Bidspirit auction | WW2 German Uboat commander Helmut

WW2 German Uboat commander Helmut Witte U169 signed rare Navy cover. 40th ann Rescue of prisoners from German ship Altmark. Scarce Hans Rossbach cover with printed Biography on back of cover and info inside. Helmut Witte On 8 April 1934, he joined the Reichsmarine and received his basic military training until 13 June in the II. Department of the Schiffsstammdivision der Ostsee in Stralsund. He completed his training on 20 September 1936 with promotion to Fähnrich zur See. He then served on the light cruiser Köln from 21 September 1936 to 24 March 1938. During this time he was promoted to Oberfähnrich zur See (1 January 1937) and to Leutnant zur See (1 April 1937). On 25 March 1938, Witte became First Officer on the torpedo boat Kondor, and later on the boats Seeadler and Tiger, with which he took part in security missions during the Spanish Civil War. From September 7, 1939 to April 11, 1940, Witte was second officer on the destroyer Anton Schmitt, on which he took part in the occupation of Narvik in April 1940 as part of Operation Weserübung. After the destroyer was sunk, Witte took part in the fighting for Narvik ashore until May 1940. After his return to Germany, he transferred to the U-boat force on July 1, where he attended various U-boat training courses until mid-December. On December 22, 1940, Witte became first officer of the watch on U 107 under the command of Günter Hessler, with which he sailed on two combat tours. After attending the commander's course from July 28 to September 7, 1941, Witte was seconded to the construction instruction for U 159, whose commander he became on October 4, 1941. He had already been promoted to lieutenant commander on September 1. On four combat missions, Witte sank 23 ships with a total of 119, 693 GRT with U-159, for which he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on October 22, 1942. On 4 June 1943 Witte handed over command to Heinz Beckmann and was subsequently hospitalized until November. He suffered repeated bouts of severe tonsillitis, which he had to cure after handing the boat over to Beckmann. U 159 was sunk by a US fighter-bomber on its first combat patrol under the new command on 15 July 1943. After his recovery Witte attended the Naval Academy in Bad Homburg vor der Höhe until February 1944 and was then a member and advisor to the Shipbuilding Commission from March to April 1944. In April 1944 he transferred to the small combat units of the Kriegsmarine, where he served as the permanent representative of Vice Admiral Hellmuth Heye at the Naval High Command. Towards the end of the war he was also head of the Einsatzgruppe Panther (combat swimmers) in the Rhine-Weser area. After May 8, 1945, Witte was initially assigned to the Naval High Command of the Baltic Sea. There, he served as naval liaison officer to the British VIII Corps in Schleswig-Holstein. He was then briefly taken prisoner of war by the British, from which he was released on July 14, 1945.