Draft Notice for German POW Walter Schmitt
subject: This is a notice asking him to report to the local military authority so they can determine his status.
description: Translation of German from the back of the card: "the mayor as the district police authority in Krefeld-Uerdingen a. Rh. (long distance call 28511) Summons In order to regulate your military status, you presented yourself in front of the military on October 23rd, 1940. in Krefeld at the municipal defense department Hansahaus, second floor, room 21e, to register for the military master roll. The reporting deadline must be strictly adhered to. Birth certificate, possibly family register, work book, pp. 2 passport photos g.F. Military passport and this summons must be brought with you"
date: October 23rd, 1940

German Propaganda Leaflet to Soviet soldiers on the Courland Front
subject: This leaflet contains an appeal from Vlasov's Russian Liberation Army (POA) that was collaborating with the Wehrmacht to Soviet troops fighting in the Courland area. It was printed by Wehrmacht Army Group North (HGr. Nord). DL 016
description: To all personnel of units and formations of the Red Army of the Courland Front ANNOUNCEMENT I have the honor to inform you that I, Captain of the Russian Liberation Army, former captain of the Red Army — Vasilyev Mikhail Fyodorovich, have been appointed by the Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia (KONR) as its Authorized Representative on the Courland Front. The tasks of my activity include: Popularization of the great ideas of the Liberation Movement of the Peoples of Russia among the broad masses of personnel of units and formations of the Red Army of the Courland Front. Carrying out measures for the incorporation of units and formations of the Red Army of the Courland Front into the Armed Forces of the Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia, whose Commander-in-Chief is Lieutenant General A. A. Vlasov. Providing assistance to Red Army prisoners of war and refugees. I am confident that in the measures I am carrying out I will meet full support from your side. Authorized Representative of the Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia on the Courland Front Captain VASILYEV (Other Side) To pilots, tank crews, artillerymen, and mortar crews of units of the Red Army of the Baltic Front ANNOUNCEMENT From reports coming across the front from my friends—former fellow servicemen of the Red Army—it has become known to me, the Authorized Representative of the Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia (KONR) on the Courland Front, Captain Vasilyev M. F., that many of you would like to join Lieutenant General VLASOV, who is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the KONR, and place aircraft, tanks, and other equipment at his disposal. I CLARIFY: That Red Army servicemen, for the accomplishment of such a holy feat, which contributes to the overthrow of Stalin’s despotism and thereby to the deliverance of the peoples of Russia from the bloody nightmare of war, will be given the full opportunity to fight honorably unde…
source: Acquired from Ostland Militaria in Vilnius, Lithuania. Translation provided by Chat GPT
date: Most likely Late 1944 - Early 1945

H.M.S. Eagle
subject: A photo of a British Aircraft Carrier H.M.S. Eagle taken as an official admiralty photograph on March 20th 1942. HMS Eagle was an early aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy. Ordered by Chile during the South American dreadnought race as the Almirante Latorre-class battleship Almirante Cochrane, she was laid down before World War I. In early 1918 she was purchased by Britain for conversion to an aircraft carrier; this work was finished in 1924. Her completion was delayed by labour troubles and the possibility that she might be repurchased by Chile for reconversion into a battleship, as well as the need for comparative trials to determine the optimum layout for aircraft carriers. The ship was initially assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet and then later to the China Station, spending very little time in home waters other than for periodic refits. Eagle spent the first nine months of World War II in the Indian Ocean searching for German commerce raiders. During the early part of the war, the Fleet Air Arm was desperately short of fighters and Eagle was equipped solely with Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers until late 1940. She was transferred to the Mediterranean in May 1940, where she escorted convoys to Malta and Greece and attacked Italian shipping, naval units and bases in the Eastern Mediterranean. The ship also participated in the Battle of Calabria in July but her aircraft failed to score any hits when they attempted to torpedo Italian cruisers during the battle. Whenever Eagle was not at sea, her aircraft were disembarked and used ashore. The ship was relieved by a more modern carrier in March 1941 and ordered to hunt for Axis shipping in the Indian Ocean and the South Atlantic. Her aircraft sank a German blockade runner and disabled a German oil tanker in mid-1941 but did not find any other Axis ships before the ship was ordered home for a refit in October. After completing an extensive refit in early 1942, the ship made trips delivering fighter aircraft to Malta …
description: British Official Photograph No, A:7506 Admiralty Photograph. Crown Copyright Reserved The British Fleet on War Service: H.M.S. "Eagle" The British sircrat carrier H.M.S. "Eagle" (22,600) tons Armament: nine 6" 50 cal guns, four 4" anti-aircraft guns, 22 smaller. Officially carries 21 aircraft. Speed 24 kts. Dimensions: 667 X 105.1/6 X 27 Complement 740. Picture shows: The British aircraft carrier H.M.S. "Eagle" 20/3/42 Photographic News Agencies Ltd 30, Fleet Street E C 4
source: Photo purchased from The War Store in Johannesburg, South Africa. Additional information pulled from Wikipedia.

