U-Boat photo had me hook, line and sinker
The Facebook photos caught my attention and imagination.
There, on my iPhone screen, in black and white, were Nazis on the deck of a U-Boat after blowing up an oil tanker out the bay from my hometown, Corner Brook. A distinct island known as Wee Ball was in the background.
Well I’ll be …
As a history lover who has penned numerous articles about U-Boats in our waters, I was blown away.
I’d heard zilch about this incident and excitedly discussed it with anyone who’d listen, which was not many because interest in UBoats and the fear they struck along the Atlantic coast has sunken to new depths.
And, pffft, why should people be concerned about history when they have “America’s Got Talent?”
Which is exactly why I thought the U-Boat attack was worth noting.
I began fantasizing about researching and writing a book on it, about recording an untold story for future generations, about blowing this whole U-Boat thing up.
I planned a trip to the archives to search for accounts of the incident. Depending on what I found there, there would likely be a trip home to speak with any locals with knowledge about what happened.
And there would be hours of writing, about a peaceful bay interrupted by an evil intruder. This was going to be an enjoyable, interesting and worthwhile project. And I was really pumped about it. That enthusiasm quickly came crashing down though.
There’d be no research, trips home, or books, no passing along an important story for future generations. I’d been fooled by Facebook! And a post related to an almost 80-year-old, World War I propaganda film at that.
Yup, turned out the U-Boat pics were actually scenes from the “49th Parallel,” a 1941 British film starring Leslie Howard and Laurence Olivier.
Within hours of the original post, commenters were posting links to the movie and other details about it. The plot: A U-Boat crew is stranded in northern Canada and wants to reach the then-neutral United States. The
U-Boat scenes were filmed near old Corner Brook using a ship built in Halifax.
The film was the top movie at the British box office in 1941 and won an Academy Award for best writing, original story.
I was rotted with myself for being so naïve. So much so, I’ve waited almost a year to write this.
As a journalist, I should have been more skeptical about the post, about ensuring it was actual factual before indulging in the daydream about writing a book on it.
I’m telling you now because it’s becoming more and more evident you can’t believe everything you see or read on Facebook, and I wouldn’t want anyone to fall into the same UBoat as I did.
Steve Bartlett is an editor with SaltWire Network. Reach him via email at steve.bartlett@thetelegram.com.