William Geroux Bücher

On July 4, 1942, four Allied ships broke away from their damaged convoy to navigate the treacherous Arctic ice fields, seeking refuge from Nazi bombers and U-boats. This risky decision offered them a better chance of survival than the thirty-five cargo ships of Convoy PQ-17, which were transporting war supplies worth a billion dollars to the Soviet port of Archangel. This convoy represented the limited support from Roosevelt and Churchill to Stalin, as they maintained a fragile alliance while avoiding direct involvement in the European conflict. The high-stakes politics affecting Convoy PQ-17 were far removed from the thoughts of the diverse crews aboard. U.S. Navy Ensign Howard Carraway, a farm boy from South Carolina, faced his first taste of war on the SS Troubadour, while Ensign William Carter, aboard the SS Ironclad, had turned down Harvard Business School to join the Navy Armed Guard. Meanwhile, the narrative highlights the diplomatic maneuvers of Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin that jeopardized the ships. With relentless Arctic daylight and the looming threat of the German battleship Tirpitz, the crew members navigated dangers both natural and man-made. As the alliance teetered on the brink of collapse, the fate of the world hung in the balance.

Mathews County, Virginia, a remote outpost on the Chesapeake Bay, contributed an unusually high number of sea captains to World War II. This narrative unfolds through the experiences of one remarkable family whose seven sons, all U.S. merchant mariners, faced the imminent threat of U-boats in 1942. From the late 1930s to 1945, merchant ships carried essential supplies for the Allies, as the Navy was initially unprepared to protect them after Pearl Harbor. These unarmed vessels became prime targets for U-boats, with Hitler aiming to sink as many American ships as possible to instill fear among mariners. As the war progressed, men from Mathews sailed across the North and South Atlantic, the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, the Mediterranean, the Indian Ocean, and even the icy Barents Sea, confronting perilous conditions like the Murmansk Run. Their harrowing journeys included encounters with torpedo explosions, flaming oil slicks, storms, shark attacks, mine blasts, and desperate lifeboat escapes. Many faced tragic fates, while others returned to sea, ready to ship out again after surviving the horrors of war.

Exploring a little-known chapter of World War II, this true story uncovers the existence of POW camps for German soldiers in small U.S. towns and the dark events surrounding them. It highlights the secret Nazi killings that involved fifteen courageous American POWs, leading to a tense confrontation. The narrative sheds light on the complexities of wartime morality and the unexpected intersections of enemy lives in America.