H.M.S. Nestor
subject: A photo of a British Destroyer H.M.S. Nestor taken as an official admiralty photograph. No specific ship name, location, or date given. HMAS Nestor (G02) was an N-class destroyer of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Built in Scotland, Nestor was commissioned in February 1941; although manned by Australians and commissioned as an Australian warship, she remained the property of the Royal Navy. Entering service in 1941, Nestor spent most of her career as a patrol and escort vessel in the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean, and the Far East. In December 1941, the destroyer located and sank the German submarine U-127. In June 1942, Nestor sailed as part of the Operation Vigorous escort force, protecting a supply convoy to Malta. On the evening of 15 June, the ship was heavily damaged by air attack. Despite attempts to tow the ship to base, Nestor was abandoned and scuttled off Crete the next morning. Nestor is the only ship of the RAN that never operated in Australian waters. The N-class destroyer had a displacement of 1,773 tons at standard load, and 2,550 tons at full load. Nestor was 356 feet 6 inches (108.66 m) long overall and 229 feet 6 inches (69.95 m) long between perpendiculars, had a beam of 35 feet 8 inches (10.87 m), and a maximum draught of 16 feet 4 inches (4.98 m). Propulsion was provided by Admiralty 3-drum boilers connected to Parsons geared steam turbines, which provided 40,000 shaft horsepower (30,000 kW) to the ship's two propellers. Nestor was capable of reaching 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph). The ship's company consisted of 249 officers and sailors at the time she was sunk. The ship's armament consisted of six 4.7-inch QF Mark XII guns in three twin mounts, a single 4-inch QF Mark V gun, a 2-pounder 4-barrel "pom pom", four 0.5-inch machine guns, four 20 mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft guns, four .303 Lewis machine guns, two Pentad torpedo launcher tube sets (with 10 torpedoes carried), two depth-charge throwers and one depth-charge chute (with 45 charges car…
description: British Official Photograph No A.4679. (Admiralty Photograph. Crown Copyright Reserved). The British Destroyer H.M.S. "Nestor" H.M.S. "Nestor" is of 1,690 tons displacement and carriers a complement of 183. Her dimensions are 348 x 35 x 9 and she is armed with six 4.7 inch and six smaller guns, with ten 21 inch torpedo tubes. She is here seen bringing secret orders for the Captain of another vessel.
source: Photo purchased from The War Store in Johannesburg, South Africa. Additional information pulled from Wikipedia.
date: 1939 - 1945

