View from HMCS Sea Cliff
"Apparently, it was the St. Thomas's squid
that sank the submarine. [...] There were five combat ships,
but we (HMCS Sea Cliff) were with the St.
Thomas for that operation; we assisted the St.
Thomas with it. When U-877 surfaced, the crew of the
Sea Cliff began firing. Seeing that the submarine
was too heavily damaged, its crew abandoned ship."
The Survivors from U-887
"The survivors were not picked up immediately, because the
Allied ships didn't know what the German crew had done with the
submarine. After about two hours, the Sea Cliff
launched a lifeboat and threw rope ladders over the side of the
ship so that the survivors could climb aboard. The Sea
Cliff picked up 21 German submariners, accommodating them
in the stoker mess at the bow of the ship. They all went to the
sick bay for a medical examination and then were given clothing
from the Red Cross: a sweater, underwear, trousers and tuque. Those
who were covered with oil took a shower.
Aboard each submarine, there was a guy from the Gestapo, I
suppose to make sure that the crew behaved well and properly. I had
a rosary that my mother had given me, and I kept it in my coat. At
one point, a young German asked me for my rosary. I left it to him
and he took it. The political officer arrived, gestured to the
young German and spoke to him in German. I presume that he told him
to keep away from the Canadian crew members. After two or three
days, this political officer was set apart from the other
survivors. Apparently they were very pleased with this
action.
I looked after the routine for the Germans; for example,
organizing their meals and supervising the dish washing. They all
had hammocks and slept on leather cushions we had on our lockers.
They were given blankets and they slept on them. Some slept on the
floor, but it was very, very clean."
"When they went to the toilet, we had to escort them. At one
point, during the night, a German wanted to go to the toilet. I
don't know whether the hatch was closed or what, but we had a guard
with a small [?] gun above, who was supposed to supervise the
comings and goings of the survivors. As the guard was asleep, the
German woke him up to go to the toilet. The guard was punished for
negligence. When they went to the toilet there was a map that
covered the porthole, but they could still see a bit through the
map and tell where the ship was headed. At the beginning, they
thought they were going to Canada and were very happy. But when
they arrived in Scotland, they were not well received by the seamen
of the British Royal Navy or by the civilian population."
Excerpts from an interview
with Jules Blais in Québec, 24 November 1995. Initiative
of the Québec Naval Museum. Interviewers: Linda Croteau and Fabrice
Mosseray.
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