German raider "Wolf"

[Doug Johnson]

I have been researching and identifying the prisoners taken by the German raider “Wolf” and have a list of about half of them. (some 600+ being taken) The following is all the publications that I know of written by prisoners.

Alexander, Roy Henry

Wireless operator on the SS Wairuna. Believed to have been a PoW in Germany.

“The cruise of the German Raider Wolf”

Recently reprinted copies widely available. Does not include details beyond arrival in Germany

Cameron, John Stanley

Captain of the Beluga. Was aboard the Ingotz Mendi when it went aground off Denmark.

“The Sea Wolf’s Prey”; Sunshine Magazine, August 1918, Vol 41:2 pp14-16, 66-67.

“The Sea Wolf’s Prey”; Sunshine Magazine, September 1918, Vol 41:3 pp20-23, 72-74

“The Sea Wolf’s Prey”; Sunshine Magazine, October 1918, Vol41:4 pp 30-33, 69-72

“The Sea Wolf’s Prey”; Sunshine Magazine, November 1918, Vol 41:5 pp 41-45

“Ten Months on a German Raider”;

One copy of book seen for sale at £60+

Clarke, Alfred Henry Frank

Passsenger on the Hitachi Maru. Was PoW in Germany at Gustrow, Holzminden and Ruhleben

“To Kiel on the German Raider Wolf; and Beyond”;

One photocopy seen in IWM

Donaldson, Alec, OBE

Captain of the SS Matunga. Was in Germany as PoW at Karlsruhe, Heidelburg, Uchetmoor and Clausthal

“The amazing cruise of the German Raider Wolf”

Although not recent, copies available cheaply

Trayes, Frederick George

Passsenger on the Hitachi Maru. Was aboard the Ingotz Mendi when it went aground off Denmark.

“Five Months on a German Raider”;

Free on the internet. Copies of book seen at £30+

Trudgett, Robert D

Captain of the Winslow. Believed to have been in Germany as a PoW

“Hell holes on Land and Sea”; Sunshine Magazine, May 1919 Vol 42:5 pp 30-32

Unidentified

Blackwoods Magazine, June and July 1918

From the date this was probably someone who was on the Ingotz Mendi, possibly Trayes.

Unidentified

“Souvenir 'Demosthenes'. To reflect Life aboard the Troopship 'Demosthenes' on her Voyage from the Mother Country to Australia in January-February 1919”.

From the date, someone who was in Germany wrote the article contained in it about being a prisoner of the Wolf. Possibly Alexander or Donaldson.

Copy seen for sale at £100+

I have copies of Alexander’s, Donaldson’s and Trayes’ books. If anyone knows where I can get hold of relatively cheap copies of the other books (£60 is a little too much for my budget) or has access to the magazines please let me know.

Also does anyone know of any more first hand accounts?

I have a good list of the prisoners from the Matunga and the Wairuna and a number of passengers from the Hitachi Maru but only the odd names from the Beluga, Dee, Encore, Ingotz Mendi, John H Kirby, Jumma, Marcheval Davout, Storo Brore, Turitella, Winslow and the Wordsworth. If anyone knows of any passenger lists from these could they also please let me know

Doug

[bob lembke]

I have copies of Alexander’s, Donaldson’s and Trayes’ books. If anyone knows where I can get hold of relatively cheap copies of the other books (£60 is a little too much for my budget) or has access to the magazines please let me know.

Doug

The most efficient way to look for a given book for sale and get a good price is to haunt www.abebooks.com , which has about 70 million used books listed at any given time. It will give you a good idea of the market for a given book world-wide. There are specialty military book stores, in London, New York, and Washington, D.C., for example, but several years ago, when the books of the official German series Schlachten des Weltkrieges could often be found for about 7 DM (now they typically are 7 Euros) these stores, at least in the US, charged $60 a pop. (As I have about 55-60 copies of 37 of the 38 books in the series, I obviously saved a bit by poking about.)

Trolling on e-Bay takes a lot of time, but can be fun, and you might get a scarce book for less (or more) than a dealer would sell it for. Sometimes you can buy a book that seems to be cataloged in only one or two of the major libraries in the world for $5-10. Google on the name of some of the major libraries in the world (Library of Congress, New York Public Library, one or two major universities in the US; British Library in UK; Deutsche Bibliotek {Frankfurt and Leipzig} in Germany - to get their on-line catalogs, which can give good info on a scarce book. I have a number of these catalogs saved as "favorites" for rapid access.

Bob Lembke

[aconnolly]

Even better than ABE is Bookfinder - it basically searches ABE and many other used book sites. ABE is great as you can leave a "want", but bookfinder will have many titles not on ABE.

http://www.bookfinder.com/

[bob lembke]

Even better than ABE is Bookfinder - it basically searches ABE and many other used book sites. ABE is great as you can leave a "want", but bookfinder will have many titles not on ABE.

http://www.bookfinder.com/

I will have to look at Bookfinder.

A Berlin university maintains a mega-search site that included, about a year ago, ten book search systems, including abebooks and the German system, ZVAB. The system is supported by the German Federal government. The address eludes my flagging memory, but I could probably excavate it if anyone wants a citation. Abebooks covers most of the books.

Bob Lembke