Tweet
http://www.derryjournal.com/journal/Vet ... 4416945.jp
Veteran sailor backs plans to raise U-boat
published Date: 22 August 2008
By Staff reporter
A veteran sailor, who ferried armaments from Europe in the aftermath of World War II has backed Derry City Council's ambitious plans to raise a sunken German U-boat.
Merchant Navy veteran, Norman Willis, whose fellow shipmates were all killed by a German mine in the North Atlantic, believes the project to display the fully-intact U-778 at Ebrington is “a great ideaâ€.
Mr. Willis (79), of Limavady Road, recalled how German U-boats terrorised the Merchant and Royal Navys during the 1939-45 conflict and the fear that seamen had of the them.
“I had three other brothers in the Royal Navy during the war - one of them was torpedoed three times both in the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean - they were all at risk from U-boat attacks.â€
He added: “I saw all the U-boats when they brought them into Derry. I got on board one of them, although thankfully there were no Germans on board.I think it would be a great idea to bring one back to the city, especially the plan to put it on display at the old Sea Eagle base.â€
Mr Willis, a widower with two sons, said he often recalls how he escaped certain death at sea at the end of the war.
“I was on the The Fenstone, our job was to bring back loads of old tanks and guns from the beaches at Normandy and Dunkirk. We brought them to Scotland for scrap iron.
“That was at the end of 1945 and the start of ‘46. I signed off her after 11 months to come home for Christmas but the very week I left she hit a mine and was blown to smithereens. I was the only survivor from the crew because I got off, everyone on board was lost, all 13.â€
The Waterside man, whose father, Fred, went over the top of the trenches on two separate occasions during World War One, ran away from home at the age of just 15 to join the Merchant Navy. He’ll never forget the day he arrived back in the city after his first three week stint at sea.
“Just in front of the Guildhall the ship started to canter round to berth and I saw my father and mother, and brother Davy, standing - I thought they were waving hello but instead my father was waving his fist saying ‘where the bloody hell were you, what did you do that for - do you not think there are enough at sea with your three brothers’.â€
During World War II, some 50,000 allied merchant seamen lost their lives.
Veteran sailor backs plans to raise U-boat
published Date: 22 August 2008
By Staff reporter
A veteran sailor, who ferried armaments from Europe in the aftermath of World War II has backed Derry City Council's ambitious plans to raise a sunken German U-boat.
Merchant Navy veteran, Norman Willis, whose fellow shipmates were all killed by a German mine in the North Atlantic, believes the project to display the fully-intact U-778 at Ebrington is “a great ideaâ€.
Mr. Willis (79), of Limavady Road, recalled how German U-boats terrorised the Merchant and Royal Navys during the 1939-45 conflict and the fear that seamen had of the them.
“I had three other brothers in the Royal Navy during the war - one of them was torpedoed three times both in the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean - they were all at risk from U-boat attacks.â€
He added: “I saw all the U-boats when they brought them into Derry. I got on board one of them, although thankfully there were no Germans on board.I think it would be a great idea to bring one back to the city, especially the plan to put it on display at the old Sea Eagle base.â€
Mr Willis, a widower with two sons, said he often recalls how he escaped certain death at sea at the end of the war.
“I was on the The Fenstone, our job was to bring back loads of old tanks and guns from the beaches at Normandy and Dunkirk. We brought them to Scotland for scrap iron.
“That was at the end of 1945 and the start of ‘46. I signed off her after 11 months to come home for Christmas but the very week I left she hit a mine and was blown to smithereens. I was the only survivor from the crew because I got off, everyone on board was lost, all 13.â€
The Waterside man, whose father, Fred, went over the top of the trenches on two separate occasions during World War One, ran away from home at the age of just 15 to join the Merchant Navy. He’ll never forget the day he arrived back in the city after his first three week stint at sea.
“Just in front of the Guildhall the ship started to canter round to berth and I saw my father and mother, and brother Davy, standing - I thought they were waving hello but instead my father was waving his fist saying ‘where the bloody hell were you, what did you do that for - do you not think there are enough at sea with your three brothers’.â€
During World War II, some 50,000 allied merchant seamen lost their lives.
Comment