I had the pleasure of meeting
Paul Mengelberg in 1998 at a meeting of the
Submariners Association of
Canada in
Ottawa. Paul and I were both former submariners and members of the
association. Paul was also a
Ham Radio Operator,
a hobby which we both shared. Paul operated under call sign
VE3IKS.
Paul served as a submariner
in the Kriegsmarine (German Navy) before and during the Second World War. He
was onboard U-26 when it was captured by HMS Rochester off the coast of
Ireland on 1 July 1940. Paul spent the rest of the war at a prisoner-of-war
camp in Ontario, Canada.
It was so captivating to listen to Paul when he
talked about his adventures. We also had long discussions about the Enigma
Cipher machine used by the Germans during WWII. Especially fascinating were
the many attempts by the British to break the Enigma machine used by the
German Navy. Unlike the Enigma machine used by the Luftwaffe (German Air
Force), the Enigma machine used by the Kriegsmarine (German Navy) generally
withstood British codebreaking for the first two years of the war. It was not
until the British captured key documents from German warships that they were
able to break the naval Enigma continuously.
I used a similar crypto machine in the late 60s
while serving in submarines of the Royal Canadian Navy. It was called the KL-7
and it was a descendant of the German Enigma. I spent many hours on the KL-7
manually decoding 5-letter groups into plain language text, or the reverse. It
was an arduous task when compared to on-line real-time crypto equipment
beginning to be used in the 1960s.
I received a special gift in July 2001 from
Paul. He gave me a copy of the book by David Kahn titled: "SEIZING THE ENIGMA -
The Race to Break the German U-Boat Codes 1939-1943". The book is autographed
by Paul and has a special place in my library.
A new movie has just been released, called "THE
IMITATION GAME", which tells the story during World War II of mathematician
Alan Turing trying to crack the enigma code with help from fellow
mathematicians. I wish Paul was still with us so we could watch the movie
together.
Paul passed away in October 2013. He will be missed. Farewell
Paul. Rest in peace.
Scroll down this page to see photos of Paul as a Kriegsmariner
in the 1930s and to read about the capture of U-26, in Paul's own words.
Scroll down to the bottom of the page if you want to see the link to his
obituary.
Donald Courcy, VE2RE
Webmaster and History Keeper of this website and of the website
www.SubmarineRadioman.ca
15 January 2015

