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Originally Posted by mookiemookie
Iron Coffins has long been known to be full of inaccuracies. Werner most likely knowingly made up many of his anecdotes. I was with you up until this statement though:
Quote:
Originally Posted by RoaldLarsen
Therefore I would suggest that it would be unwise to rely on this book as providing any useful insight into life on u-boats or of the times.
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I disagree. Though many of the events have been made up, one indisputable fact is that Werner did serve as the captain of a U-boat. While I would say read Iron Coffins as a fictional novel written by someone with firsthand knowledge of the subject matter, I wouldn't go far as to say he offers no insight on what it was like on a U-boat. |
And I didn't go so far as to say he offers no insight on what it was like on a u-boat. I said it would be unwise to rely on the book as providing useful insight.
Yes, Werner had experience in u-boats, as a junior officer, and executive officer and a commanding officer. Undoubtedly he had insights. Probably at least some of these are written in the book. But which ones are they? Which ones are useful information and which are self-serving B.S.? When you read the book and come across what you think is a gem, how can you tell if it is genuine?
By his own admission, Werner had an agenda: "If I have succeeded in handing down to the reader the ancient lesson that every generation seems to forget - that war is evil, that it murders men - then I consider this my most constructive deed." This book was published in the USA in 1969. Remember the context.
As I understand it, other surviving u-boat captains have little time for Werner or his book, because it does not represent the war as they knew it.
Because of his experience, Werner undoubtedly has much he could tell us. Because of his lies, we will never know which part of what he has told us is the truth, except that which is supported by other sources. Hence, we don't rely on Werner, we rely on the other sources.