U-boat captain celebrated
UMBILO pensioner, Jop Fourie, has never met German navy officer, Lieutenant-Commander Reinhard Hardegen – the men live nearly 10 000km apart.
But when Hardegen – Germany’s last surviving U-boat captain – turned 100 years old yesterday, Fourie, 66, a World War II enthusiast, placed an ad in the Daily News and its sister paper, the Mercury, not only wishing him a happy birthday, but praising his heroics in sinking 22 Allied vessels.
“When people talk about World War II, they often refer to German soldiers as Nazis, which is a derogatory term,” Fourie said yesterday. “They use that one term to paint everyone who served in the army then with the same brush. There were very decent men on the German side who fought in the war and we must remember them.”
Fourie, a member of Sharkhunter International, an online club of U-boat enthusiasts, became aware of Hardegen’s 100th birthday when the website’s administrator informed members to send messages to the German veteran.
“I decided to go one step further and place the ad just as recognition to him,” a delighted Fourie beamed.
Hardegen, who lives in Bremen, was one of the most successful commanders during Operation Drumbeat, when German submarines attacked merchant ships in the world’s shipping lanes.
One of Germany’s most decorated seamen, he had met Adolf Hitler twice and was awarded the Knight’s Cross, Nazi Germany’s highest award for bravery.
After the war, the submarine veteran spent more than a year in British captivity, before returning home in November 1946.
Speaking to the Daily Mail last year about Hitler presenting him with an award, Hardegen said: “Hitler pinned them to my jacket… I thought then he was a fine fellow. That was a big mistake.”
He said that during Operation Drumbeat, he and his crewmen were underwater for 14 days, off the east coast of America.
“In just under three weeks, we sank seven ships with a tonnage of 46 744.”
Hardegen went on to build a successful oil trading company and was a member of Parliament in Bremen for 32 years.
He travelled extensively in America, where he met men who had tried to kill him during his U-boat service.
“They are my friends to this day,” he told the Daily Mail.
The modern-day military in Germany honoured him for his wartime service at a barracks in Bremen.
Hardegen, who has four children, eight grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren, had reserved space months ago in the town hall restaurant in Bremen, where he celebrated his birthday.