The Battle of Britain Five Months That Changed History, May—October 1940 by James Holland (z-lib.org).epub

sobbed quite openly, the tears streaming down his cheeks. As Ismay
struggled to get him through the press of people, he heard an elderly lady
say, ‘You see, he really cares, he’s crying.’
As they continued their tour, they saw many Union Jacks flying on piles
of rubble that the day before had been houses and homes. Others were little
more than skeletons. Fires still burned and before Churchill left much later
it was evening and the bombers were returning once more. Ismay tried
again and again to get the Prime Minister to leave, but he was in a defiant
and obstinate mood and insisted on seeing everything. As Churchill finally
agreed to head back to Downing Street, a shower of incendiaries fell just in
front of them. It was a long journey, the entourage struggling to get back
through the narrow streets, many of which were blocked by houses and
buildings having been blown across them.
At around the same time that Churchill was struggling through the streets of
London’s East End, across the sea at the Biscay port of Lorient, the newly
refurbished U-48 was slipping from her moorings and heading out on patrol
in the Atlantic. The submarine was one of the most famous of all U-boats,
with record-breaking numbers of ships to her name. She also had a new
skipper, her third in a year, Kapitänleutnant Heinrich Bleichrodt, who, aged
thirty, was new to command and had only one combat patrol to his name.
He had a lot to prove. So did all Admiral Dönitz’s U-boats. They had to
prove that even if SEALION could not be launched, there was still a way of
bringing Britain to her knees.
Also on board was a new 1st Radio Operator, or Funkgefreiter, Rolf
Hilse. Just eighteen years old, Rolf had only recently been promoted having
been on a course to Pilau – signal school – where he had learned about the
latest radio and sonar equipment and how to operate it. Like Hans-Ekkehard
Bob, Rolf was from Freiburg in the Black Forest, about as far away from
the sea as any point in Germany. His father, however, had been in the navy
in the last war, where he had served on the battleship Friedrich der Grosse
at the Battle of Jutland. All the same, Rolf might never have joined the navy
at all. In August 1939, he had been called up and posted to the 214th Anti-
Tank Regiment near Frankfurt. One morning, whilst on parade, all those
who were single and under five foot eight inches were asked to step
forward. Since Rolf was both, he did as he was told. Only then were they