Bob A (SD)
Well-known member
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...oments-crew-surrendered-end-World-War-11.html
Resurfacing after 68 years: The binoculars taken from a U-boat commander moments after crew surrendered at the end of World War 11
By Daily Mail Reporter
PUBLISHED: 05:39 EST, 4 May 2013 | UPDATED: 05:50 EST, 4 May 2013
A British naval officer stands proudly displaying round his neck a pair of binoculars taken from a sullen U-boat commander moments after he surrendered.
Now the German Zeiss binoculars have surfaced 68 years later as a valuable antique.
Lieutenant Bill Elliott was pictured on the conning tower of the submarine wearing the newly-acquired binoculars while their defeated German owner glumly looks on behind him.
He boarded the the U-249 after it sailed into Weymouth, Dorset at the end of World War Two.
Lt Elliott wrote in the vessel's visitor's book of his 'great pleasure' at being the first British seaman to board the captured U-boat.
Both the binoculars and the book were handed down to his son Tony Elliot, who also went to to serve in the Royal Navy and became a commodore before retiring.
Cdre Elliott used the trusty German binoculars throughout his navy career and even relies on them today while sailing his private yacht.
He took them along with the book to BBC's Antiques Roadshow. and was told by Roadshow expert Graham Lay that the German Ziess binoculars were the best ever built.
They were issued in 1943 to Oberleutnant Uwe Kock who was the commander of U-249, which shot down a British Mosquito plane in 1944, killing its navigator.
On May 9, 1945 all German submarine commanders were instructed to surrender and U-249 arrived in Weymouth Bay, Dorset, the following day.
Lt Elliott was ordered to take the surrender and command of the submarine.
He signed the visitors' book: 'This submarine surrendered to the Royal Navy in Weymouth Bay on May 10, 1945. As first British commanding officer I have the greatest pleasure in signing the visitors' book.'
Cdre Elliott, 68, from Monmouth, said: 'The first thing he liberated was this lovely pair of binoculars from Commander Kock as well as the visitors' book.
'He must have put them round his neck almost immediately as the photograph shows him and Kock on the conning tower in Weymouth Bay.
'He used the binoculars for the rest of his navy career and when he died I inherited them and used them for the remainder of my career at sea.
Antique: BBC's Antiques Roadshow expert Graham Lay told Commander Tony Elliot that the German Ziess binoculars were the best ever built
Antique: BBC's Antiques Roadshow expert Graham Lay told Commander Tony Elliot that the German Ziess binoculars were the best ever built
'I still use them today when I am out on my yacht. They are fantastic and have the most incredible optics.'
Mr Lay said: "' love Second World War binoculars because in my view they're some of the best binoculars ever built.
'They're incredibly bright. They're a fixed focus so you can't focus them. There is an adjustment for each eye piece. It is a very unusual find.'
The binoculars are due to feature on the Antiques Roadshow this Sunday.
Resurfacing after 68 years: The binoculars taken from a U-boat commander moments after crew surrendered at the end of World War 11
By Daily Mail Reporter
PUBLISHED: 05:39 EST, 4 May 2013 | UPDATED: 05:50 EST, 4 May 2013
A British naval officer stands proudly displaying round his neck a pair of binoculars taken from a sullen U-boat commander moments after he surrendered.
Now the German Zeiss binoculars have surfaced 68 years later as a valuable antique.
Lieutenant Bill Elliott was pictured on the conning tower of the submarine wearing the newly-acquired binoculars while their defeated German owner glumly looks on behind him.
He boarded the the U-249 after it sailed into Weymouth, Dorset at the end of World War Two.
Lt Elliott wrote in the vessel's visitor's book of his 'great pleasure' at being the first British seaman to board the captured U-boat.
Both the binoculars and the book were handed down to his son Tony Elliot, who also went to to serve in the Royal Navy and became a commodore before retiring.
Cdre Elliott used the trusty German binoculars throughout his navy career and even relies on them today while sailing his private yacht.
He took them along with the book to BBC's Antiques Roadshow. and was told by Roadshow expert Graham Lay that the German Ziess binoculars were the best ever built.
They were issued in 1943 to Oberleutnant Uwe Kock who was the commander of U-249, which shot down a British Mosquito plane in 1944, killing its navigator.
On May 9, 1945 all German submarine commanders were instructed to surrender and U-249 arrived in Weymouth Bay, Dorset, the following day.
Lt Elliott was ordered to take the surrender and command of the submarine.
He signed the visitors' book: 'This submarine surrendered to the Royal Navy in Weymouth Bay on May 10, 1945. As first British commanding officer I have the greatest pleasure in signing the visitors' book.'
Cdre Elliott, 68, from Monmouth, said: 'The first thing he liberated was this lovely pair of binoculars from Commander Kock as well as the visitors' book.
'He must have put them round his neck almost immediately as the photograph shows him and Kock on the conning tower in Weymouth Bay.
'He used the binoculars for the rest of his navy career and when he died I inherited them and used them for the remainder of my career at sea.
Antique: BBC's Antiques Roadshow expert Graham Lay told Commander Tony Elliot that the German Ziess binoculars were the best ever built
Antique: BBC's Antiques Roadshow expert Graham Lay told Commander Tony Elliot that the German Ziess binoculars were the best ever built
'I still use them today when I am out on my yacht. They are fantastic and have the most incredible optics.'
Mr Lay said: "' love Second World War binoculars because in my view they're some of the best binoculars ever built.
'They're incredibly bright. They're a fixed focus so you can't focus them. There is an adjustment for each eye piece. It is a very unusual find.'
The binoculars are due to feature on the Antiques Roadshow this Sunday.