H.M.S. Seagull
subject: A photo of the minesweeper H.M.S. Seagull taken as an official admiralty photograph. No specific ship name, location, or date given. HMS Seagull was a Halcyon-class minesweeper, and the first all-welded Royal Navy ship, built entirely without rivets. The design was ahead of its time, using longitudinal framing and flush butt joints in the hull plating. This gave a substantial improvement in costs and build time, the comparison being the half-sister ship built using rivetted construction on another slipway in the same dockyard. She was designed by Rowland Baker, the influential naval architect who worked on many naval vessels used in World War 2 and into the cold war. She was completed on 30 March 1938. She was adopted by the civil community of Christchurch, Hampshire after a successful Warship Week National Savings campaign in February 1942 During the Second World War she helped escort 21 Arctic convoys, and participated in Operation Neptune. She was also involved in the accidental sinking of the Polish submarine ORP Jastrząb, along with HNoMS St Albans, during the passage of Arctic Convoy PQ 15. Five crewmen were killed. A court of Enquiry found that Jastrząb was 100 nmi (190 km; 120 mi) out of position, in an area where U-boats were expected to operate, and no blame could be attached to either commander. Other sources maintain the convoy changed course and entered Jastrząb's patrol sector. Also that the Allied ships ignored identification marks, while on the surface and that Seagull's commander was later found guilty by the Admiralty. These accounts are not reconcilable. In late 1945 she was converted in Rotterdam to a Survey Ship. Until 1950 she operated in home waters, after which she was paid off into the reserve. She became the naval drill ship at Leith in 1955 before being scrapped by Demmelweek and Redding in Plymouth in 1956.
description: British Official Photograph No. A. 6091 Admiralty Photograph. Crown Copyright Reserved. H.M.S. Seagull - a minesweeper.
source: Photo purchased from The War Store in Johannesburg, South Africa. Additional information pulled from Wikipedia.
date: 1939 - 1945

Japanese Imperial Guard Photo Album
description: This is an Enlistment Commemoration Album owned by Noda Asao of the 10th Company of the 3rd Infantry Regiment of the Imperial Guard. The 3rd Guard Regiment was part of the 2nd Guards Brigade. In 1940 it was deployed to Shanghai and then Hainan Island in China. This unit later saw action in the battles of Malaya and Singapore with Tomoyuki Yamashita's 25th army. This unit took part in the Parit Sulong Massacre of Australian and Indian prisoners of war. The unit also participated in the Sook Ching mass killings of Singaporean civilians that especially targeted ethnic Chinese.
source: Purchased from Don Kochi and part of the Tom Long collection. Translation provided by Yuske Tamura.
date: One of the photos is dated November 13th 1937 so the other photos likely date from around that time as well.

