Hello,
I hope it's OK to start a new topic on this subject, I know I've go the right thread for sure...
Some of you may remember me as the filmmaker who was/is making 'Moonlit Reich' which is the subject of a couple of threads on these boards.
It started out as a small personal featurette and grew into a modest feature as such. (But is still a personal story about a family set against the back drop of WWII.) I'm just about to wrap up post production (I hope! 
) in the next few weeks. BUT that is a big maybe. But to get to the point of this thread...
I had always wanted to make a film, not just a backyard job with bad story and production values but a nice story with very high production values - budgets be damned! 
Ever since I was a kid, which was not that long ago... I had always been fascinated with the 'urban legend' that a German (although we always referred to it as a Nazi sub) had patrolled the shores of my hometown of Napier, New Zealand during WWII. Most kids and parents knew the story, which actually isn't that strange considiring that we only have a population of 55,000. Everyone spoke of it and I'd have to say that everyone would be reminded of it everytime they would drive along the Marine Parade (Napier's version of the PCH, only smaller...) and see the gun enplacements which were to protect us from the 'Japanese invasion'.
I guess that's the thing with urban legends, no one ever bothers to check the facts and verify the actual story... The story was:
That during the final year of WWII, a German U-boat on an undisclosed mission from the Fuhrer travelled to New Zealand, while patrolling the coast of the North Island waiting for targets they became short on supplies and decided to come ashore in Napier. It was said the Captian sent a few men in on a raft to steal milk and produce from the local farming community. It wasn't really a malicious tale but put that in the head of a 6 year old boy in small town NZ and... well enough said. Couple that with a love of Indiana Jones and Star Wars and you get the picture. 'The Germans had raided our town, but as they were short on supplies we were safe... this time.'
When it came time to start developing a project to film as a short, I knew what I wanted to do. The story that had been in my head since the first time I wanted to make a movie. But by then, I had come to realise that the 'urban legend' was just that. No German U-boat had come to our town. And I had since come to see the difference beween the Kriegsmarine and the other elements of Nazi Germany. They were sailors, not monsters. (I'd rather not get into that stuff in this thread or in my movie.) I wrote the treatment and then the script over the course of about 10 months along with watching every WWII movie there is. (Which is why I chose the 'tongue-in-cheek' uniforms I used instead of accurate ones; Desperate Journey and The 49th Parallel, although not great movies, left their mark on me.)
But by luck I came to hear of a historian who had been researching the story as well. I tried to track him down (and am still trying! It's easier to find info on the actual story than him) but did find out that prior to leaving the area he left copies of every piece of research in the local museum. As soon as I find this out I was down there to see what I could find.
I was handed a folder that was literally bursting at the seams with documents. I had hit the jackpot! I sat and read through what I could (I was too quite excited at the time) and then made copies of most of the relevent documents. I came to find out that not only was the story true, but it was a whole lot deeper than what I originally had thought.
U-862 was the U-boat, it was Korvette Kapitan Heinrich Timm's boat. http://uboat.net/boats/u862.htm They had sailed from Europe through Asia and then to Australasia. I was also to find out that Captian Timm did not send any men ashore to steal supplies ( ) but they did try and disrupt local shipping. (The idea of his men coming ashore to raid farms was partly due to Captian Timm telling a NZ Navy Officer that he had done so! So that is why it was partly believed by locals... Chinese whispers as such. http://uboat.net/special/myths/ )
Beside documents on local shipping and Port activity it had articles on a book which I was luckily enough to find a copy of: U-boat far from home; by David Stevens.
http://www.allenandunwin.com/military/p ... 1864482672
I read this book in a day and then went back and read it again the following week. It was gripping alright but not what you guys would call 'Hollywood'. It was true to life stuff...
Not only did I discover the book; I was also lucky enough to come across copies of correspondence between the researcher and a friend of a sailor who was part of the crew of U-862. (I would be happy to show people this via PM; please just ask.) Along with the letters was a photocopy (very bad, no contrast at all) of the remaining crew members of U 862 at their annual meeting. Now I'd like to see a better picture of the crew and find out if it's possible to contact one of them or send them the research if they're interested.
Is there a organisation for Kriegsmarine Veterans?
Is there anyone here with more information and/or contacts that can help me out? I'd be more than happy to forward what info I have...
Now I have to say I'm not trying to find out and sensationalise the true events, I'm just really interested in finding out as much as I can. In a sense it's a part of my childhood and part of my hometown's history.
Even though my movie is based on the 'true story', it's just that; 'BASED'. I expanded on the idea from further tales/stories that I have since heard while researching U 862 from local historians. (Most notably the supposed German spy-ring in New Zealand and the the death of two women which is said to be linked to this ring. To this day the murder is still unsolved. But that's off-topic.)
Thanks for taking the time to read this, I hope someone can help me. And as I said I'm more then happy to forward the information I currently have.
Many thanks!
