The USS North Carolina (BB-55) My all-time favorite warship. As an elementary school student in North Carolina, I donated nickels and dimes to save this ship back in the early sixties.

Thursday, February 4, 2016

Enemies in War, 2 Vets Bond As Seniors-- Part 4: Fought the Russians

a World War II photo of Buhrdorf accompanies the article showing him in a Kriegsmarine uniform so he was a sailor.  I thought that since he was manning an anti-aircraft gun that he might have been in the German Army.

Gunter Buhrdorf knew that the men (foreign laborers who were prisoners) secretly built the submarines poorly so they would not be effective, but there was little he could do about it.

When the air raid alarms would sound, sometimes everyone would sleep in the torpedo tubes for safety.In April 1945, the British captured Bremen.  After this, he fought with the infantry against the advancing Russians.

He suffered one injury on his retreat westward toward Berlin.  A 3-inch-long piece of shrapnel from a mortar shell clipped him in the back while he was dodging enemy fire.  It's his only war scar.

--GreGen

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