Gus Britton, a former museum historian and ex-WWII submariner, had a fascination with U-boats and their crews, many of whom he remained in contact with after the war. Amongst his collection, which the museum now owns, are signed photographs of U-boat captains, various crew shots and of course the U-boats themselves.




A recent acquisition, which is in the process of being copied and catalogued, is a set of 361 photographs taken during a war patrol in 1942 by German submarine U564 commanded by R R Suhren. It depicts the day-to-day life onboard ranging from the enigma machine being operated to a crew member using a makeshift bath; from gun practice to the cook baking a cake.