Where did this interest in U-Boats one start? NOT submarines, U-Boats.
Well, not when I was a child, I can safely tell you that. I did play at Cowboys and Indians, but the whole Japs and Jerries thing passed me by. I had plenty of relatives that were soldiers, some survived the war, some didn't but I wasn't really "into" it back then. I did have friends who played at this but it wasn't for me. I was an amateur Geek - give me Flags of the World, The Race Into Space, Dinosaurs.
This sort of stuff:
I used to watch "All Our Yesterdays" on TV in the early 60s when the fare, as I remember, was all WW2. I don't recall any of it in detail but there must have been something there for me to remember some old black and white TV show.
As a teenager, I was more interested in the Terrorism that spilled into the 70s with the RAF (Rote Armee Fraktion/Baader-Meinhof), various Arab factions hijacking airliners, and the ever-present "troubles" in Northern Ireland.
As a student, I was still interested in Terrorism but this changed with a BBC2 TV advert for a new mini-series. This was a German series sub-titled in English...Don't get me started on dubbing!
Anyway, the programme was on TV over several nights. It was Das Boot - an epic German war movie based on an older 1973 novel. For some reason, it hit the spot. So much so that I am the possessor of several copies of this story - mini-series, movie, Director's Cut, LP soundtrack, CD soundtrack...even so far as buying the comedy "Beerfest" with a role for Jürgen Prochnow and some Das Boot references.
There was also an overlap with my musical interests in that the narrator of the story was one Herbert Grönemeyer, a well-known and respected tunesmith/wordsmith.
This passion also took me to Germany. To the following: the DM and U1 are in Munich, the U995 is in Laboe and the U505 is in Chicago - on my bucket list.
