Survivors of U 93 in WW2

[Colin Tabeart]

Attached scans show card dated 16 March 1946 from POW Camp 17 (Lodge Moor, Sheffield) to Germany. Written by Oblt z S Gunter Zelmer, prisoner no D342424. The seller said it was from a survivor of U-93. She was sunk on 15 Jab 1942 by HMS Hesperus, and there were survivors. I have tried U-boat Net, Wikipedia etc but have yet to be able to find a crew list or a list of survivors. Can anyone help verify if Zelmer was indeed an officer of U 93 when sunk?

As a bonus, would be grateful if anyone could translate the message! Many thnks, Colin

[Peter Harvey]

Hi Colin,

See this (in German - use google translate) this has the crew list and I can not see Gunbter Zelmer on the survivors or deceased.

http://www.ubootarchiv.de/ubootwiki/index.php/U_93


Peter

[Colin Tabeart]

Many thanks Peter. Looks like I have been sold a pup. Do you know of any way to discover to what ship Oblt s Z Gunter Zelmer belonged please?
Colin

[Reg Gleave]

Hello Colin, If you google" U 93 Interrogation Report" you will find it contains the crew list. Sorry but there is no Gunter Zelmer. These Reports contain alot of information including crew lists.
Reg Gleave

[Colin Tabeart]

Many thanks Reg. V Disappointing, but can't win them all! Best wishes, Colin

[Alan Baker]

I think his name is actually Gunter Zehner. Not sure if that helps

[Reg Gleave]

Alan, you are correct and it makes all the difference! Historisches-marine archiv.de has OLtZS Gunter Zehner as 2WO of U 415 which was sunk as a result of hitting a mine.
Colin, all is not lost.
Reg

[Colin Tabeart]

Brilliant work you guys - many thanks. I cannot find him on the website you quote Reg - what am I doing wrong? And then the plot thickens - U 415 was sunk a few miles off Brest. Surely the survivors would have been rescued by German craft and taken into Brest rather than be taken prisoner by the Brits? So how did he become a POW? Presumably joined another boat and was finally taken prisoner after this one was lost?
Many thanks again, Colin

[Colin Tabeart]

Great News! At the bottom of the website recommended by Reg there is a contact name and address for further info. I sent him an e-mail and got an almost immediate reply. The sender of the card went on in the U-boat service and was 1WO of U-854, lost off Swinemunde on work-up, 7 survivors; then 1WO of U-953, surrendered at Trondheim at the end of the war. Will write this up for the Journal as Chris likes to publicise the Forum, and it is a good story of co-operation and what can be discovered nowadays thanks to the Internet. Thanks again Alan and Reg - will send you a draft to make sure you are happy with it. Colin

[Michael Dobbs]

An excellent result Colin - not my area of interest but I was intrigued as to why you could not find him on the German website as recommended by Reg (nor I - and as a result of your last posting I couldn't find him in the other two U-boats either.

Then it struck me - we were spelling his surname the English way - a 'u' instead of the German 'ü' and on a German website using umlauts makes all the difference!  This is where I found his details:
https://www.historisches-marinearchiv.de/projekte/crewlisten/ww2/ausgabe.php?where_value=64828&lang_cl=2

Mike

[Colin Tabeart]

Many thanks Mike - a lesson for me and us Brits all, to which I will draw attention in the article.
Colin

[Chris Grimshaw]

Interesting story Gentlemen.  Shows the power of the Forum and research possible nowadays.

Will await the article in due course.

Chris