View Full Version : WW2 YOUR DAD/GRANDFATHER
bardicastle
10-10-09, 21:03
I know there are a few military history nuts on this site, what i would like to know out of interest what your dad/grandfather did in the forces in WW2 i.e rifleman etc etc.
my father was a para and on his right arm is a badge of pegasus, that's all i know about his reg. i've tried searching his reg. but can't find any history on it.
He was posted to palestine 1945/48 and anyone thinking it was a cosy number, they are very wrong they had suicide bombers and snipers to deal with "not much has changed their".
Greg Masters
10-10-09, 21:21
My Grandfather was in the Somme in WW1 - and lived to tell the tale.
Greg
My grandfather was in the Cavalry in WWI. He was wounded and lived the rest of his life with a piece of shrapnel in his leg and an open wound in his heel which was a drain for the infected wound. He died in his 70's in the late 60's.
My father was a gunner in the Royal Navy after lying about his age to join up and was a boy sailor at HMS Ganges. He was on destroyers in WWII, notably HMS Kent. He served in the Atlantic, the Far East for which he was awarded the Burma Star (http://www.burmastar.org.uk/medal.htm) and on Russian Convoys for which he was recently awarded the Arctic Star (http://www.veterans-uk.info/press/arctic.html). There are more medals on his ribbon but I can't remember the others.
my dad was 12 towards the end of ww11 nearly starved to death his twin did.
Invicta Moto
10-10-09, 22:14
My father was too young for the start of the war and joined the navy as soon as he could. The war in Europe was over and they went to the Pacific and Singapore. Stayed on for the Malayan police action and Korea.
My father in law was a sergeant in 5 Commando and spent the war in Burma.
my dad was posted to ireland with the raf just before national service ended
My maternal grandfather, Ronnie, was in a reserved occupation in WW2, but joined the Home Guard. My paternal grandfather, Reginald, served in 2nd Battalion Rifle Brigade in North Africa.
Ronnie & Reggie :D
My dad was too young for WW2, but joined the Air Dispatch just after. He ended up on the Berlin airlift.
My grandfather on my mothers side was a dog handler in the German army during the war, or so he said, he could have been in the SS for all that I know.
MacFarlane
10-10-09, 22:32
Great Grandfatha & Grandfatha (mothers) Black Jocks, WW1 & 11 both survived the wars, surprisingly!
Grandfatha (Dads) HMS Hood, killed in action
Fatha RAF, Served Aden, Steamer Point posted for 26 months which drove him slightly mad!!!!
I'll let him tell you himself - this was written as part of the BBC WW2 People's War http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/
My Dad wrote the following:
In 1944 I was a 16 year old school boy at Bec School, Tooting Bec in South London, at the time of the `Doodle Bug` and V2 Blitz,and remember being in Balham, South London, with my mother shopping, when we saw the first V1 fly over and come down.
At the time we thought the Ack Ack guns had done a great job and shot it down, but that night on the news, Herbert Morrison,The Home Secretary,announced the arrival of the new terror weapons.
At the time I was a Sergeant in the School Cadet Corps and like most people, at that stage of the war,was a trained first aider.
Soon the bombs and casualities began to increase. The Head received an urgent request for volunteers to act as ambulance orderlies, and asked my school chum and I to volunteer, which of course we did.
Initially we were called out to attend `Incidents`, the name given to bomb sites but soon the main problem became the pressure on the hospitals and the need to clear the wards during the day to make room for the next casualities.
We then used to be called out of class to join the modified Greenline Buses,converted to take about 20 stretchers, which collected us from the school gates.
We were the only orderlies on the bus and would go to the nominated hospitals, often The South West London Hospital for Women, at Clapham South, one of the nearest ones and clear the wards of casualities,some of which had barely come round from operations.
We would then set off into the nearby countryside to Reception Centres, one of which I can remember was the Southern Railway Childrens Home near Woking, where we would hand over our charges and head back to london for the next load, often not getting home until the next day.
What struck us youngsters was the indomitable spirit of the people we moved, many offering us their surviving chickens etc., from their destroyed homes gardens and many other things as well, which we never accepted. They seldom complained on the long journeys but often showed signs of distress when, on arrival at some Reception Centres, the Air raid Sirens started sounding again.
We continued to act as orderlies right to the end of the Blitz, even narrowly missing one of the first V2`s that landed on Tooting Bec Common as I was cycling towards it!
My Great Grandad was a seargeant in WWI and fought and survived, Ypres, Sommes and Verdun. He is mentioned in a couple of histories. Harold Lanceley.
My Grandad was in the BEF in WW2 and swam out to a destroyer at Dunkirk getting a mention in the Altrincham (evening post i think). After that he trained british tank crews and Bovington on the Sherman and worked on the Hobart Funnies for D Day.
billynomates
10-10-09, 22:58
One was in the Desert Rats WW2 and the other was in the Navy in WW1 but was badly injured at Jutland at 16 and was unable to rejion in 1939.
