Story: "Der Spanier"

[Schöneboom]

Moin, Alle,

I felt like a little literary exercise, using both my patrols and historical research as inspiration. This is just a taste, like a movie trailer (I used to write screenplays). Who knows where it's going -- hope you enjoy the ride. The views expressed are not necessarily those of the author.

All of Schöneboom's postings in this thread are Copyright © 2007 by Wayne K. Mathias. All rights reserved.

* * * * *

October 1939: After a successful first convoy attack, U-53 makes a brief detour to El Ferrol, Spain, for "repairs".

* * * * *

My 1WO Lt. Hesse looked surprised at the lively crowd of Spaniards filling the smoky tavern. "Mensch, it's almost 2 AM. Don't they have to work in the morning?" he asked.

"Of course, but they have the siesta to help them recover," I answered while refilling his glass with rioja. "A very sensible tradition, especially when it's hot."

"I was hoping to see flamenco dancers," said L.I. Grosz.

"This is Galicia, L.I. For real flamenco, you have to go south. Cadiz, for example."

"A little too close to Gibraltar for me!" he replied with a nervous laugh.

"Herr Kaleun," said Lt. Lemper, my 2WO. "You've never told us about your stint in Spain..."

"Na, there's not much to tell, really. Two years ago, I helped enforce the Non-Intervention Committee's blockade. Near the northern ports, mainly. The Italians covered the Mediterranean ones. Basically we would stop the ships and check their papers. They never argued with us when we made them turn back."

"But you must've gotten some torpedo practice at least," said Hesse.

"Ja doch! Day and night. They never knew we were practicing on them, of course." I took a swig of the rioja and searched my memories. "We had a few close calls, though... One night we stopped a French tramp steamer heading for Bilbao, and I thought I saw men with machine-guns on board. We instantly trained every gun we had on the ship -- and on the men they sent over to deliver the papers. Mensch, it was tense for a while!"

"Smugglers, eh?"

I nodded. "Communists, too, no doubt. I wish we'd torpedoed them. But rules are rules."

Lemper glanced just over my shoulder, probably at a Spanish woman, knowing him. "Do you think Spain will enter the war on our side?" he asked.

"I doubt it. They'll need years to recover from the civil war. Did you know what happened to their gold reserves?" They shook their heads.

"The verdammte Reds sent all of Spain's gold to Russia." Their eyes widened. "Stalin will never return it, of course. So Franco has to rebuild the country and pay off his war debts, starting from nada."

"Scheisse," muttered Grosz. "Looks like we won't have any U-boot bases here anytime soon. Would've been nice."

"There's another thing," I said. "Franco still has opposition. Underground, naturlich. But it only takes one person to tip off the British consulate. That's why we have to leave in the morning."

My officers cast furtive glances around the room. "Easy, men," I said. "I didn't bring you here to get paranoid."

Lemper grinned impishly. "Herr Kaleun, perhaps you know a good etablissement where a man can relax, if you get my drift."

"Thought you'd never ask! Madame Rosa's. Very classy. Hot showers and ice-cold cava. It's an easy walk from here, even for a drunken sailor."

[Brag]

Good start!

There are lots of U-boat story possibilities besides bang them with topedoes.

[Hitman]

Nice start of the story, and you seem to know more about Spain than the average foreigner (Not to mention the average north american ).

The views expressed are not necessarily those of the author.

I hope so, as I would of course have chosen a wine from the "Duero" region instead of Rioja if I wanted a really good red one. There are very good Riojas, but the average ones are more widely known thanks to marketing than to real quality -Dueros are better for my taste-. But of course what else could one expect from a german tourist?

In any case, the famous -rightfully- local wine in Galizien is Ribeiro, a kind of white, dry wine that really fits like heaven with fish and shrimp

[Schöneboom]

Danke, I'm grateful for the feedback. Glad to hear from you, Hitman. I visited Spain several years ago: Madrid, Sevilla, Barcelona -- marvelous country! Such variety of culture and landscape! No wonder the Roman generals retired there (y ahora los ingleses!)

Btw, I wrote two movie scripts about Americans involved in La Guerra Civil. Both won writing awards but did not sell -- I learned the hard way, Hollywood is the wrong place for writers who care about history!

[Kaleu. Jochen Mohr]

verry nice... wish i could write storry's aswell
:hmm: if only someone could help

[IrischKapitan]

Nice Start, looking foward to the rest of it already

[Hitman]

Danke, I'm grateful for the feedback. Glad to hear from you, Hitman. I visited Spain several years ago: Madrid, Sevilla, Barcelona -- marvelous country! Such variety of culture and landscape! No wonder the Roman generals retired there (y ahora los ingleses!)

Ahh so you have been here and also visited all those cities You beat me to that, I have visited nearly all EU but never been in the USA -which I would like to do some day, when my childs grow-. Spain is an interesting country and it would be even better if we could find a way to stop disputing among ourselves

Btw, I wrote two movie scripts about Americans involved in La Guerra Civil. Both won writing awards but did not sell -- I learned the hard way, Hollywood is the wrong place for writers who care about history!

That's interesting but I guess our civil war is a problematic stuff for Hollywood...because if you put your characters with the Fascists you are playing a "wrong" side, and placing them with the Republicans means being pro-soviet to the wide public, something not much appreciated in the US AFAIK.

