Images of War: U-108 at War

Title: U-108 at War
Author: Alistair Smith
Publisher: Pen and Sword Books
ISBN: 978-1-84884-667-8

The regular releases in this Images of war series has proved it to be a very popular format. This one is just a little bit more unusual because it is made up from the contents of an individual U-boat crewman's photo album.  The owner, Willi Wilke served in U-108, which was a Type IXB boat, between 1940 and September 1942.  Strangely though, until recently, Willi was not known to have been a member of this crew!  His photos capture a number of crew during this time who later went on to find a reputation as commanders of their own U-boats.  U-108 itself had a successful career, credited with sinking some 119,000 tons of Allied shipping.  It was finally sunk at Stettin in 1944, and though salvaged, never went back into service before being finally scuttled in 1945.
 
The photos show portraits of other crew members, as well as Willi himself, but thhey also give such a fascinating picture of the life of a U-Boat crew as well.  Some of the photos mare a bit shaky compared to others, but taken at sea in the confines of a submarine, they are fascinating.  Cramped conditions inside, the tieck while running on the surface. to the dangers of heavy ice build-up on the deck gun.  even in port the ice still made things difficult.  There is at least one photos which is captioned as a crew member 'sun bathing' though I think he may be on deck for another reason.  Even the traditional celebrations for those crew members who cross the Equator for the first on film.
 
There are also shots of their victims sinking, and lifeboats carrying the crew survivors passing close to the U-Boat, which reminds us about the deadly game these submarines played in the shipping lanes.  So many U-boat crews lost their lives as well, and indeed there is no indication of what happened to the original owner, Willi Wilke, in the end.

An interesting selection of photos, even more so for being a chronicle kept in one person's own photo album.

All in all another good value for money photo reference in the Images of War series. Price in the UK is £12.99.

 
For details of this and other books by Pen and Sword, do check their website.