Capt Walker RN
 

If you want to learn/read the 'master class' of anti U Boat operations, then either read Walker RN (now out of print) or read my many pages on this hero of WW2. He never found a U boat and didnt kill it.

www.captainwalker.uk (there may be some anomolies on this site, its never been 'right', missing images etc. I blame MS.

some US sites claim the honour of forming the first 'hunter/killer' groups. Rubbish. Walker did it. Walker RN, the book, is included in this web site. Took me weeks to scan each page.

That's why I was hoping to see a game with British/Commonwealth antisubmarine operations.....although I am still excited about this game.

I admit I'm biased; my parents grew up in the British Empire's colonies. But the fact is, the RN & RCN really did shoulder much of the antisub burden before the USA declared war. I like to think of myself as an American who's strongly appreciative of the UK's role in defeating Hitler.

Thus I'd much prefer an H Class destroyer or even a Flower Class to a Fletcher. Ah well, I can dream! Maybe in a mod.

Convoy HG-76 Frederic John Walker and Walkers Exploits (A very good watch)


When a Uboat attacks a convoy all the escorts do the same thing at the same time to have maximum effect around the convoy on a planed line
as the war progressed and convoys had more escorts around the convoy walker invented the creeping attack with upto four escorts line abrest dropping dcs like a creeping artilery barage on the uboat then leaving two escorts in that area waiting for the uboat to surface to recharge batteries and replace the air in the Uboat .



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVeX2JzWJWo


The World at War (Wolfpacks)
with Convoy HG-76 and John Walkers tactics on attacking Uboats (25 minuets in)

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x68qud0

Thanks for sharing. Always found it quite sad that Walker passed away, not in action, but basically from the stress of operations.

I had a huge fight with Wikipedia over his entry in there. Someone had written th article and included naming his as a war criminal because 'he left german prisoners in the water'. Its a long story, but he NEVER did. A complete fabrication. HE even buried dead germans at sea with full military honours. When a guard accidently discharged a psitol wounding a prisoner, he had a full enquiry, had the doc fix up the prisoner, and submitted a full report to the Red Cross. He was a perfect gent.

I won the fight when I was talking to a bloke who was a Wiki editor, explaining the travesty. He agreed with me and had it deleted. Since then I have become a wiki editor myself. but never really have to do much.

I know Walkers grandson, a retired RN Captain, he was furious when I told him about wiki article.

Good on you for correcting that. What an absolute load of garbage; it is common knowledge that no naval forces were EVER obligated to pick up survivors. Rescuing survivors was done on a case by case basis, if it was safe. (Consider what happened to Cressy & Hogue in WWI when they tried to rescue HMS Aboukir's crew).

When the Germans sank the carrier "Glorious" they didn't rescue survivors because they needed to leave the area ASAP.

Same thing with the British when "Bismarck" was sunk; as we all know "Dorsetshire" had to leave most of the Germans behind because a submarine was apparently nearby.

This was even done when a friendly ship was sunk; off the top of my head I remember that when USS "Preston" and "Walke" were sunk, the battleship USS "Washington" left the American survivors behind. Harsh but logical. Stopping a battleship with over 1,000 men on board to rescue a couple hundred men (as torpedoes are whizzing through the water) would be sheer madness.

At the war crimes tribunals after WWII the Allies rightly conceded that U-Boats not assisting survivors did NOT constitute an atrocity - after all, Allied subs did the same thing. Thus, even assuming Walker did not rescue every U-Boat crew he sank, it's in no way comparable to an atrocity like sinking lifeboats, machine gunning men in the water, etc.

Walker rescused all sailors who were ON the surface, obviously if a U boat was sunk with charges, no chance.

The Bismarck had signalled for a U boat to come and collect her logbooks etc. When the signal was intercepted, I think by Bletchley Park, they relayed this to the Admiralty who told the KGV who ordered all ships to immediately leave the area.

hoever, I do recall recading about Erich Topp, U boat Commander. He sirfaced, told a crew to leave their ship, and then sank it. It was dark by this time and a voice was heard from the darkness asking if they needed any water, food etc and gave them a direction to row. The lifeboats suspected treachery kept quiet. As the U boat sailed away they heard laughter from the sub.

Yes; there was unfortunately a lot of propaganda about U-Boats machine gunning anyone they caught - wild stories were told to Allied cargo ship crews, making them suspicious. Granted, sometimes Allied crewmen were killed by gunfire during fights with U-Boats, but aside from the sinking of SS "Peleus" I have not heard of U-Boats shooting near survivors after a ship had sunk. And of course the Commander responsible for the "Peleus" incident was executed.

Likewise there are various pro-Nazi partisans who accuse the Allies of war crimes while minimizing whatever Germany did - I suspect the Wikipedia writer who called Johnnie Walker a war criminal may have been a "wehraboo" - a German military fanboy who uncritically admires the Third Reich's military/politics. Often, these revisionists promote various myths:

-Hitler knew nothing about mistreatment of the Jews
-Jewish bankers provoked Nazi Germany
-America and Britain committed genocide against Germans in WWII
-The SS was "just an anti-Communist organization"

...and so on.

TIK on youtube (a popular online military Historian) has some good commentary on the wehraboo subculture..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63yv9w-6_3U&t=3208s

I suppose we can all agree that, although most U-Boat men fought fairly, and even helped survivors, they were fighting in support of an evil cause and that we should feel grateful that the Allied nations - for all their faults - won the war.

In any event I am glad that Wikipedia ruled in your favor. :up:

Jewish banker has actually a grain of truth in it. When Germany surrendered at the end of WW1, Rothchilds, who had financed the Allies to a great degree wanted payback. I dont know all the details but the end result was they raped germany of everything of value, banks etc. This caused a deep hatred and resentment from the man on the street. Economically Germany was a wasteland and, as usual, it was joe public who suffered.

This allowed the rise of the National Socialist Party and fed their hunger for a change, a better life. Josef Goebels, a vehement anti semetic, fueled Hitlers hate until it became what we all know. And which many people, epsecially under 30s, deny as fake news.

If the victors had helped Germany get back on its feet, its quite possible that the Nazi party would not have existed. But the Allies had their own problems too and turned their back on the losers.

sorry about my typing in my previous reply, I tend to go too fast for my brain.