CHAPTER IX – “Helmut Rösel”
(98 pages, 63 photos, 4 technical illustrations)

The collectible items of the former combat swimmer Helmut Rösel, which was submitted for auction to the auctioneer Dr. Crott, contains not only his Panerai watch but also some documents from his time as a combat swimmer, some of which are extremely rare in this day and age. They give precise information about the stages of his training and his successful missions at the western and eastern fronts. The German Federal Cross of Merit, which was awarded to him in 1983 provided new insights, following our enquires at the Office of the Federal President, into his professional career in the Protestant Church, in which he was a pastor from 1961 and a military chaplain for the Bundeswehr from 1971. Letters written personally by him and a 1994 jewellery certificate for his Panerai watch are precious pieces of evidence are just as difficult to find in this day and age as the historic Panerai watches themselves.

CHAPTER IX.I – “The Rösel Radiomir”
Reference: 3646 / Type C
Dial: “Kampfschwimmer” (sandwich, anonymous)
Case number: 1010351
Movement: Rolex Cal. 618 / Type 1

Our book “History2″ is in stock can be ordered in our bookstore.

CHAPTER VIII – “Walter Lewandowski”
(72 pages, 48 photos, 4 technical illustrations)

Walter Lewandowski also followed an unusual path in the Second World War. In 1943 he was initially with the Luftwaffe as a paratrooper and pilot of a transport glider in “Battle Squadron 200”, then posted to the Navy, and immediately afterwards trained as a combat swimmer in Valdagno and in the Lagoon of Venice. After a failed mission on the Adriatic coast, where he managed to find his way back to his own lines overland after many days, he was then sent back to the Eastern Front in Germany for the last weeks of the war. There, as a member of the “Einsatzgruppe Keller”, he carried out a number of missions against the Soviet pontoon bridges. He first escaped captivity by the Soviet troops, who were advancing on Berlin with immense superiority of strength, but then on the island of Sylt he shared the fate of many other “Kampfschwimmer” and was a British prisoner of war until 1946.

CHAPTER VIII.I – “The Lewandowski Radiomir”
Reference: 3646 / Type C
Dial: “Radiomir Panerai” (sandwich, engraved)
Case number: 1010117
Movement: Rolex Cal. 618 / Type 1

Our book “History2″ is in stock can be ordered in our bookstore.

CHAPTER VII – “Hanns-Martin Kaufhold”
(70 pages, 58 photos, 6 technical illustrations)

This chapter about Hanns-Martin Kaufhold shows comprehensively just how helpful a collection of field post letters has been when researching this member of the “Einsatzgruppe Keller”. His correspondence with his then-girlfriend, which lasted more than three years from his entry into the Navy in 1942 until the end of his imprisonment in July 1945, provides information about the stages of his time as a trainee officer and combat swimmer. These rare documents, including identification papers and travel documents issued in Venice, allow us to reconstruct the route he took to the mission grounds at the Eastern Front. A mission report written by Hanns-Martin Kaufhold on April 3rd, 1945 – an unique and extremely rare document – describes a mission carried out by him and four comrades in the “Einsatzgruppe Keller”.

CHAPTER VII.I – “The Kaufhold Radiomir”
Reference: 3646 / Type D
Dial: “Kampfschwimmer” (sandwich, anonymous)
Case number: 260630
Movement: Rolex Cal. 618 / Type 1

Our book “History2″ is in stock can be ordered in our bookstore.

CHAPTER V – “Jochen Burnus”
(112 pages, 67 photos, 4 technical illustrations)

The chapter on Jochen Burnus describes his period of duty as a combat swimmer, from his posting away from Yugoslavia in 1944 and his training in northern Italy to his missions at the Elbe, where he ended up in American captivity in April 1945. After his release he worked in Hamburg Harbour as a recovery diver, together with other former combat swimmers, including Siegfried Köneke, who also belonged to the “Einsatzgruppe Keller” in the Second World War. Burnus later received his friend’s Panerai watch from Köneke’s parents, after Sigi was killed at the age of 28 in tragic circumstances while working in Hamburg Harbour on March 14th, 1949. Thus the stories of two combat swimmers merge inseparably and allow us to trace the journey of a combat swimmer watch and its earlier owners from 1944 to the present day.