Loads of stories from the Desert Rats lovely man used to take me on camping trips in his Morris Traveller.
My Grandfather Arthur was secretary of the Armagh brigade of the IRA in the 1920's & 30's and was interned for two years on the prison ship Argenta in Belfast Lough.
My paternal grandfather was a Regular, serving with 2nd Bn Royal Fusiliers and stationed in India by 1914.
Along with other overseas units, they returned to the UK for despatch to the Western Front but the battalion was one of those then sent out to the Dardenelles. He landed at Gallipoli on the first day of the landings and remained there until the withdrawal.
His Division was then chucked into the Western Front, where his battalion assaulted Hawthorn Redoubt on the first day of the Somme.
This image is the well known footage of the only mine detonation filmed in WWI and the current site of that explosion, Hawthorn Redoubt, near Beaumont Hamel.
http://mikep.smugmug.com/photos/676273222_G6BFx-M.jpg
In April 1917, he was transferred to the Royal Engineers as a signaller and posted to the Middle East, where he saw out the war.
He was de-mobbed in 1920 and recalled to the colours in 1922 before being de-mobbed again in 1924.
In WWII, he joined the London Auxiliary Fire Service. After the Blitz, in 1942, he volunteered to go to India with the AFS because a similar Blitz was anticipated by the Japanese. He remained there until the end of hostilities and returned to Blighty in early 1946.
My father joined the Home Guard in 1941, was then called-up into the army. A serious illness forced his discharge but by 1943 he had recovered enough to volunteer and re-joined. He served with the Reconnaissance Corps until 1945 and then transferred to RMP as a Regular. He served in Palestine, Kenya and Cyprus. He was about to leave the army when Suez happened, he decided to stay-in, completing his service in 1967.
My dad was on Dunkirk beach, got bombed and left for dead. Got picked up when they tried to take his gun. spent weeks being driven round france avoiding the German forces before getting back to england and having a kidney removed. Six month in hospital then sent off again.
I'm glad I have not had to do that and hope my son never does either.
my grandfather fought at the somme , his brother died there, what a waste ...
Father was in the Combined Commando Force in Burma, with a jungle penetration unit. Got very severely burned, but returned to the front.
Grandfather managed a shipyard, Strath's in Aberdeen. They gave him an MBE for it.
One of Ma's cousins, Graydon, flew bombers and went down over Dresden. Never recovered his body.
Ma drove ambulances in Dover and Ramsgate and, it seems, was chatted up by almost all the pilots at RAF Manston. :D
My parents were a lot older than me (I'm 42), but WWII as a consequence feels like recent history through their stories.
My father joined the Royal Artillery just before the war and served with the BEF in France, they had to defend Dunkirk and then destroy the guns so the Germans couldn't use them.
He made it to the beach but didn't like the look of it so went up the coast and was somewhere in the channel in a rowing boat when he (& others) were eventually picked up by a dutch fishing boat and handed over to a RAF or RN patrol boat.
My mother was informed he was missing in action and then he just turned up at the door.
He was also involved in the Normandy landings and saw service in France and Germany.
When he was alive he never really talked about his war, but he did not have a problem with the German people, although he did ask me if "I still worked for the Nazis" (I work for a german company based in Munich)
He died in Feb 2007 aged 90, he was one of many who just did their bit but he will always be my hero (not because of his war) and I miss him every day.
My Dad was too young at the outbreak of WW2 and was in a reserved occupation later on though he was in the Home Guard (and no he didn't wear a scarf like Pike!). He joined up in 1946 as soon as he could and was in Cyprus quickly rising to the rank of Sgt in the REME.
My uncle was in the Desert Rats and fought throughout the North African campaign and then through Italy and lived to tell the tale, he's 89 now and in failing health but he's still one proud guy and a true gentleman despite the horrors he lived through.
My grandfather was a captain with the White Star Line in the Merchant Navy in WW2 and was sank by U-boats/mines six times! On one occaision a U-boat was on the receiving end of his Royal Navy escort and he picked up the german survivors. The U-boat captain was understandably grateful and gave him his binoculars which we still have. He was awarded the OBE at Buckingham Palace in 1942 after leading a large convoy successfully through to Malta.
It goes without saying I'm immensely proud of them all.
