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Blogs by Bill Flynn
SABATOURS PUT ON OUR SHORES 10/4/2008 8:22:18 AM
During WWll there were two incidents of German Sabatours launched from U-Boats. At the height of world war two in a rocky coastal town in Maine a lady was driving home from a bingo game on a rainy winter night. She noticed two men dressed in long leather coats and wearing hats of same material walking along the road. She thought them very much out of place in this town of fishermen and farmers and called her friend the chief of police. He notified the FBI and they were captured, tried and sentenced to death. It was later learned that they were launched from a U-Boat and paddled to the deserted shore in a rubber raft.
The second incident occured on the shores of Long Island, New York. A young Coast Guardsmnan patroling the shorelne by foot was alerted by the sound of a racing engine off shore. Then down the beach he saw two men dragging a rubber raft ashore. He approached them and asked where they were coming from. One man, who spoke perfect English, told them that their fishing boat had run aground.
When the coast guard lad asked too many questions, the German threatened him and then said (I paraphrase) Here's $500, you never saw us...right? The Coastguard youngster took the money and the would-be sabatours went on their way.
When the Germans were out of sight he ran to beach patrol headquarters and reported to his superior, showing him the money, that ironicaly turned out to be short of $500 at $485. Further investigation revealed that the submarine that launched the men had run aground on a sand bar...the racing engine the lad heard was the successful attempt to free it.
These sabatours were aprehended some time later, tried and convicted.
Those true stories prompted me to write a work of fiction about three teenagers growing up on Cape Cod during WWll who among other things stumble upon two sabatours launched from a German Submarine. The backstory takes place at sea and in France. The U-Boat commander who launched the sabtours is not enamoured by the Nazi regime and falls dangerously in love with a French girl connected to the resistance. This book is in processs to be published in 2009. The published one by me is titled THE FEATHERY. It's available at Amazon and in some bookstores. The synopsis & reviews are on Amazon.
