Now we get a message fron U-862.
It was intended for BDU but Victor can still receive it.
And he calls me straight to his cabin. Christian and Willi are not far behind.
"U-862, Sir. That's Sigmund's boat. They have come across a rubber dinghy. One of ours! Four survivors from U-344"
Who are they, what are their names, Mensch?"
Victor bends to his morse key again. And listens patiently, shushing his officers away, as he scrawls with his pencil.
"Georg Muller, Heinrich Rotenblum, Pieter Weiss, and Sven Schoenstein.
He listens in again.
"That's all , Sir. Ariel in U-862 is making another sweep. but it doesn't look like there's much more hope."
Four survived out of 51, but Christian and Willi are cock a hoop. Against all the odds, their mates made it this time.
I don't even want to think about that last desperate scramble up onto the bridge, with the screams of terror going on behind, or the loss of shipmates as they one-by-one slip away in cold exhaustion back into the sea,
Reuben knows this better than anyone. He has been there, and now he just sits quietly, playing with his thumbs.
"Good work from Siggy!" I announce brightly.
Come on every one, let's help him out and get back on station....
LS
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