Journal of Wolfgang Schewe (Kriegsmarine)
subject: The journal of someone who served on a German U-Boat. The journal describes his time in training and the photos seem to show him during active duty. Most of the entries are during 1941, and the final date written near the logo for U-929 being in 1945 just 5 days before VE Day. The passenger/cargo motor vessel CARIBIA (12,049 GRT / 5480 tdw) was laid down in 1931, and launched on 1 March 1932 by the Blohm & Voss shipyard, Hamburg-Steinwärder, yard number 493. Completed on 5 Febr 1933 for the Hamburg-America Line (HAPAG) for their West Indies-Central America service. As a twin-screw vessel, Caribia was powered by two 8-cyl. MAN diesel engines with a total power of 11,500 HP, giving a service speed of 15 kn, maximum speed 17 kn. She could accommodate 447 passengers in three classes and had a crew of 198. Caribia begun her maiden voyage from Hamburg in March 1933, remaining on the West Indies route until 1939 before the outbreak of World War II. After 1 Sept 1939 the ship was first laid up and in 1940 requisitioned by the German Navy (Kriegsmarine) for the use as an accommodation ship in Flensburg-Mürwik, close to the Naval Academy. Caribia was painted overall gray and was armed with some AA-guns, remained in her role as a floating barrack throughout the whole war without any notable incident. German submarine U-929 was a Type VIIC/41 U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. She was ordered on 2 April 1942, and was laid down on 20 March 1943, at Neptun Werft AG, Rostock, as yard number 516. She was commissioned under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Werner Schulz on 6 September 1944. German Type VIIC/41 submarines were preceded by the heavier Type VIIC submarines. U-929 had a displacement of 769 tonnes (757 long tons) when at the surface and 871 tonnes (857 long tons) while submerged. She had a total length of 67.10 m (220 ft 2 in), a pressure hull length of 50.50 m (165 ft 8 in), an overall beam of 6.20 m (20 ft 4 in), a height of 9.60 m (31 ft 6 i…
description: Watch and Duty Small Watch Groups Watch Officer: Lieutenant Fraszezak Engineer Officer: Lieutenant Thielmann Chief Engineer: Senior Engineer Hegmann Helmsman: Petty Officer Meissner Division Commander: Captain z. See Gumprich The Training Period from 7 January to 31 May 1941 My Introduction to Active Service On January 7, 1941, around 6 p.m., I traveled with the 13th platoon from Berlin to the port of Stralsund. We arrived there at about 6 a.m., after a journey of several hours. Upon our arrival, we were assigned to the accommodation in the barracks and soon went to the naval training company. There was a lot of hustle and bustle! We were met by our commanding officers. “Gentlemen! You are now part of the submarine service!” We were given a short speech. Slowly, I began to feel proud to belong to such a company. Everything here was new and exciting. In the afternoon, we were assigned to our platoons and groups. I came to the 4th company for further training and was placed in the 3rd platoon, 9th group. Basic training began immediately afterward. ________________________________________ 3 Months of Basic Training Introduction Finally, the long-awaited day of basic training had come. For a long time, I had been preparing myself to fulfill the duties of a German sailor to the best of my ability. Although I already had an idea of what awaited me — the hardships and difficulties of a sailor’s life — I was still determined to give my best. We were now to learn everything that belonged to the foundation of military service: discipline, obedience, and physical endurance. The last days were spent with intensified exercises, and we were tested in the use of rifles and hand grenades. The training lasted four weeks. Training – Basic Exercises The Basic Training The first days of service were quite tough. In addition to the regular duties, we began with basic training. That meant: “Introduction to basic exercises!” The instructors were strict. The commands had to be carried out …
source: Purchased from Don Kochi and part of the Tom Long collection. Translation provided by ChatGPT. Information on the Caribia and Cordillera taken from ShipsNostalgia.com. Information on U-929 taken from Wikipedia.
date: January 7, 1941 - May 3, 1945

League of Lonely War Women (English Language Draft Copy)
subject: This appears to be an English language draft copy of Corporal Barbara Lauwers League of Lonely War Women propaganda leaflet for German soldiers. Barbara Lauwers Podoski (born Božena Hauserová on April 22 , 1914 , in Brno , Austria-Hungary ; died August 16, 2009 , in Washington, D.C. , United States ) was a Czechoslovak - American agent. During World War II, she worked for the U.S. intelligence agency, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). Her propaganda operations led hundreds of soldiers to defect to the Allied side . Barbara Lauwers was born Božena Hauserová in Brno , which at that time belonged to Austria-Hungary and from 1918 to Czechoslovakia . She studied law at the University of Paris and Masaryk University in her birthplace. She earned her doctorate in law from the latter and subsequently worked as a lawyer. In 1939, when Czechoslovakia was occupied by Nazi Germany , she married the American Charles Lauwers in Zlín and emigrated with him to the Belgian Congo , where she worked for the shoe manufacturer Bata . Two years later, the couple emigrated to New York . When Charles Lauwers volunteered for the U.S. Army in 1941, following the attack on Pearl Harbor and the United States' entry into World War II , Barbara Lauwers, as she now called herself, moved to Washington, D.C. , and began working in the press office of the Czechoslovakian embassy. As a ghostwriter , she wrote a book for each pair of Czechoslovakian colonels stationed there . On June 1, 1943, the day she received U.S. citizenship , she joined the Women's Army Corps . Because of her language skills—she was fluent in English, French, German, Czech, and Slovak—she was selected for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), which had been established a year earlier. After an initial posting in Washington, she was transferred to Algiers in North Africa in early 1944 and finally, in light of the Italian campaign , to Rome , to the Department of Morale Operations . There, she conducted interrogations of p…
source: Acquired from Stephen Wheeler Medals in London, UK. Information taken from Wikipedia.
date: 1944

Letter from American Vice Consul for German POW Walter Schmitt
date: June 16th 1949

Letter from American Vice Consul for German POW Walter Schmitt 2