CHAPTER V.II – “The Köneke Radiomir”
Reference: 3646 / Type D
Dial: “Kampfschwimmer” (sandwich, anonymous)
Case number: 260554
Movement: Rolex Cal. 618 / Type 1

Our book “History2″ is in stock can be ordered in our bookstore.

CHAPTER IX – “Helmut Rösel”
(98 pages, 63 photos, 4 technical illustrations)

The collectible items of the former combat swimmer Helmut Rösel, which was submitted for auction to the auctioneer Dr. Crott, contains not only his Panerai watch but also some documents from his time as a combat swimmer, some of which are extremely rare in this day and age. They give precise information about the stages of his training and his successful missions at the western and eastern fronts. The German Federal Cross of Merit, which was awarded to him in 1983 provided new insights, following our enquires at the Office of the Federal President, into his professional career in the Protestant Church, in which he was a pastor from 1961 and a military chaplain for the Bundeswehr from 1971. Letters written personally by him and a 1994 jewellery certificate for his Panerai watch are precious pieces of evidence are just as difficult to find in this day and age as the historic Panerai watches themselves.

Preview of page 778 – 779:
Helmut Rösel in his navy uniform. Beside other documents, kindly provided by auctioneer Dr. Crott for our research, this historic photo was submitted by a military collector, together with the watch and other very rare collectible items, for being auctioned in November 2012.

Preview of page 810 – 811:
One of the mission targets of Helmut Rösel and his “Kampfschwimmer” group: a railroad bridge across river Rhine, captured in an impressive aerial photo, taken by the U.S. Airforce a few days after the explosion, March 1945.

Preview of page 854 – 855:
Photo of Helmut Rösel’s Ref. 3646 / Type C watch with a current excerpt from our historical Panerai database. The complete restauration work on this watch is documented in several photos taken by a master watchmaker who brought back life into this fantastic Vintage Panerai.

Our new book “History2″ can be ordered in our bookstore.

CHAPTER VIII – “Walter Lewandowski”
(72 pages, 48 photos, 4 technical illustrations)

Walter Lewandowski also followed an unusual path in the Second World War. In 1943 he was initially with the Luftwaffe as a paratrooper and pilot of a transport glider in “Battle Squadron 200”, then posted to the Navy, and immediately afterwards trained as a combat swimmer in Valdagno and in the Lagoon of Venice. After a failed mission on the Adriatic coast, where he managed to find his way back to his own lines overland after many days, he was then sent back to the Eastern Front in Germany for the last weeks of the war. There, as a member of the “Einsatzgruppe Keller”, he carried out a number of missions against the Soviet pontoon bridges. He first escaped captivity by the Soviet troops, who were advancing on Berlin with immense superiority of strength, but then on the island of Sylt he shared the fate of many other “Kampfschwimmer” and was a British prisoner of war until 1946.

Preview of page 706 – 707:
One of several photos provided by the veteran himself, Walter Lewandowski, showing him in the rank of a pilot in 1943, serving the Luftwaffe before he became a “Kampfschwimmer” in Venice/Italy in the summer of 1944.

Preview of page 744 – 745:
Historical maps and photos underline in an impressive way the written history in the last weeks of the Second World War, giving the reader of “History2” an overview of the dramatic situation at the “2nd Byelorussian Front”, where the Soviet troops were fighting the “Operation Berlin” against the Germans at the river Oder.

Preview of page 766 – 767:
Photo of Walter Lewandowski’s Ref. 3646 / Type C watch with a current excerpt from our historical Panerai database.

Our new book “History2″ can be ordered in our bookstore.

CHAPTER VII – “Hanns-Martin Kaufhold”
(70 pages, 58 photos, 6 technical illustrations)

This chapter about Hanns-Martin Kaufhold shows comprehensively just how helpful a collection of field post letters has been when researching this member of the “Einsatzgruppe Keller”. His correspondence with his then-girlfriend, which lasted more than three years from his entry into the Navy in 1942 until the end of his imprisonment in July 1945, provides information about the stages of his time as a trainee officer and combat swimmer. These rare documents, including identification papers and travel documents issued in Venice, allow us to reconstruct the route he took to the mission grounds at the Eastern Front. A mission report written by Hanns-Martin Kaufhold on April 3rd, 1945 – an unique and extremely rare document – describes a mission carried out by him and four comrades in the “Einsatzgruppe Keller”.

Preview of page 636 – 637:
One of the photos provided by the son of Hanns-Martin Kaufhold, showing his father as a young sea cadet.

