USCGC Ingham and U-626

‘BUD’ VEATH (1711-1990) is a very busy guy with the USCGC INGHAM Foundation, helping preserve this great old lady of the convoy escort days. Recently, he wrote:

“While reading my books I ran across an odd fact. The Captain of U-626 that INGHAM sank was Hans Botha Bade; and in 1974 -76, the INGHAM had as Captain, P. F. Bade. I often wonder if they could have been related.”

HARRY’S NOTE - can anyone shed any light on this?

Yesterday’s Enemies - Today’s Friends

KEN HENRY (1468-1990) sent us a humorous note:

“At the US Sub Vets meeting on Memorial Day, one of our younger sailors was sincerely thanking the WW II members for their sacrifices during the war. He was kind of emotional and the moment was ‘getting heavy’ when the guy sitting next to him said; ‘Don’t tank me.’

Puzzled, the man asked; ‘What do you mean, don’t thank you?’

‘I vas shooting AT you’, came the reply from GERHARD RICHTER (214-1986) who rode U-81 in the Kriegsmarine.

Now the guy didn’t know what to say. From across the room, one of our USN WW II veterans hollered; ‘Well Gerry, thanks for missing.’

We all had a good laugh and the meeting continued - a great example of ‘Yesterday’s Enemies - Today’s Friends.’

Singapore’s Submarine Navy?

It has been reported in SEA POWER that Singapore has purchased a used Swedish Navy submarine, the SJOORMEN. This has caused speculation as to what happened to the negotiations and the deal they supposedly had pending with the German Government to purchase surplus 206 Class submarine from the German Navy, with as many as four more units to be upgraded and sold.

What is EUROMARFOR?

Again according to SEA POWER - France, Italy, Portugal and Spain have formed a new European Naval Force, known as EUROMARFOR - short for European Marine Force. It is based at Rota, Spain and will be a flexible force, consisting from a few ships to a full carrier group. Command will rotate among the four participating countries, but they welcome any other nations to join in for exercises and operations.

Missing Loot - Found?

According to an ‘Intel Update’ just received from CHARLES EVERETT (2187-1992), two Texans were indicted for crimes. It was reported in the Washington JOURNAL that a Federal Grand Jury indicted two relatives of a former U.S. Army officer suspected of pilfering millions of dollars in treasures from a German cathedral during World War II.

Prosecutors allege the two knew that the manuscripts - the ‘Samuhel Gospel’, a 9th Century medieval manuscript written entirely in gold, and the ‘Evangelistar aus St. Wipertl’, a 16th Century prayer book - - had been stolen from the Quelinburg Cathedral during the war.

The jury also indicted a Houston attorney who allegedly negotiated the sale of the ‘Samuhel Gospel’ for three million dollars to a Bavarian book dealer.

Both manuscripts, part of a cache taken from the church treasury, were returned in 1990 to the Cathedral of the Lutheran Church in Quelinburg in eastern Germany. If convicted, the three could possibly be sent to prison for up to 15 years and fined up to half a million dollars each.

Was Bormann Kidnapped?

Again from EVERETT and the Washington JOURNAL, we read that a soon to be released book is getting a lot of interest in England. The publishing house of Simon & Schuster has paid out something like $800,000 for the manuscript which claims that it was none other than Winston Churchill who ordered Bormann grabbed and brought to England in 1945. According to the author, Christopher Creighton, son of Churchill’s personal doctor, Churchill ordered Bormann kidnapped and brought to England because he believed Bormann knew where to locate all the secret gold and treasures.

Well, this book is partially correct - Martin Bormann and his brother Albert, had all the account numbers to the secret hidden bank accounts with huge amounts of money stashed away. They also knew where a lot was buried in Europe as well as smuggled to South America. However, if the author really believes that Martin Bormann lived out his days in Merry England, he is in for a let-down. The same can be said for those who believe that Bormann died on a TIGER tank in Berlin in 1945. We have amassed a pile of documentation that is already 10 inches high and growing weekly that shows convincingly that Bormann certainly did not die in 1945 in Berlin; and not in England either.

The news article however, does state “It is publicly known that Bormann’s body was never found.”