Articles by David Child-Dennis

Sixty years later, an underwater research group has discovered U-196 partially submerged, stern down, in the sand and apparently not fully flooded in 15 meters of water. It is surmised that U-196 refuelled from the German convoy raider ‘Orion’, somewhere near Palau, before the German surrender brought inevitable internment, then headed south as the Japanese navy was preparing for…

As a 10 year old, standing with several hundred other airforce kids and servicemen among the hangar line, I watched one of the best emergency landings witnessed at Ohakea for many a year. For the young Vulcan crew it was to be the landing of their careers. The first inkling anyone at Ohakea had of the unfolding emergency was the air-sea rescue alert sometime around midday. Two…

There are very few of the older generation who have not heard of a de Havilland Mosquito. But few have had the good fortune to see one in the air, although many enthusiasts have seen them as static displays, essentially museum models. No matter when or how you see the Mosquito, you cannot help but be impressed by the beauty and grace of the aircraft. Geoffrey de Havilland and his…

The late 1960s saw the best pre-Formula One racing this country has ever experienced. Racing took place over January, during the European winter, giving the Formula One teams a chance to test new chassis and suspension systems prior to the upcoming European season. The only difference was that the engine capacity was limited to 2.5 litres, as opposed to the Formula One limit of…

Most of our readers are too young to remember the great airships that sailed, ever so majestically, across the Atlantic between Europe and the Americas. Those fortunate enough to do so, remember them as a sight never to be forgotten. Probably the best remembered, not only for her tragic end at Lakehurst, New Jersey, on May 6, 1937, but also for her size and grace, was the…

The U-196 arrived off the Northland coast sometime in May 1945, with a small team of German nuclear scientists and their equipment. They had been ordered there by the commander of the German submarine forces, Admiral Dönitz, as part of a secret agreement between Germany and Britain, after the United States had determined to exclude Britain from the Manhattan Project, immediately…

I believe with the unconditional surrender of Germany on May 8, 1945, the then commander of Germany’s submarine fleet, Admiral Karl Dönitz, used the only bargaining chip he had left, German nuclear research, spirited away from the advancing Russians, often with only hours to spare. Germany had begun a joint nuclear research programme with Japan some time in 1942, establishing a…

On May 8, 1945, with Germany’s unconditional surrender, Admiral Dönitz, the commander of Germany’s submarine force, ordered a number of specialised cargo U-boats, still at sea, to proceed to foreign ports across the world. In the early 1980s local divers discovered the hulk of the U-196 in Dargaville, sparking a renewed search for those who came ashore in 1945 AUTHOR'S NOTE…

Gold Bullion, Uranium, Loot… What really happened? Will we ever know? The ‘Monsun Gruppe’ Before continuing my attempt to reconstruct what I believe to be the fate of the crew of U-196 after they reached New Zealand, it might be useful to give readers an overview of the events surrounding U-196 at that time. Beginning in December 1942, the German navy had been requested to make a…

Sixty years later, an underwater research group has discovered U-196 partially submerged, stern down, in the sand and apparently not fully flooded in 15 meters of water. It is surmised that U-196 refuelled from the German convoy raider ‘Orion’, somewhere near Palau, before the German surrender brought inevitable internment, then headed south as the Japanese navy was preparing for…