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| Signatures on this item | |
| *The value given for each signature has been calculated by us based on the historical significance and rarity of the signature. Values of many pilot signatures have risen in recent years and will likely continue to rise as they become more and more rare. | |
| Name | Info |
  Karl-Friedrich Merten (deceased) *Signature Value : £70 (clipped) | Karl-Friedrich Merten was born in 1905, joining the navy in 1928. After a ten year stint on warships and serving on the WW1 battleship Schleswig-Holstein during the attack on the Polish Westerplatte in Septmeber 1939, Merten joined the U-boat arm on 1st May 1940. He operated all over the world, patrolling in the Atlantic, the Caribbean and the Indian Oceans. U-68 was in the U-boat wolfpack Eisbar (Polar Bear) which in the course of a few weeks during September - October 1942 sank more than 100,000 tons of shipping off South Africa. In January 1943 Merten became the commander of the 26th U-boat Flotilla in Pillau. There the new U-boat crews received their final training before going to the front. In March 1943 Merten moved to the 24th U-Boat Flotilla in Memel where he also was the flotilla commander. This was the training flotilla for future Commanders. After Merten gave up command of U-68, the boat had 4 commanders during the next 15 months. On April 10th 1944 U-68 was sunk off Madeira, Portugal by aircraft from the carrier USS Guadalcanal. A lookout survived. The remaining 56 crew members went down with the boat. After the war Merten salvaged sunken ships in the Rhine river along with another famous former U-boat commander, Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock. Later he wroked in the shipbuilding industry. In his time commanding U-68 he sank 27 ships - over 170 thousand tons of shipping, making him the 7th most successful u-boat Ace. He was awarded the Knights Cross with Oak Leaves. Karl-Friedrich Merten died 2nd May 1993. |
  Klaus Scholtz (deceased) *Signature Value : £60 (clipped) | Klaus Scholtz commanded U-108 during World War Two, sinking a total tonnage of 111,546 tons. He was awarded the Knights Cross with Oak Leaves, and was the Kriegsmarines 18th ranked u-boat Ace. Klaus Scholtz joined the German Navy in 1927 and before the outbreak of world war two, spent his first naval years on the german Torpedo Boats G-8, G-11 and Jaguar. He joined the U-boat arm of the Kriegsmarine in April 1940 and joined the new Type IXB U-Boat U-108 sailing on their first patrol in February 1941 where U-108 sank 2 ships. in April 1941 on their second patrol in the Straits of Denmark, U-108 sank the AMC Rajputana, the British Armed Merchant Cruiser. Klaus Scholtz commanded U-108 on three more Atalantic patrols, and in January 1942 Scholtz took U-108 to join the U-baot attacks on Allied shipping of the Coast of the US sinking five more ships. He had a further two more patrols until October 1942 when Klaus Scholtz became the commander of the 12th Flotilla based at Bordeaux. The 12th Flotilla was equipped with long range U-Boats which operated in the South Atalntic and also the Indian Ocean. Scholtz commanded this flotilla until August 1944. he was captured by the Americans and spent 18 mpnths as a prisoner of war. Klaus Scholtz died 1st May 1987 |
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This website is owned by Cranston Fine Arts. Torwood House, Torwoodhill Road, Rhu, Helensburgh, Scotland, G848LE Contact: Tel: (+44) (0) 1436 820269. Email: cranstonorders -at- outlook.com
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