The Surrender of the U-Boats at Lisahally
As you know I spent the war playing football and working for
Harland and Wolff ship repair yard in Derry. One day near the end of
the war the boss Mr Mc Comisky said to me did I want to go over to Lisahally
to see the German U-Boats coming in – they were surrendering you
see.
U-Boats surrending at Lisahally
So I went over and I was standing there amongst all the VIPs in uniform
when the uboats started to come into sight – one after the other
– as they came closer you could see the crews were out on the
deck and as they pulled along side the submariners were guided off one
by one onto dry land – I was struck by how young they were. I
suppose they were glad to be safe but it was a sad day.
Aerial shot of U-Boats docked at Lisahally
Courtesy of David Fitzsimons
As one young blonde lad got off the submarine he handed me something
as he passed by. I put it into my pocket so no one else would see. They
were all led away to a compound on the grounds of Lisahally.
Submariners book showing the name of the owner
Later on I looked at the object he‘d given me – for all
the world it was like a prayer book or diary – inside the front
cover was written the lads name and address and then as I thumbed through
the pages I realised the book was entirely in German but luckily there
were a lot of pictures and diagrams so I could get a sense of what it
was – it was a manual showing maps, diagrams of all the ships
in the allied fleets, torpedoes and shipping lanes. It was kind of like
an instruction book.
Extract from Hitler's speech
At the front there was a forward from Hitler himself. I couldn’t
understand why the lad had given it to me – I finally concluded
he must have wanted me to send it to his parents so they’d know
he was safe.
Map showing the Atlantic ocean
and shipping routes
In those days you wouldn’t have wanted to be sending letters
to Germany so I regret I never did contact the family. I always wondered
about that boy and have kept the book all these years. I always imagined
maybe Id be in Germany sometime and I’d try to find him but I
never did.
A few months ago my Grandson came to the house with a young German
friend and I showed her the book. She knew the town the submariner came
from and took a note of the address. She recently reported back that
she tracked down the family. Sadly, the man is now dead but his family
were able to tell her that he’d spoken about coming into Derry
at the end of the war.
Eddie Davis
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