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CPO
William Arthur Baker and the Kreigsmarine Flag "My late father, William Arthur Baker, was a CPO on HMS Diadem, He was onboard at Biscay, D-Day, convoy escorts and the visit to Copenhagen. I have a large Kreigsmarine Nazi flag, which he brought back. He said it flew over a German naval base in Norway. Would you have an idea which base this would have been from HMS Diadem’s ports of call after Copenhagen? I intend to give the flag to a museum. "I have attached a picture. It measures 65” x 35”. My late father was a shipwright and kept it in his toolbox until he retired in 1974! He joined up in 1940 and would have stayed on for longer if let be. He wrote a daily diary but some of the war years are missing, possible embargo? I think a lot of the sailors had love affairs with the girls at Copenhagen from some letters I found!!! "I also attach a copy of my father’s R.N. records. He was a “Joiner 3rd Class”, whilst serving on HMS Diadem. He was onboard for just over 2 years. I wrote to U-Boat story about the flag but did not even have an acknowledgement! I will try a museum in Norway. There is of course a big Naval Museum in Portsmouth Dockyard. The records show he received a share of “The Naval Prize Fund” in August 1945. I presume this was from captured enemy vessels?" - Tony Baker 2011 Here
are the two photos Tony sent, reproduced with his permission: Footnote: I did
some digging for Tony re the movements of Diadem after Copenhagen.
I think the ship berthed there twice and went to Oslo in between:
Puzzles solved and input from the online community of WWII naval experts.
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