Kurt Neugebauer entered the navy in the "Crew" of September 1939. He may have been the son of one of the imperial navy Neugebauers, but it is not a rare enough family name to be sure of that.
After being commissioned Leutnant zur See above, he was promoted to Oberleutnant zS 1 December 1943 # 27. He was alive 1 September 1944, but that's the last I find of him, since he wasn't in the naval officers' association (MOHeV) after the war. He had torpedo training as a midshipman, but the specialty designation doesn't distinguish between that for destroyers, torpedo boats, and submarines.
Thanks Rick,
I have a few other documents which I think may relate to the same man,I will try and post them in the morning (uk time) to see if anyone can shed any more light on him.
Originally posted by Rick Lundström
Kurt Neugebauer entered the navy in the "Crew" of September 1939. He may have been the son of one of the imperial navy Neugebauers, but it is not a rare enough family name to be sure of that.
After being commissioned Leutnant zur See above, he was promoted to Oberleutnant zS 1 December 1943 # 27. He was alive 1 September 1944, but that's the last I find of him, since he wasn't in the naval officers' association (MOHeV) after the war. He had torpedo training as a midshipman, but the specialty designation doesn't distinguish between that for destroyers, torpedo boats, and submarines.
The documents you've posted are:
- an invitation to a Christmas party of the Flotilla
- a birth certificate
- a letter of condoleance (to his wife / mother?; haven't really read it)
Born 10 June 1922 in Lemwerder, son of (apparently deceased) businessman Friedrich N. and Frances née Lorenz-Meyer, to whom the condolence letter is addressed.
Neugebauer died at 10 AM 7 April 1945 at Heilo hospital, Den Helder, Netherlands.
From the 19 June 1945 letter (copy) the first page of which you show, his unit commander speaks of an "Unglück" and "Verletzung," which implies a fatal ACCIDENT and not wounds or illness, as unspecified cause of death.
He apologizes about not being able to get word through except orally by an Obefähnrich Lapp, in the collapse. He refers to Neugebauer by his nickname as "Mucki." The letter mentions how he had become a man respected by his men and friend with his unit mates, how devoted he was to his family, being "the man of the house," photos of mom and sister there, and what a loss this must be for them. Hopes they will find some small comfort in the respect his comrades had for him...
Neugebauer was commander of the S209, a boat which was commissioned on the 21st Sept 1944. At the war's end it was transferred to the Russians where it was given the name TK 1921, it was eventually scrapped in 1957.
Here is what "Die Deutschen Schnellboote im Zweiten weltkrieg" by Hümmelchen has to say about Neugebauer's fate.
"S209 machte als nächstes Boot fest. Als sich der Kommandant, Oblt.z.S. Kurt Neugebauer beim übersteigen der Kalotte am Brücken-Maschinengewehr festhielt, löste sich ein Schuss aus der waffe und verletzte ihn so schwer, dass er am nachmittag des gleichen Tages (7.4.45) im Lazarett starb."
In other words he managed to accidentally shoot himself with the bridge machinegun of the boat.
A small point of order to avoid confusion in translation, the 2nd Torpedoboatflotilla was actually a completely different formation consisting of corvette sized ships which looked like small destroyers. I have seen Schnellbootsflottille translated into English as Motor-Torpedo boat flotilla taking after the corresponding vessel type in the Royal Navy, the MTB.
Regards
Simon
Collecting German award documents, other paperwork and photos relating to Norway and Finland.
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