Preview of page 656 – 657:
1944: Hanns-Martin Kaufhold in the lagoon of Venice, where the training of the “Lehrkommando 700” units took place. He is wearing his Panerai Ref. 3646 / Type D watch on his right wrist on this historic photo, of which not too many are existing today.

Preview of page 688 – 689:
Photo of Hanns-Martin Kaufhold’s Ref. 3646 / Type D watch with a current excerpt from our historical Panerai database.

Our new book “History2″ can be ordered in our bookstore.

CHAPTER VI – “Manfred Lau”
(82 pages, 39 photos)

The chapter about the contemporary witness and author of the book “Schiffssterben vor Algier”, Manfred Lau, with whom we have been friendly since 2003, is a very special one. It is the “chapter without a watch”. Nevertheless, precisely his personal story is of great interest to us, as he is a veteran of the “Lehmann pig group”, who were trained for deployments with two-man torpedoes (SLC and SSB devices) on the island of Le Vignole in the Lagoon of Venice. In impressive and precise detail he describes the difficult journey from Hamburg through a Germany that was, by the autumn of 1944, severely marked by the scars of war, and down to northern Italy, where the secret training centre of the combat swimmers was located. The detailed memories of his training period to become a pilot of the two-man torpedoes (SLC / SSB), almost 70 years ago, and supplemented with historical maps and pictures, take the reader on a journey to the Adriatic coast. There the midshipman ended his time as a sea fighter with a march into captivity, from which he returned to Germany in 1948.

Preview of page 554 – 555:
One of the photos provided by the veteran himself, Manfred Lau, showing him as a young trainee officer in 1943 where he joined the Navy School in Flensburg.

Preview of page 596 – 597:
Manfred Lau describes in detail his training to become a SLC / SSB pilot in the lagoon of Venice, using instruments and tools from Panerai for underwater missions.

Preview of page 608 – 609:
Additional photos and illustrations from various sources, such as the Imperial War Museum London and the Istituto Geografico Militare Firenze, giving the reader an impressive insight of where, when and how SLC / SSB pilots have been exercised.

Our new book “History2″ can be ordered in our bookstore.

CHAPTER V – “Jochen Burnus”
(112 pages, 67 photos, 4 technical illustrations)

The chapter on Jochen Burnus describes his period of duty as a combat swimmer, from his posting away from Yugoslavia in 1944 and his training in northern Italy to his missions at the Elbe, where he ended up in American captivity in April 1945. After his release he worked in Hamburg Harbour as a recovery diver, together with other former combat swimmers, including Siegfried Köneke, who also belonged to the “Einsatzgruppe Keller” in the Second World War. Burnus later received his friend’s Panerai watch from Köneke’s parents, after Sigi was killed at the age of 28 in tragic circumstances while working in Hamburg Harbour on March 14th, 1949. Thus the stories of two combat swimmers merge inseparably and allow us to trace the journey of a combat swimmer watch and its earlier owners from 1944 to the present day.

Preview of page 458 – 459:
One of several photos provided by the veteran himself, Jochen Burnus, showing him in the rank of Lance Corporal in 1944 when he became a “Kampfschwimmer”.

Preview of page 510 – 511:
Photo of a helmet diver in the Hamburg harbour, where Jochen Burnus and other former “Kampfschwimmer” untis were working for the British soon after the Second World War, cleaning the Harbour from ship wrecks and mines.

Preview of page 542 – 543:
Photo of Sigi Köneke’s Ref. 3646 / Type D watch with a current excerpt from our historical Panerai database.

Our new book “History2″ can be ordered in our bookstore.

After two years of “hunting” for a specific document, of which we knew it must exist somewhere in the allied archives, an extract in shape of four important pages arrived today as high resolution images.

Historic documents are always a great addition for a chapter about the frogmen who used Panerai watches during the 2nd world war. They are not easy to find, but it has been always worth to hunt for them. In our book “History1” we have published similar documents of this kind (stated as “top secret” during and after WW2 aera), which have been helpful to explain the locations of the training camps in the area of Venice/Italy back in 1944 to our readers. Now, finally another batch of “top secret” documents from allied secret intelligence arrived, which we will be glad to use in chapter VIII of our new book “History2”.

Further details will be published soon. Thanks for being patient with us.
In the meantime: enjoy reading “History1″ from page 1 to 420…
[Ralf Ehlers & Volker Wiegmann]