Secret of U-boats in sea loch revealed

THEY were called the Grey Wolves, the Nazi U-Boats that nearly starved Britain to defeat in the Second World War.

Nobody knew what became of them for decades, but now a new book has finally revealed the untold secret surrender of 33 German submarines in one of Scotland's most remote corners.

For 12 days from 10 May 1945, the U-boats sailed into the little-visited Loch Eriboll, near Cape Wrath, on Scotland's north coast. It was the biggest ever gathering of Nazi submarines, and it was top secret.

The book, The Grey Wolves of Eriboll, has been written by a retired council official who was born in 1945. David Hird spent two years tracking every single one of the submarines. He knew from local gossip that the U-boats had come in to the loch, but he had no idea how many.

Hird, an Englishman by birth, said: "The crews were happy to surrender in Scotland. It was the Russians they were worried about. They just didn't want to give up to them."

Hird believes equipment, including explosives, was simply hurled over the side of the vessels into the loch.

Surrendered submarines included U-1231, which was used as the U-boat pack's "off-licence" and was laden with wine.

Locals living near the 10-mile long Loch Eriboll were sworn to secrecy after the war. Hird, however, managed to speak to a few elderly people who remembered seeing the vessels. He also interviewed crew from British and Canadian ships who escorted some of the U-boats into the remote Scottish inlet.

Germany's Atlantic U-boats were all eventually scuttled by the British.