Quote:
|
Originally Posted by _Seth_
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Phil
did the men know that when they went out that they probably werent coming back especially in 44 and 45
|
Yes, probably... The kriegsmarine enrolled very young men in those days, with insufficent training due to the heavy losses of personell in the Atlantic. These were "ready" to die for their fatherland, and become "heroes". Even Admiral Dönitz, who lost both of his sons in WWII, understood the reality in late 44-45.. |
Admiral Donitz indeed understood the reality in 1944-45 and that the u-boat in its current form was obsolete and unable to make a difference to the outcome of WWII. Even though Donitz was not found guilty of war crimes at Nuremberg because he had conducted the war at sea appropriately (Chester Nimitz was called as witness for the defence to say that Donitz had conducted the u-boat war along similar lines to the US submarine war in the Pacific), it could be argued that he needlessly sent thousands of u-boat crewmen to their deaths. Not a war crime in itself, but perhaps something that needs to be taken into account when assessing Donitz.
With regard to the Kriegsmarine enlisting young men in 44-45, I'm not sure this was actually the case (read the Clay Blair books), however, no matter what age and the amount of training the crew received, allied ASW was so effective at this time it probably wouldn't have made much difference.
Nemo