The Capture of U-26
by Paul Mengelberg

This is the story of a German
U-Boat submariner who was taken prisoner of war off the coast of Ireland during
World War II. Paul Mengelberg joined the crew of U-26 in the mid-1930s. Paul
describes the dramatic capture of U-26 by a British destroyer in the summer of
1940.
U-Boats
were German submarines. They played a vital role in the German war effort. The
German navy was known as the Kriegsmarine. This picture on the left shows U-26
at Bremen, Germany, before the war. It was captured on 1 July 1940 off the coast
of Ireland by HMS Rochester. The crew of U-26 were interrogated and then taken
Prisoners of War. Their POW camp was at Duff House, Banff.
Biography
Paul
Mengelberg was born in Koln, or Cologne, in 1916. Paul joined the German
Kriegsmarine when he was seventeen years old. After being taken prisoner into
Duff House he was moved to England and then Canada. After the war Paul returned
to Germany, but only briefly. He went back to Canada to work as an electrical
and mechanical engineer. He settled down in Ontario.
The capture of U-26
“ I was taken prisoner in 1940, July 1st. We were picked up by HMS Rochester. We
were hunted for almost six hours, and we were [at a depth of] almost two hundred
and thirty metres. We had water in the stern. The boat was lain in the water
silent, completely silent. The lights were out, just emergency lights on. It was
really eerie inside. We knew that the destroyer was waiting up there, and he was
playing the same game. Absolute silent. You couldn’t hear a thing.”
After six hours the U-Boat was forced to the surface and boarded. Paul and the
crew were interrogated in London.
“ From the interrogation we were shipped up to
Scotland, to Banff, into Duff House. [It] had a wire fence all around it.
Everything was green, like grass pastures and so on. A wonderful location. There
was one big wire fence. I would say it was eight feet high, ja. And it had
guards patrolling outside. They were all Scots from the Scottish regiments. We
had a sergeant major there and we called him the ‘neck shooter’. He was a real
ram-rod in a way, with a strong neck like a wrestler has. And he looked after
us.”
The prisoners enter Duff House
“We used the staircases, when [we] got in the
building, on the left hand side. They were not direct but the spiral type, you
know? You go up then there’s a little landing, you go up again then there’s a
little landing, and you go up again, ja. On the left hand side, way up on top,
there are two small windows. That was where we were. There were some fellows
from Norway, and in the next room there was a lazarette, a sick bay.
Food and drink for the prisoners
“In the morning we had one slice of bread and jam,
you know, in the typical army tin plates. [The] jam was watered down so what we
had to – I mean, only pigs eat like this but we did – [was to put] a little bit
of jam on the plate. And all we did was put a slice of bread down on one side
and then turn it over to the other side, and then try to get everything out with
a spoon. So that was our breakfast. And tea, tea galore.
The bombing of Duff House - July 22,
1940
“In the morning at nine o’clock the klaxon went.
We were all lined up outside. We heard an aircraft and he came pretty low. He
must have been coming out from Norway or somewhere [like that]. Before we
witnessed that it was over, the bombs fell. Two went into the elevetor shaft as
duds, they never blew up. But two guards outside, they were killed through the
bombs.
“There was a fellow by the name of Hans Houk. He had his back to the window when
the bombs blew up outside. And he got all the glass into his back. His whole
back was just plastered with glass slivers, so they put him in the hospital and
they took all the slivers out.
“Miraculously, I wasn’t hit by anything. I
high-tailed it right into the building and, while I was going in there the door
came down [upon me] and the window of this door fell right neatly over me,
without the glass in it, ja. So all I had to do was step out of that hole and
into the building. Why I did it I don’t know, but it was all over quick, ja.”
The bomber (a Heinkel 111) fled, only to be shot down by Spitfires from RAF
Dyce. Casualties were treated on site initially, as the alarm was raised.
“There was one fellow by the name of Ackerman, and his torso was ripped into
two. There was a captain, he was a Jewish person, a captain of the [British]
Army. He tended to [Ackerman]. As long as [Ackerman] was living, he was
completely sane and clear-thinking, even though he was only half a person, so to
speak. And then all of a sudden, bingo: he died, ja. Six of my crew members
perished. They got out of the submarine sound and safe and then a German bomber
comes and kills them. That is hard to take.”
Why did the Luftwaffe bomb German POWs?
“I think it was a reconaissance aircraft. They are loaded with bombs too, ja. I
think he was on a reconaissance mission to explore northern Scotland, and he saw
this camp down there. He saw the tents of the guards up on the hill, and he saw
this building there with people outside and thought, ‘let’s give them a lesson,’
so to speak.”
Paul was transferred to Canada until the war was
over.
Contributor: Allan Burnett

It is with great sadness that we announce Paul’s passing on
October 11th, 2013 in Birchwood Terrace Nursing Home far from his beloved
home of over 60 years in Longlac, yet closer to his immediate family in
Kenora.
Dad had a long and fulfilling life till the last six months
when his pain and suffering began in earnest. He was known and adored by
many as a loving and proud husband to wife Agnes of 62 years – his Moesch
or ‘ma p’tite grise’ – father to Doris (Gordon Taylor) and Norman (Paivi),
Opa to Maxine and Nigel Mengelberg, Ohm (Onkel) Paul to nieces and nephews
in Germany. He cared for, and saw the merits and potentials in all of
them.
Dad’s colourful and long life began in Koeln-Kalk, Germany.
He was serving in the German navy when World War II broke out, and as a
submariner was captured in the English Channel. His internment as POW
began at Camp Angler on Lake Superior, which included his working in a
bush camp near Longlac. After his repatriation to war-torn Germany, he
returned to Canada and then two years later to Longlac with wife and young
daughter.
Dad got his diesel mechanic qualifications, and worked for
Kimberley Clark of Canada till retirement. After retirement he spent a few
years working with the OPP. He was loved by everyone for his quick wit,
captivating stories, and his warmth and humour, which were graciously
reciprocated.
We wish to extend a special thank you to all neighbours and
friends in Longlac who loved him. As per Dad’s wishes, there will be no
funeral service. More fittingly a celebration of life will be scheduled in
the spring of 2014 when we bring Dad 'home'. In lieu of flowers, please
make donations to a charity of your choice.