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Talk:Theodor Detmers

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Untitled

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This is the first I have seen of the claim that Kormoran may have possessed the Straat Malakka's secret call sign. Do you have a better source for this? There is a broken link. Also, I understand he won the Iron Cross before the Sydney action. When?PatGallacher (talk) 17:22, 8 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Theodor Detmers and his wife Ursula.

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It is untrue that Kormoran had the secret call sign of Straat Malakka. This was maintained by telegraphist from Kormoran during interrogation in December 1941, and maintained by the Wireless Officer von Malapert in an interview shortly before his death. This was also the finding of the Department of Defence Commission of Inquiry, 2008-2009. Editors please note: It is untrue that Captain Theodor Detmers never married. I am unsure of the date of his marriage, but his wife was Ursula nee Reinhardt. I visited her in Hamburg in 1990, and she stayed with us for several days during her visit to Australia a year or two later. Detmers was awarded the Iron Cross after the Norway campaign in 1940, and the Ritterkreuz shortly after the engagement in which Kormoran sank Sydney, November 1941. This is all stated in the wikipedia article. If I do not cite any authority, it is because I am the Barbara Winter who wrote the book "HMAS Sydney: Fact, Fantasy and Fraud" (1984) and it is my book that people cite as an authority. Meerkatz. Meerkatz (talk) 14:26, 31 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Theodor Detmers - Correct Facts

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I have been asked by Dr. Hans-Günther Jantzen (living nephew of Theodor Detmers) to provide the following facts about his uncle's life in order to correct his webpage. My name is David Mearns and I located the wreck of Kormoran in 2008.

  • After being repatriated to Germany in 1947, captain Detmers lived for several years in the family of his sister, Käthe Jantzen,

in Hamburg-Rahlstedt.

  • In 1952 he found an apartment near by in the villa owned by the family Reinhardt. During the following

years he wrote his book of the cruise of KORMORAN.

Photo of Theodor Detmers taken by anon. during World War II.

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Kapitän Detmers was taken prisoner immediately after the sinking of the Sydney - the action for which he received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Since Detmers is wearing his Knight's Cross in this photo, either he received the insignia while in captivity, (i.e. passed to him via the Allies) or this is a post war photo of him dressed up in his old uniform. Does anyone know the answer? If the former it would be worth noting in the article as this is unusual. If the latter, the photo is incorrectly titled. Helensq (talk) 21:38, 5 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]