It was the most terrible war, brother against brother and unfortunately it is still close in some people's minds here. Lost of "revisionists" lately, I'm afraid :hmm: and while I understand their POW, the younger generations like mine want mainly to put that all in the past once and for all

[Schöneboom]

Muchas gracias, Hitman,

I understand your point of view completely. If there are lessons to be learned from war, La Guerra Civil is an especially complex lesson! That's why real history is a hard sell in Hollywood -- in real life, one cannot so easily divide people into "good guys" & "bad guys". Well, onward to the next chapter...

[Schöneboom]

From the private Tagebuch of Kptlt. Ullmann, 25.12.39

Time flies by; memories pile up quickly. It seems like only yesterday that I bid farewell to Hesse and Grosz. When they finally complete their commander training, will the war be over? For all our sakes, I can only hope so.

Lt. Kuppert, our former navigator, has surpassed my expectations as the new L.I.; with any luck, BdU won't steal him, too -- at least not right away. Lt. Lemper has also proven himself a very capable 1WO; he bears his responsibilities with an easy smile, and he gets results. Our new 2WO, Lt. Arendt, is on his first patrol, and he's hungry for action. However the seas are too rough to use the deck gun (his specialty). Our other new officer, Oberfähnrich Voigt, has Kuppert's old job, doing navigation and the third watch. He's just a boy, fresh out of the Academy.

Ever since our visit to El Ferrol, the crew has taken to calling me "Der Spanier". To me it's funny; I could never pass for a Spaniard -- but it's better than being called "Der Alte."

* * * * *

Our Christmas decorations were humble: a tiny Tannenbaum, boughs of holly -- and inevitably, a few smelly socks hung by the bunks. Dinner was as good as it gets on a U-boot; Gerhard, our Smutje, baked delicious Stollen cakes for the entire crew. Though BdU might have excused us for having a drink on this day, we had to shadow a convoy, and that job required us to stay sharp. I promised the men we'd make up for it later.

After dinner, Lemper noticed my expression. "Is something wrong, Herr Kaleun?" he asked. "Don't you like your present?"

We glanced over at the tiny porcelain penguin, safe in its padded box, sitting on my desk.

"Doch, it's perfect," I replied. "I'm just thinking about that convoy. If it were up to me, I'd let these Tommies go."

"Na, I'm glad we didn't attack last night," said Kuppert. "I couldn't live with myself."

"Still, waiting one day isn't much better, is it?" I said. "But maybe we can show some mercy this time, so they don't think we're totally barbaric."

"What would that mean exactly, Herr Kaleun?" asked Lemper. "Following the Prize Regulations with an escorted convoy is impossible, as you know."

"Ja, but let me give an example: tonight, if we damage a Frachter and it's dead in the water, we won't fire a Fangschuss. But we'll torpedo the ones that are still moving."

Lemper & Kuppert exchanged a thoughtful look. "Well, that's something at least," Lemper commented. "Better to be stuck on a floating wreck than in a lifeboat."

I sighed. "If you ask me, I'd say we're fighting the wrong enemy. I still can't believe we're at war with Britain and have a non-aggression pact with the verflüchte Soviets."

Kuppert spoke up. "The pact won't last, Herr Kaleun. It's just stalling for time. One day we'll clobber those Russkies, you'll see."

"While we're still at war with Britain?" I retorted. "That would be wahnsinnig!"

"The Tommies will have to quit eventually," said Lemper. "Isn't that the point of our strategy? To make it too costly for them to continue?"

"Trouble is, governments are rarely as sensible as individuals," I said. "Once they commit to war, they can't just quit, even if they're losing."

Exasperated, Kuppert said, "I can't fathom these Tommies. Why do they take a stand now?! Why for Poland? Why not earlier?"

"The big brains in Berlin are probably asking themselves that, too," I said. "Tscha... there's nothing for it."

Taking a deep breath, I picked up an intercom mike to address the crew:

"Na, Männer... I hope you ate plenty of Gerhard's Stollen. It's going to be a busy night.

I know we'd all rather be home with our loved ones right now... We didn't choose this war, but here we are... With a British convoy 4000 meters off our port bow.

There are other men who can't go home for the holidays -- and maybe not for a long time. I want you to remember our comrades from the Admiral Graf Spee. All interned in Buenos Aires for the duration, thanks to the Tommies.

The folks back home are proud of us for making the sacrifices we do. They're counting on us to bring this war to an end quickly -- then we can all go home.

In four hours, our truce ends, and the fighting begins. The harder we fight, the sooner we'll be at peace again. So give it everything you've got! Ende."

[CapZap1970]

Very nice writing.... I hope you keep doing it, because you do it very good!!
I liked your story a lot.
CapZap

[Hitman]

Keep it coming!

[Kaleu. Jochen Mohr]

awsome mate
keep on makin them


Mohr

I like your posting in general but this is really great stuff! Not a single word concerning attacking or running and still very interesting

[Schöneboom]

Vielen Dank, Alle! I'm enjoying this, too -- & there's more to come...

Hey, I just noticed Subsim has a Writing Contest! Good timing, eh? :hmm:

[_Seth_]

Originally Posted by Schöneboom

Vielen Dank, Alle! I'm enjoying this, too -- & there's more to come...

Hey, I just noticed Subsim has a Writing Contest! Good timing, eh? :hmm:

You should definitly join that contest! Excellent stuff, mate!