Original French WWII Souvenir Brass & Wood German U-Boat Plaque From La Pallice Harbor Submarine Base in France Original Items

Original Items: One-of-a-Kind. La Pallice, also known as grand port maritime de La Rochelle, is the commercial deep-water port of La Rochelle, France. During the Fall of France, on 19 June 1940, approximately 6,000 Polish soldiers in exile under the command of Stanisław Sosabowski arrived at La Pallice, from where they were evacuated to Great Britain – thus able to go on fighting till the end of the war.

During the German Occupation, like many deep-water ports, it was pressed into service for the Kriegsmarine, and in this case served as a U-Boat Submarine base, beginning in October 1941 when the 3rd U-boat Flotilla was moved there from its base in Kiel. La Pallice was subject to the allied siege of La Rochelle in 1944–45, which ended with the capitulation of Germany. The large concrete submarine base “bunker” built at that time still stands, though it is largely not in use. It was used as a “set in existence” backdrop for the film Das Boot (1981) and Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981).

During the siege and after the German surrender, local businesses started making and selling souvenir items for the servicemen to take home, and this is one such example. It is a 4″H x 11″W wooden plaque, which has a brass U-boat attached to the front, with smaller brass tags reading SOUVENIR and LA PALLICE in the corners. The U-boat is made from two piece of brass, and looks like a generic German submarine, and not any particular variant that we were able to identify. It is also from the waterline up.

Condition is very good, and this would make a great part of any German WWII U-boat collection.