The real U-330, a Type-VIIC, was a noncommissioned U-boat (canceled on July 22, 1944 and broken up). Apart from U-39, all the other U-boats referred to were also noncommissioned or never laid down (see www.uboat.net for details). I did this to minimize dissonance for readers familiar with commissioned numbers, their commanders, crews, and war records.
U-boat men were notably superstitious, but a great deal of their ‘bad luck’ was attributable to Alan Turing and the code-breakers of Bletchley Park.
Forty thousand men served in U-boats during World War II. Thirty thousand never came back.
F. R. Tallis,
London, 2014
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
F. R. TALLIS is a writer and clinical psychologist. He has written self-help manuals, non-fiction for the general reader, academic text books, over thirty academic papers in international journals, and several novels. Between 1999 and 2012 he received or was shortlisted for numerous awards, including the New London Writers’ Award, the Ellis Peters Historical Dagger, the Elle Prix de Letrice, and two Edgars. His critically acclaimed Liebermann series (written as Frank Tallis) has been translated into fourteen languages and optioned for TV adaptation. His latest books are The Forbidden, The Sleep Room, and The Voices. This novel, The Passenger, is his latest.
For more on Frank Tallis, visit his website www.franktallis.com or follow him on Twitter @FrankTallis