As an American retired service member who grew up watching Hogan's Heros as a child, I'm so happy to see that Werner Klemperer was allowed the opportunity to actually step into the role of of German officer in this great military series from the 50"s.. He was not a Nazi! Mr.Klemper made fun of the Nazis. He expressed his disdain for the Nazi party in his role on Hogan's Heroes,
I watch most of the films when the were on Television in the fifties. While my friends collected pictures of cars or aircraft I collected pictures of submarines. I joined the Navy in 62. I eventually was on USS Cropper, Simon Bolivar, Thomas Edison. Memphis and San Francisco. All of submarines have been decommissioned. I still love the Submarine Service. The men I served with were some of the finest in the world.
That is Werner Klemperer (Col. Klink) I remember watching this series, Uncommon Valor. and Navy Log. America still loved our military back in the fifties.
Klemperer is quite older and probably more sophisticated than Prien. Prien was pretty smart and gutsy but he didn't live through the war. A very interesting series and this is what TV used to be---educational.
As far as I know, smoking was actually prohibited in German subs, unlike in the US subs. The German VII's were much much smaller and had no air condition to speak of.
*His 'luck' ran out...that's all...service in a submarine was always dangerous, that's why all the men were volunteers...the slightest mistake or miscalculation could doom a ship in seconds, and yet they gave their best efforts towards sinking enemy ships at every turn...even when doing so seemed suicidal to attempt*
I have the book that Prien wrote about his life and this mission. It was consider a sucide mission but they managed to pull it of and after that he wrote the book, But with some things leftout of course.
I read this story when I was still in Sub School. As I understood it, he came up a small river in to Scapa Flow. Still an amazing maneuver which only could have been done in the early stages of the war.
Prien's IWO was not a Heinz, it was Englebert Endrass (Erich Topp's best friend) who went on to Command his own boat. He was a very successful Skipper in his own right and was lost with all hands in the Atlantic, later in the war.
Until Hogan's Heroes a pretty much unknown Werner Klemperer played character actors in a long list of mostly dramas. Most notable is a 1961 docu-drama where he played Adolph Eichman in one about the Isrealis capture of the notorious Nazi General. There is one made in the mid-50s I saw years ago where he played part of an American Air Force cargo plane pilot group, speaking a straight American dialect with no accent. I can't find it in his filmography, most likely because his name had been Americanized in the credits. Silent Service was one of a number of weekly WWII & military shows that were a staple of early TV when I was a young boy in the 1950s. I watched all of them.
As an American retired service member who grew up watching Hogan's Heros as a child, I'm so happy to see that Werner Klemperer was allowed the opportunity to actually step into the role of of German officer in this great military series from the 50"s.. He was not a Nazi! Mr.Klemper made fun of the Nazis. He expressed his disdain for the Nazi party in his role on Hogan's Heroes,
I watch most of the films when the were on Television in the fifties. While my friends collected pictures of cars or aircraft I collected pictures of submarines. I joined the Navy in 62. I eventually was on USS Cropper, Simon Bolivar, Thomas Edison. Memphis and San Francisco. All of submarines have been decommissioned. I still love the Submarine Service. The men I served with were some of the finest in the world.
Nice to see Werner Klemperer acting in an intelligent role.
That is Werner Klemperer (Col. Klink) I remember watching this series, Uncommon Valor. and Navy Log. America still loved our military back in the fifties.
my uncle was a sailor on the Royal Oak. Ended up in the freezing sea at night in his pajamas.....survived.
The Japanese had the best Torpedoes followed by the Germans and in last place, the USA.
Klemperer is quite older and probably more sophisticated than Prien. Prien was pretty smart and gutsy but he didn't live through the war. A very interesting series and this is what TV used to be---educational.
As far as I know, smoking was actually prohibited in German subs, unlike in the US subs. The German VII's were much much smaller and had no air condition to speak of.
No one ever escaped from Stalag U47!
*His 'luck' ran out...that's all...service in a submarine was always dangerous, that's why all the men were volunteers...the slightest mistake or miscalculation could doom a ship in seconds, and yet they gave their best efforts towards sinking enemy ships at every turn...even when doing so seemed suicidal to attempt*
Gunther Prien did a remarkable job in penetrating the British defences in Scapa Flow.
10:24
Great series...thanks for posting these episodes.
I have the book that Prien wrote about his life and this mission. It was consider a sucide mission but they managed to pull it of and after that he wrote the book, But with some things leftout of course.
I read this story when I was still in Sub School. As I understood it, he came up a small river in to Scapa Flow. Still an amazing maneuver which only could have been done in the early stages of the war.
In military schools, you learn more from your ennemies than from your friends. If politicians could do the same.
Prien's IWO was not a Heinz, it was Englebert Endrass (Erich Topp's best friend) who went on to Command his own boat. He was a very successful Skipper in his own right and was lost with all hands in the Atlantic, later in the war.
Until Hogan's Heroes a pretty much unknown Werner Klemperer played character actors in a long list of mostly dramas. Most notable is a 1961 docu-drama where he played Adolph Eichman in one about the Isrealis capture of the notorious Nazi General. There is one made in the mid-50s I saw years ago where he played part of an American Air Force cargo plane pilot group, speaking a straight American dialect with no accent. I can't find it in his filmography, most likely because his name had been Americanized in the credits. Silent Service was one of a number of weekly WWII & military shows that were a staple of early TV when I was a young boy in the 1950s. I watched all of them.
Both the American and German navies started WWII with torpedoes that malfunctioned / misfired - a lot .
Great series! Very interesting!