{"product_id":"german-wwii-kriegsmarine-u-boat-110-document-and-medal-grouping","title":"GERMAN WWII KRIEGSMARINE U-BOAT 110 DOCUMENT AND MEDAL GROUPING","description":"\u003cp\u003eOn 9th May 1941, the German submarine U110 had been attacking a convoy in the North Atlantic, south of Iceland, when Royal Navy Escorts HMS Bulldog, HMS Broadway and HMS Aubretia retaliated with depth charges. The Captain of the U-Boat, Fritz Julius Lemp, was forced to surface and ordered his crew to abandon the vessel and scuttle it to prevent capture. They failed to destroy the Enigma machine and other codebooks, realising the submarine was still afloat. A British Boarding Party led by Lieutenant David Balme rowed to the submarine and successfully secured it. The Royal Navy retrieved the naval cypher documents and a fully functioning Enigma machine, which was quickly transported to Bletchley Park, where the codebreakers, including Alan Turing, were able to use this equipment to break the German naval codes, providing the Allies with a massive advantage during the Battle of the Atlantic. The story of the breaking of the Enigma codes is well known and contributed hugely towards the successful conclusion of WWII. In 2000, Hollywood produced a film entitled U571, when the US Navy captured  U571 and stated it was the 1st Enigma machine to be captured; once again, Hollywood trying to change true history. This fabulous group relates to Konstantin Russmann, who was a sailor on U110 as part of the 2nd U-Boat Flotilla. The grouping includes the wehrpass of Russmann, many private photographs of the U-Boat, crew members and its Commanding Officer, his original U-Boat war badge, in fabulous unused condition, Tombak manufactured, unmarked Schwerin Berlin. His Iron Cross 2nd class with a parade mount in the rare Schinkel variant. His Naval Proficiency patches. A large colourised photo portrait and some post-war communication with the family. With the group are some photographs and medals from his brother who was killed in action on the Eastern Front. It is interesting to note his Wehrpass states he was killed; however, he was taken prisoner of war and remained in captivity for the remainder of the war, finally settling in the U.K. The group is fresh to the market and has been consigned by Russmann’s family in the southern part of the U.K. Whilst the U-Boat was being towed back to the U.K. as it was captured intact, it was decided to scuttle the U-110 just in case there was any leakage of information that we had captured U-110 complete. Two very interesting letters dated July and August 1958 from a Mr E. Russmann at an address in Kent, to the Cabinet Office Historical Section, London. Mr Russmann is writing in relation to an article in a Hamburg newspaper suggesting that the Royal Navy killed members of the crew whilst they were escaping. We have photographed this letter within our website images. Of the awards, the Iron Cross and the U-Boat badge were the property of Konstantin Russmann; the East Front Medal and the West Wall Medal were the property of his brother, who was subsequently killed on the Eastern Front; the WWI Iron Cross and the 19324 Third Reich awarded 1914 Honour Cross were the property of their father. Probably one of the best and historically important submariner groupings we have ever had.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRef; 96954\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Regimentals Militaria Museum","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53325075317072,"sku":null,"price":3500.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0859\/4420\/5648\/files\/DSC_5472_2cc16890-1407-48b8-9df3-958150f09890.jpg?v=1785313572","url":"https:\/\/regimentalsmilitaria.co.uk\/products\/german-wwii-kriegsmarine-u-boat-110-document-and-medal-grouping","provider":"Regimentals Militaria Museum","version":"1.0","type":"link"}