Villa Winter: A secret U Boot base in Spain

[Simon Gunson]

This story blows me away. Secret underwater entrances for u-boats into a secret island sanctuary. Hey Ordruf all is forgiven.

This so much reminds me of a movie "Our Man Flint" featuring a secret submarine base inside an island which sounds just like Villa Winter.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Man_Flint

Does life imitate art or rather is it the other way around?

[Ironmachine]

As no one has ever shown a credible proof of the existence of such secret submarine base at Lanzarote, it seems to be art imitating art...

[Simon Gunson]

As no one has ever shown a credible proof of the existence of such secret submarine base at Lanzarote, it seems to be art imitating art...

http://www.laprovincia.es/dominical/201 ... 03293.html

http://comunidad.laprovincia.es/galeria ... 475/2.html

http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/sh ... nco-Hitler

http://www.history.canaryventura.com/Villadewinter.html

I guess this is just an imaginary article in a Spanish Canarian newspaper LA PROVINCIA from September 2005? :roll:

Credible proof?

[JTG]

No.

Please show any U-Boat connection.

I do not read Spanish, so, please conform to the forum rules and provide a translation of the press article.

Thanks,

John

[Ironmachine]

Well, I do read Spanish , and there is nothing in the La Provincia's article that relates it to German submarines and much less to Villa Winter. This is not Villa Winter, but a Spanish military fortress, and the article specifically states that:
-The first project is from 1944, and the works were finished in the 50s;
-It was part of a Spanish project for the naval base developed by the Dirección de Construcciones e Industrias Navales Militares;
-The tunnels do not reach the sea or the naval base;
-There is no proof of German involvement in the project.
So no, this is not an imaginary article; but IT IS NOT AN ARTICLE ABOUT VILLA WINTER OR GERMAN SUBMARINE BASES IN THE CANARIES DURING WORLD WAR II, EITHER.
Is that your credible proof? :roll:

[JTG]

Well, no. The references to Franco were a BIT of a giveaway....

Some very nice fortifications there, though!

Cheers,

John

[Streckenbach]

Villa Winter and no end !
I do not understand why still are some people talking about Villa Winter are loctad on Lanzarote.Villa Winter still exist
on the same place like ever,as I stated on my first posting regarding this issue.On the west side of the island of Fuerteventura not far from the little village of Morro Jable.It was build by Mr. Winter (purpose unknown,but a lot rumours about it) and had nothing to do with the spanish military force or being a spanish fortress.Since I use to be at Fuerteventura for two years,I happen to be there quite often.I listen to a lot of different stories regarding this building
and Mr.Winter (General,Nazileader or even SS Fuehrer) which no one can confirm.The only fact that remains are the Villa as a such,standing there like allways.The only spanish Force which has been and still is,are the Spanish foreign Legion
in a huge military compound very near to the capital of this Island Puerto Rosario.
Sreckenbach

[Axel N]

This often recalled mystery about Villa Winter and its believed secret U-boat base is one of the many examples for stories being fabricated and pushed by wannabe historians and or conspiracy hunters who do not care about the truth. They just consider it as a chance to get a little bit publicity which seems to be so important in someones life. The more we talk on topics like this (and there are a lot more on this and other forums), the more these people get what they are out for. Imagine, someone asks silly questions or offers ridiculous speculations, and nobody replies! Instead, it would be most welcome to return to serious topics in concern with U-boats. There is still a lot that can be researched in a proper way. I just remember that there is no list in existance which lists surviving U-boat men picked up by the Allies after the destruction of their boats in combat. Fragmentary information is instead spread over a vast amount of website or primary documents. The same applies to many other statistical information (total number of patrols, total number of torpedoes fired, hits, misses) which will be useful for qualified research. But, as always, hard work is most often avoided by those starting threads on real bulls...!

Just a statement

Cheers

Axel N

[Popp-Köhler]

Has anyone thought about researching a possible connection between Gustav Winter and the Abwehr?

[British Sapper]

I think the area around Villa Winter was a r&r area for the U-boat crews that operated in the Atlantic. There's some discussion here on this ex-pat Fuerteventura forum, especially the links.

http://www.fuerteventura-forum.com/topi ... lla,winter

[Popp-Köhler]

I think the area around Villa Winter was a r&r area for the U-boat crews that operated in the Atlantic. There's some discussion here on this ex-pat Fuerteventura forum, especially the links.

http://www.fuerteventura-forum.com/topi ... lla,winter

Interesting link Sapper, thank you. I will add the following comments...consider the following:

Gustav Winter lived in Berlin until I believe 1943, in the same building (albeit much bigger apartment) as my family at one time did. His villa was built in 1937, the dawn of Nazi ascendency, three years after the death of Hindenburg. The Villa was intended as a retreat and likely a refuge as it became apparent that Europe was going to be plunged into war. It would be interesting to know when Winter made the final trek to Fuertaventura...this should be fairly easy to determine.

The Kriegsmarine would be foolish to build and/or utlise an R&R outpost that would expose crews to so many miles of open sea. Not to mention the total absence of fueling and maintenance infrastructure. And you would certainly not build a villa that could so easily be bombed from the air or shelled from the sea.

If Gustav Winter was an Abwehr agent who ran or collaborated with Operation Rat Line, US/Allied counterintelligence would have certainly triangulated this from postwar interrogations and this data would have since become public record vis a vis a Freedom of Information Act request from US military archives.

And if CIS had missed anything from interrogating Abwehr agents, then certainly Elie Weisel or Argentine government records opened in the 1990s would have linked Villa Winter to Nazi activities. Gustav Winter was living freely on Fuertanventura after the war. It would be logical to conclude he had nothing to hide.

