Figure 1.--We think the boys here are on the Hamburg ship, "Hein Gohnwindand". The caption read, " Dann heißt's Gut Fraß". This means "Good Feed". This is German slang that boys would say say among themselves instead of the more proper "Guten Appetit".

I'm not sure what else the boys might have done in Hamburg, but all the photographs are centered on the port. We wonder if he might have got involved in the HJ Marine Division, but we don't see any sailor suit uniforms. We don't see the boys involved in German naval ships. Rather they seem to be on excursion ships or at least ships carrying excursion passageners. Perhaps they were just having a look at the port or they may be taking an excursion to some coastal site near Hamburg. Its not clear from the photographs. As they are shown having coffee in the morning on the Hein Gohnwindand eating meals on the ship what ever excursion they took must have taken some time. I do not know if the Hamburg photographs were mostly taken on or from this specidic ship. I wonder if they may have taken a trip through the Kiel Canal into the Baltic. There were more limited places to go along the North Sea coast.

Hamburg Activities

I'm not sure what else the boys might have done in Hamburg, but all the photographs are centered on the port.

HJ Marine Division

We wonder if he might have got involved in the HJ Marine Division. This was the HJ division somewhat akin to Sea Scouting. We don't see any HJ sailor suit uniforms and we know that the boys lived some distance from the Sea. We sussppect that the HJ Marine Division would have been most popular in coastal cities and towns.

Germany Navy

One of the purposes og the HJ Marine Division was to pepare boys for service with the German Navy. We have noted images of HJ boys visiting German naval ships. We notice the boys going to the Laboe naval memorial which had just been finished. We don't notice, however, any visits to naval ships.

Sea Excursion

The boys seem to be on excursion ships or at least ships carrying excursion passageners. A cargo vessels, for exmple, may have also carried passanger. They may have even been able to arrange free passages. Perhaps they were just having a look at the port or they may be taking an excursion to some coastal site near Hamburg. Its not clear from the photographs. As they are shown having coffee in the morning on the Hein Gohnwindand eating meals on the ship what ever excursion they took must have taken some time. I do not know if the Hamburg photographs were mostly taken on or from this specidic ship. I wonder if they may have taken a trip through the Kiel Canal into the Baltic. There were more limited places to go along the North Sea coast.