'Umbrella Man'



Ever wondered about the SDR's apparent hatred of umbrellas? Well the Luftwaffe's cartoon images of umbrellas being shot, hacked and thrown were a personal attack on Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1937 to 1940, nicknamed Umbrella Man because he often carried an umbrella in public and was invariably depicted with it in cartoons - sometimes even drawn as an umbrella. One such caricature appears on the Krachenvogel decals and cards.



But it wasn't just the luft. Below is a picture of Kriegsmarine U-47 ...


"A well-known photograph taken before U-47's departure to Scapa Flow on 8 October 1939 shows a drawing on the starboard side of the patchy conning tower. This drawing, of a skull and crossbones adorned with a top hat and umbrella, mocked the British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain. Other U-boat insignia, such as those which adorned the towers of U-46, U-53, U-56, U-58, U-60 and U-61, also at some point included caricatures or references to Chamberlain."


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