FP Number M45671 - U-261?

[BCraig]

I have a question that maybe someone could help me with.

I'm trying to confirm what unit or ship FP number M45671 was for in September 1942.

Checking the internet, it seems to indicate that it was for U-261 which was sunk 15 Sep 1942.

Can anybody confirm this for this particular feldpost number? Or was the FP nubmer for something else?

If it is indeed this u-boat, is there any possible way to confirm the name of one the crew?

Thanks for any assistance.

Best Regards,

Ben

[hucks216]

The full listing for that FpNr is...

(30.7.1941-28.2.1942) U-Boot 261,
(8.9.1942-11.3.1943) Oktober 1942 gestrichen, u. U-Boot 2509,
(25.11.1944-8.5.1945) April 1945 gestrichen, u. B.d.U.

You could try the Volksbund site and see if the name you have is listed as having been killed on the same date that U-261 was sunk...

http://www.volksbund.de/graebersuche.html

Or this site that has a list of men KIA when U-261 was sunk... http://historisches-marinearchiv.de/...rt1&var2=wert2

[BCraig]

Many thanks for the reply and info. It had the info that I was looking for.

I have researched Army and Luftwaffe units before, but this is the first time researching KM units.

I also found some info on Lexikon:

http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/...Boote/U261.htm

And I also found the roster on another website:

http://www.denkmalprojekt.org/U-Boot...2/wk2_u261.htm

Thanks again for the help.

Best Regards,

Ben

[hucks216]

For U-Boats check the details here... http://www.uboat.net/boats/u261.htm

[BCraig]

Thanks again for the help with info on the u-boat site.

The info has helped me solve the mystery of a u-boat sailor who documents were in a family grouping that I bought last year at a flea market in Germany.

There were a few of his military and civil related documents and photos in the grouping, but nothing that explicitly indicated that he was on a u-boat…only that he was in the KM, and that he had died in September 1942 based on a payment made to his family after his death. I had no idea that he was on a u-boat until this week…I just assumed that he’d been killed on a ship, a bombing raid, or something. When I had researched him previously quite some time back, I could not locate his name on the German grave search website which hadn’t helped either.

There was a lot of feldpost for various family members in the grouping, and while thumbing through the letters again on Monday, I found 3 from around the time the sailor died that had the feldpost number on it for U-261. One was from him to his father saying that his feldpost number had changed to M45671, and two letters from his father to him that were returned to the father as undeliverable and the feldpost numbers had been blackened out by censors I presume. Luckily the number was legible in the right lighting. These 2 letters are from late Sep and Oct 42, and I guess the father had yet to hear of his son’s fate. A lot of the envelopes are missing in general (only the actual letters remain) so that hadn’t helped much researching things.

His name is on the roster of crew that went down with U-261, and his birthday matches so there is no doubt in my mind now. I also found his name on the Moltenort U-boat Memorial.

In one way, it’s exciting to have found a grouping associated with a KM submariner, and at the same time, it incredibly sad to think of a father losing his son. Going down with a submarine had to be a horrible way to go.

Anyway, it’s a mystery solved.