could a 5 yr old child have been evacuated from cologne to ireland on a submarine during ww2?

Question

my nan says that in ww2 she was evacuated from cologne to ireland on a submarine some how i dont think that is entirely true.

please could someone please help me here...
mikeyboi

Answer 1

Not likely, but possible.

Answer 2

You don't really give much information.

Her story sounds impossible - but in war anything is possible.

One part of her story can not be entirely true - the Rhine at Cologne is freshwater and that is a problem for submarines.

You don't say when your nan was born which would help. You don't even say which country the submarine was supposed to belong to.

I've listed some possible events that could have impressed themselves on your nan, if she was in Germany in WWII.

In 1939 there was an evacuation of foreign embassy staff and again when the US entered the war.

All through the war there were rumours of German Agents being dropped in Eire by submarine. Did your great grandfather belong to one of Hitler's free armies?

In 1945, Operation Deadlight was put into action. This was the scuttling of German U-boats. Of the 154 U-boats surrendered, 121 were scuttled in deep water off Lisahally, Northern Ireland. That puts U-Boats in the vicinity of Eire. Some of the U-Boats came from the Kiel evacuations, which is a more likely city than Cologne.

Also some of the U-Boats, that did not surrender immediately are very mysterious. U-234, supposedly, was how Eichman got to South America and U-977 surrended off the River Plate.

See if you can get her birth certificate.

If the date falls after 1940 you might try posting your question on the attached link.

Answer 3

everything is possible. At the end of the war, many ships have evacuated germans. Mostly for the sowjet army.

Perhaps a German sailor wanted to secure his family. The Submarine must not have started in Cologne. Perhaps it was in a harbor in the netherlands...

Answer 4

Doubt it unless it was a stolen experimental midget sub that travelled along rivers since Cologne isn`t a port on the coast unless Germany`s geography has changed drastically since WW2 (apart from losing the stolen territories I mean LOL).

Answer 5

why not believe her I've heard of a couple who had the same thing happen and on the history channel they also acknowledge the fact that some people escaped the Nazis by submarine.

Answer 6

why would a bunch of 'male' submariners want a 5 year old girl on a sub? weirdos

i hope she arrived safe & sound

Answer 7

cologne is hundreds of miles from the sea

Answer 8

during a war anything is possible?