Pen and Sword LTD

Images of War - The U-Boat War 1939-1945 Rare Photographs from Wartime Archives

by  Ian Baxter

Reviewed By  Mike Hinderliter, IPMS# 45124

MSRP: $24.95 ISBN: 978-1-84415-786-0 Review copy courtesy of Casemate Publishing, U. S. distributor. Website: www.casematepublishing.com Format: Paperback 7 ½ x 9 1/2 Pages 160 / 250 b/w photos. The latest volume in Pen and Sword's Images of War series is The U-boat War 1939-1945 which is distributed in the United States by Casemate Publishing. I got really excited when I saw this book because it reminded me of my dad's friend Werner who had been a diesel mechanic on a type XXI U-boat. He was an inspiration to me and one of the reasons I became a submarine sonarman in the U S Navy. Reading this book I could almost hear Werner's accented voice describing his submarine training to me. I remember how proud he was when "I was a good German boy" for being accepted into the US submarine fleet. Boy, did he have a lot to tell me then. The book is divided into 6 chapters: Recruitment and Training. Active Service. Battle of the Atlantic. U-boat Bunkers & Returning from Patrol. War in the Mediterranean. End of the U-boat War At the end of the book there are 3 tables which I believe are very important to anyone who is interested in understanding the operational ranks and jobs on a WWII German submarine. The first table is The U-Boat crew which has the German to English translations. The second is a list of the Engineers and Mates on a few of the submarines that were known. The third is on the operational boat types with a brief outline of all of the types that were used in WWII. This is a real treasure if you a specification junkie, and you all know who you are. There are 250 rare photographs. The descriptions of the photos are really detailed explaining right down to the details of the uniforms, especially when they are wearing ceremonial belts and daggers. You can get a sense of the importance of a specific photograph compared to just a normal operational shot. If you've ever looked at a photograph and wondered "what the heck is that guy wearing", then this is the book for you. I've seen a lot of old war time submarine photos and these are great. I especially liked the submarine escape photos which are some of the first I have seen. Some of the other photos can also bring back memories of modern submarine service such as manning the rail when coming back in from patrol or remembering your old shipmates doing day to day work at sea.

I really and truly recommend this book and want to thank IPMS/USA and Tara Lichterman at Casemate publishing for the opportunity to remember an old German submarine sailor and friend. I'm really proud to add this volume into my submarine book collection.