If there was anything resembling a "glass volcanic dome" it is highly improbable it would have included a navigable conduit for a scuba diver, much less a U-Boat.

And finally, the "mysterious dark glasses". Stare at a whitewashed building in Lanzarote in the blazing sun without protection and your retinas will start boiling. I challenge anyone to find one German zipping around the Canary Islands today not wearing "mysterious dark glasses".

[Åkerberg]

Hallo!

http://www.villawinter.com/

[Ironmachine]

And of course, if the Germans really had a secret submarine base at Villa Winter, then why did they put their submarines in danger and risked and Allied invasion of the Canaries by resupplying their submarines in harbours in the Canary Islands?

[...]el Ministro de Marina informó al comandante naval de Canarias que los días 1, 3 y 5 de marzo [de 1941] varios submarinos alemanes serían reabastecidos en el Corrientes, ordenándole que diera las mayores facilidades para su realización y las mantuviera en secreto. Los días 3 y 5 fueron reabastecidos el U-124 y el U-106, mientras que el día 1 no hubo ninguna operación de este tipo sino el 4, protagonizada por el U-105. En junio hubo dos más: el día 24 a cargo del U-123 y el 30 para el U-69. La última tuvo lugar el 5 de julio, cuando entró en el puerto el U-103. Todas fueron documentadas por Charles Burdick, conservándose algunos documentos españoles en los que se demuestra el conocimiento de estas actividades por las autoridades españolas. El ministro de marina avisaba previamente al comandante naval de Canarias, ordenándole el mayor secreto, tal y como se hizo a finales de febrero, el 24 de junio y el 3 de julio. Éste último confirmaba la realización de los abastecimientos, según se puede comprobar en los radiotelegramas emitidos el 7 de marzo, 25 de junio y 6 de julio.

http://acceda.ulpgc.es/bitstream/10553/1552/1/5265.pdf

[Ironmachine]

Something more:

En Canarias tienen cierto éxito las teorías que ubican en las Islas la localización de bases o túneles secretos a través de los cuales se habrían desplazado submarinos alemanes de forma clandestina. Díaz Benítez lo niega categóricamente argumentando que “el comandante del HMS Bridgewater no encontró nada al respecto cuando visitó Tenerife el 24 y 25 de mayo de 1939”. Todas las maniobras se realizaron en los puertos Canarios y no hubo necesidad alguna de infraestructuras secretas de ningún tipo.
Respecto a la conocida historia de la casa de Jandía, en Fuerteventura, perteneciente a Gustav Winter, a quién algunos rumores malintencionados señalan como colaboracionista del régimen nazi, sostiene que todo se trata de una leyenda. Aclara que “todas las operaciones clandestinas de abastecimiento de buques de guerra alemanes en España eran coordinadas por el agregado naval alemán en Madrid, capitán de fragata Kurt Meyer Döhner. En su documentación no aparece ningún dato sobre Gustav Winter, ni la supuesta base de Jandía, ya que todos los preparativos se hicieron en los dos puertos principales, La Luz y Santa Cruz de Tenerife, aprovechando los buques refugiados allí”.
Para el historiador, en Jandía no existía ninguna infraestructura que permitiera este tipo de operaciones y tampoco era adecuada para ello la zona de Cofete. “Además, Gustav Winter tampoco estuvo en Canarias durante buena parte de la guerra: salió del Archipiélago posiblemente antes de enero de 1942 y regresó a España después de junio de 1944, tras la retirada alemana de Francia. Muchas de las operaciones clandestinas de la Armada alemana se hacían con el conocimiento y consentimiento de las autoridades españolas, pero en la documentación del Ministerio de Marina y de la Comandancia Naval de Canarias tampoco aparece ningún documento sobre Winter o Jandía” aclara.

http://www.canariasaldia.com/noticia.ph ... _id=207859

Translation:
The theories about the location in the isles of bases or secret tunnels through which German submarines would have been moved have some success in the Canaries. Benitez Diaz categorically denies that possibility, saying that "the commander of HMS Bridgewater did not find anything about it when he visited Tenerife on 24 and 25 May 1939." All maneuvers were performed at ports and there was no need for any secret infrastructure of any kind.
Regarding the known history of the house of Jandia, Fuerteventura, belonging to Gustav Winter, whom some malicious rumors indicated as collaborators of the Nazi regime, he claims that everything is a legend. He clarifies that "all the clandestine operations of supply German warships in Spain were coordinated by the German naval attache in Madrid, Navy Captain Kurt Meyer Dohne. His documentation does not contain anything on Gustav Winter, or the alleged basis of Jandia, since all preparations were made in the two main ports, La Luz y Santa Cruz de Tenerife, using the ships refugeed there. "
For the historian, in Jandia there was no infrastructure to allow this type of operation and the Cofete area was not appropriate for this. "In addition, Gustav Winter was not in the Canary Islands for much of the war; he left the Archipelago possibly before January 1942 and returned to Spain after June 1944, after the German retreat from France. Many of the clandestine operations of the German Navy were made with the knowledge and consent of the Spanish authorities, but in the documentation from the Ministry of the Navy and the Naval Command of the Canary Islands there is no document about Jandía or Winter ", he explains.

[Popp-Köhler]

Something more:

"In addition, Gustav Winter was not in the Canary Islands for much of the war; he left the Archipelago possibly before January 1942 and returned to Spain after June 1944, after the German retreat from France.

I believe the Winters lived at Windscheidt Strasse 33 in Berlin from at least 1940, possibly earlier. The above quote certainly supports the thesis that Villa Winter was not operating as Das Boot Hotel during the war.