On April 9, 1940, Adolf Hitler, with the assistance of traitor Vidkun Quisling, invaded and occupied Norway with a minimum amount of fuss and effort. Unlike Quisling, the majority of Norwegians did not approve of becoming Nazi puppets, and many actively participated in the Resistance movement against the Germans.
Most Norwegians who lived on the coast (which were a lot) were involved in the sardine industry--either in fishing for the product or preparing it for market. Norwegians relied on the fish as a basic foodstuff, as Norway is not known for its vast herds of beef cattle or acres of orange groves. Consequently, the Norwegian people were less than happy when the Quisling government agreed to process and can the entire year's catch of sardines and turn it over to the Germans for use by the Nazi submarine fleet to feed its crews.
The sardines were to be packed in oil. The Norwegians decided to alter the standard recipe slightly by substituting croton oil instead of the usual vegetable oil. The croton oil was smuggled in courtesy of British intelligence to every sardine cannery in Norway. Did I mention that croton oil is a very, very powerful laxative?
Envision now the life aboard a typical WWII German submarine. There were approximately fifty crew members stuffed in a metal tube without ventilation for three weeks to six months. There were no laundry facilities. Each crew member started the voyage with the clothes on his back and one change of underwear and socks. There were no showers or shaving. High temperatures and high humidity quickly led to mold growing abundantly on food, clothing, and bedding--and sometimes skin. The air, what little there was of it, reeked of unwashed bodies, diesel fumes, and decay. There was a maximum of two toilets, but one would be stuffed with food, as space was at a premium, and this potty would not be available until the food inside was consumed (yummy). The limited space also required that hot-bunking be practiced, which means that when one sailor was on duty, some other sailor would be using his bunk for sleeping.
This sailor most likely did not rest well, as he would no doubt be contemplating the fact that U-boat crews had the highest casualty rate of any service in WWII, and he would probably be wondering how he would die. Perhaps he would be engulfed in burning fuel. Maybe he would be far below the surface when depth charges breached the hull and tons of water at high pressure crushed him into a little ball of grease. Maybe salt water would come into contact with the batteries and create chlorine fumes, turning his lungs into Jello. Or, perhaps worst of all, his boat might sink with him trapped in a sealed compartment while he suffocated over a period of hours or days as the oxygen was slowly consumed.
Now, add to this angst the revenge of the Norwegian fishing industry. There are now included in the above equation approximately fifty crew members with violent, explosive diarrhea--all at the same time. There is probably available only one cramped toilet--a toilet, by the way, which could not be emptied simply by depressing a handle but instead had to be pumped out by hand through a complicated series of steps and valves to eject its contents into the sea (if done incorrectly, which often happened with a novice crewman, the dreaded phenomenon known as "back-flush" or "the U-boat baptism" would occur). If each crew member had to obtain relief every fifteen minutes, each crew member had eighteen seconds to go, clean up, and empty the toilet. Add to this equation the fact that because of the noise it produced, the toilet could not be used at all in the presence of the enemy. Finally, consider that toilet paper was in limited supply. The end results were massive "accidents" throughout the boat and a crew who had to use clothing and bunks soiled with evidence of those accidents for weeks or months without relief.
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