So far as concerns the order itself, it undoubtedly states, and in particular for those who know the manner in which Commander in Chief U-boats is wont to give his orders, that the High Command regard it as desirable that not only ships but also their crews should be regarded as objects of attack, i.e. that they should be destroyed; at that time German propaganda was continually stressing the shortage of crews for enemy merchant ships and the consequent difficulties. I too understood this order in that way.
Had the point of view of the High Command been otherwise the order would undoubtedly have been expressed in different words. It would then only have stated that for reasons of security rescue measures were to cease and this order would have been passed as a normal secret W/T message. It was perhaps even the intention that this order could be interpreted in two ways and the reason may be that in the first place, it contravenes international laws of warfare and secondly, that it was an order which must give rise to serious conflicts of conscience in commanding officers.
It was very difficult for me as senior officer of the Flotilla to ask for clarification of this order from the Commander in Chief U-boats since while I was senior officer (15.6.41-5.5.45) I could only, owing to lack of time, visit the Commander in Chief U-boats four or five times. I could not discuss this order with officers on my staff as all messages in officers' cypher might only be received by me. I was moreover of the opinion that commanding officers who were uncertain as to the meaning of this particular point always had the opportunity (an opportunity which they often took on other points) to obtain a clear understanding of this point when they went for their instructions to the staff of Commander in Chief U-boats itself; these instructions by the staff of the Commander in Chief U-boats were for the great part given by very young officers with much more recent operational experience than I had—the officers on Commander in Chief U-boats' staff changed frequently. Generally speaking, with very few exceptions, commanding officers received their instruction from the staff of Commander in Chief U-boats after I myself had given them their instructions. Commanding officers were generally speaking in much closer personal contact with these young staff officers than they were with myself as senior officer of a purely transit flotilla. There were many commanding officers whom I only saw and got to know for a few days in Kiel while they were fitting their boats out for operations.
Having given considerable thought to the whole of this matter I now remember that during one of my visits to Commander in Chief U-boats' staff in the winter of 1942/3 or the summer '43, one of the staff officers, Korvettenkapitaen Hessler or perhaps more likely Korvettenkapitaen Kuppisch, with whom because of very close ties of friendship I used to converse intimately as long as he was Commander in Chief U-boats' staff, told me of the following occurrence (whether I broached the subject or how the matter came up I can no longer remember).
A type VII boat (500-tonner) reported in her war log that when outward bound from a base in France, she met far out in the Bay of Biscay a raft with five enemy airmen, but was not able to take them on board owing to shortage of room (she had a complement of 54 and carried full provisions for 14 weeks). The boat therefore proceeded without taking any notice of the survivors.
This action of the U-boat was vehemently denounced by the Commander in Chief U-boats' staff. It was stated that she would have acted more correctly in destroying this raft since it was highly probable that the enemy air crew would be rescued by the enemy and in the meantime might once more have destroyed a German U-boat.
This occurrence made the views of the Commander in Chief U-boats clear to me.
As concerns making the order known to commanding officers: the order was always passed on during a commanding officers' conference while their boats were having their final overhaul or while they were being fitted out in Kiel for operational patrols; during these conferences I passed on to commanding officers once again all important orders about the equipping of their boats, procedure on departure, in home waters and while in convoy to Norway. Operational orders were not given by the flotilla; they were always given by the Commander in Chief U-boats himself or by Captain U-boats West on his behalf.
I was wont to pass on this controversial and serious order with more or less the following words:—"I have now to inform you of a High Command order concerning conduct towards survivors. It is a very ticklish matter. Commander in Chief U-boats in September 1942 gave the following order in an 'officers only' signal ( ... the exact words of the order were then read out)."
Since I am myself in my innermost conscience in disagreement with this order, I was very glad that in most cases commanding officers raised no queries and I was therefore relieved of any further discussion on this point.