Again: 1
Kriegsmarine: They Met Again: 2

It must have been about eight o'clock in the morning when I first saw a cloud of black smoke on the otherwise clear horizon. At what seemed to take forever, the smoke and the ship that was making it came closer to where I was. When she was still a good distance away, I could see that she was picking up survivors, moving ever so slowly.

For hours I watched the ship move, sometimes changing directions, but in the overall moving toward where I was, picking up survivors as she proceeded.

At what I estimate was about eleven O'Clock, the ship was about fifty to one hundred yards away. Mustering what little physical strength I had left, I tried to swim towards her. When I reached her, I grabbed one of the Jacob's ladders, but I was unable to pull myself up. I fell back into the water.

Then suddenly, there was a sailor from the ship by my side in the water. A line, tied around his chest, was being held by a couple of sailors in the ship's deck. He tied a second line around me, and the sailors hoisted me on board like a wet bag. On deck and unable to stand on my feet, I collapsed. I remember that they carried me to where there were other survivors, wrapped me into a blanket and gave me some broth to drink. The next thing I remember is when the ship, I don't know how many hours later, docked in Salonika. When I came to, Herbert Schuett was by my side. I was glad that he too was one of the survivors.

It took Herbert and me almost three months to reach Germany. In Salonika we had been given Army uniforms to wear instead of our Navy Khaki. As winter was approaching and we were headed for northern climates, we would have frozen to death in our khaki stuff.

I was in Northern Germany undergoing special training with the K-Verband, a special forces Naval unit, when the surrender came. As a prisoner of war I was, for a short time, assigned to a Royal Marines unit then stationed in Kiel. On 8 September 1945, I was back in my home town. My parents, my sister and I were among the fortunate who had survived the war. Although the Allies had declared it illegal for former German military personnel to have contact with their comrades, Herbert and I corresponded and even exchanged visits. We stayed in touch until Herbert died about ten years ago.

In 1956, my family and I emigrated to the United States. Was it coincidence or because we were on the same 'wavelength' many of the friends I made were former U.S. Navy. Most of them had fought in the Pacific, and some had been survivors of ship sinkings.

What had been in the back of my mind ever since that fateful October night in 1944, became a desire to find out more, not only about the sinking of the BERTA, but also about the sailor who saved my life and, if it could be done, about the submarine that fired the torpedo. Living in the United States, I was not able to draw from books and other sources of information which were readily available in Germany where, in the meantime, the ban on veterans organizations had been lifted.

I knew that most of the German Naval logs and other documents had been confiscated by the Allies following the German capitulation in May of 1945, and I started my search for information by writing a letter to the Naval Attache at the British Embassy in Washington. My inquiry was forwarded to the correct place and within a few weeks, I received an envelope which contained copies of war log pages describing the sinking of the two ships as seen from the German side plus a detailed description of the attacks as they had been reported by the commanders of the two submarines.

Now I had something to go on and my next step was to place a notice in the German Navy Magazine in an attempt to find former crew members of U-Jager (submarine hunter) 2102. I received one response, it came from Harry Kraus, the former Quartermaster of U-J 2102. In his letter were copies of the pages of his war recollections in which he describes the rescue of the BERTA survivors. As it turned out, Harry was the man who had tied the rope around me so that I could be hauled on board of the sub hunter. I also learned from Harry that, a few weeks later, U-J 2102 was bombed and sunk, inflicting heavy casualties to her company.

Harry & I corresponded and we phoned each other a couple of times. My mind was made up - on my next trip to Germany, I wanted to visit him and thank him for saving my life, something that was long overdue.

On a Sunday in May of 1990, we had a very emotional reunion. Harry ended up in Bavaria where he married a local girl and after hard work, he and his wife own an import business and two retail stores.

Two years later, in May of 1992, I went back for another visit and maybe, if Harry can tear himself loose from his business, he may come and visit me here in Florida.

The next phase of my search was to find out whether there still were former crewmembers of HMS UNSWERVING. Through a friend I was able to place an ad in the British Naval magazine and again, there was one response. It came from Sid James, the submarine's former hydroplane operator. Sid and I exchanged letters. We wrote about our respective navy careers, what we had done in civilian life, our families and whatever topic came to mind. In one of his letters Sid enclosed a photograph of HMS UNSWERVING.

Sid's letters struck me as something very special. They came from a man who remembers with pride, his services in the ROYAL NAVY, his country's Senior Service. Pride - but no pathos and no arrogance. Through our correspondence we discovered similarities in our lives and that, in many ways, we are thinking along similar lines. It did not take long for me to realize that corresponding with Sid was not enough. I wanted to meet him face to face.

I took the train from Germany and the ferry to England and again, on the train. Our very emotional reunion at that small railway station was the beginning of an even more emotional visit. To me it was as though I had known Sid & his wife Kathleen for a long time. We talked, we looked at pictures, we did some sightseeing and visited castles. His wife even cooked some English dishes especially for me. We also visited Bill Prytherch, the torpedoman from HMS UNSWERVING. Again, there was no lack of conversation topics including some more intimate stories about life in a submarine.

I wished that I could have stayed longer, but I had to return to the States. It is a consolation that Sid, Kathleen, their son and his wife are planning a trip to Florida for later this year. I hope that my wife Erika and I will have the opportunity to have them here for a couple days sightseeing in this nation's oldest city.

HARRY'S NOTE - ALBERT was a veteran of the KRIEGSMARINE during W W II, but when he came to the USA, he became a Lt. Commander in the US NAVY SEA CADET Program. It is a sad thing to note, but Sid James and his family were not able to meet Erika Nuesser as she died soon after AL returned from his overseas visit. And Harry Kraus never got to visit AL NUESSER in the USA either as, soon after the death of Erika, AL came down with a sudden case of bone cancer. AL moved from the sunshine of Florida to his son's home in a suburb of Chicago, where he soon died.

AL NUESSER was a strong Member of SHARKHUNTERS and he was a friend. He knew what is meant by 'YESTERDAY'S ENEMIES ARE TODAY'S FRIENDS'.

Kriegsmarine: They Met Again: 1
Kriegsmarine: They Met Again: 2
Kriegsmarine: They Met Again: 3