My Dad joined the navy in Feb 1946 as a boy aged 15 and was sent to H.M.S. St.Vincent boys training barracks at Gosport. After about 6 weeks training he was selected to be trained as a radio telegraphist and was sent to H.M.S Ganges at Shotley near Ipswich for 18 months to learn morse code, radio theory and cryptography. On passing the final exams in 1947 at the age of 16 and a half he was sent to Malta on a troopship to join the aircraft carrier H.M.S Ocean which was part of the Mediterranean Fleet. At the age of 17 he was given accelerated promotion to Ordinary telegraphist then a year later to telegraphist. He then went to the Signal School in Malta and qualified as a leading telegraphist. Shortly afterwards H.M.S.Ocean returned to the U.K. and volunteers were asked for a special assignment, he was accepted and given 2 weeks leave. On return to the ship in Glasgow they sailed to the Far East for the start of the Korean war. After about 3 months he returned to the U.K and volunteered for Submarines (All Submariners were volunteers) He was then posted to an M.T.B as the radio officer and after about two months was sent to H.M.S. Dolphin submarine base for training. On completion he was posted to H.M.S. Sea Scout an "S" class sub. After about 6 months he was promoted to Petty Officer Telegraphist and transferred to H.M.S Andrew, an "A" class sub and the first submarine to cross the Atlantic under water without surfacing. He later served on H.M.S. Tradewind and H.M.S Tapir both "T" class. He served for a total of 5 years in subs most of the time being in the Atlantic and Arctic waters monitoring the Russians during the "Cold War". Proud of him and my grandad who was a Royal Navy veteran from both wars :thumb2
My Dad flew Spitfires during WW2 and was involved in the Battle of Malta amongst others. Awarded the DFC for pressing home an attack whilst under heavy fire from superior numbers of enemy and shooting down an ME109 in flames during the same action. I have his DFC, flight log book and a few other bits and pieces, which to say the least, are cherished mementos of his heroism.
my paternal grandfather worked at De Havillands on Mosquitos
his father was killed in WW1 aged 30 (grandad was 2) his remains were never found but he is mentioned on the Arras and St Albans memorials
my great uncle who lived in the house I now live in was killed aged 18 in WW1
I have visited his grave in Rouen.
my maternal grandfather worked on Beaufighter engines in the Western Desert which is odd as he was a bank manager before and after the war.
Baron von Munchausen
11-10-09, 07:57
my great grandfather was a sergeant during the Franco-prussian war and was in the battles of Sedan, Spicheren and Gravelotte.
I still have the Chasseport 11mm rifle he captured.
He was also a guard commander of Napoleon 111
A close comrade of his was karl Glockner who survived until 1953
My father ended up a Oberstleutnant in 2nd panzer SS div. Das Reich.
He fought throughout the war in most theatres and even spent some time in Japan.
unfortunately due to a slight misunderstanding of Siomon Wiesenthal, my father had to move to Argentina after the war.
As with many Germans of my age, nearly all of my relatives played some part in both wars, I have uncles who were in U-boats and luftwaffe and a cousin who was in the volkssturm.
My great uncle fought with the manchesters in WW1 on the somme, he was killed around beaumont hamel in 1917 and is buried at beaumont hamel british cemetery, i visit when i am in france to pay my respects.
My grandfather was a regular soldier at the outbreak of WW2, he served in Burma during WW2 and lived to tell the tale,
my Father in law was in the navy serving on destroyers during WW2, he had several ships sink under him, went through the first kamikazi attacks and at one point in the far east having been sunk, was strafed by the japanese fighter pilots while in the water, he was in the water for three days that time, we still have the press cuttings of that one.
hero's the lot of them.
Deathiance
11-10-09, 10:55
My Dad was in the Merchant Navy aboard 'British Strength', worked in the engine so was lucky to escape when sunk by the Scharnhorst, he then spent 4 years in a prisoner of war camp in Norway.
Dad trained on Tiger Moths with the RAF and in 1938 transferred to Fleet Air Arm. He mostly flew Swordfish in Norway and later, after HMS Glorious was sunk, from Malta and Egypt. There he met Mum who was a 3/Off interpreter in the WRNS
I have inherited a sizeable collection of photos and documents (am looking as we speak at "Pilot's Notes for Firefly") and as soon as this rain stops I will ride down to Yeovilton and give them to the FAA museum
The first photo was on a Mediterranean cruise in HMS Glorious in 1939. He is in the second row looking very relaxed, suntanned and unaware of the events about to unfold. The second was in Crete during the German invasion of 1941 - the burning Fokker Tri-Motor has just dropped it's parachutists. I think it's near Souda Bay where he was based. His logbook has him evacuating Maleme in a Stringbag on May 16th and with P.O Stoddard and S/Lt Coates as TAG reads " .... 5 mins after leaving Maleme was attacked by 40 ME109's. Fired on all the way to Heraklion"
If you have not already found it this site http://www.unithistories.com/ is a good source of WW11 personnel histories
bardicastle
11-10-09, 13:09
My Grandfather Arthur was secretary of the Armagh brigade of the IRA in the 1920's & 30's and was interned for two years on the prison ship Argenta in Belfast Lough.
My uncle john who was a policeman in armagh was assainated by the IRA in the 1970's :augie
bardicastle
11-10-09, 13:15
My Dad was too young at the outbreak of WW2 and was in a reserved occupation later on though he was in the Home Guard (and no he didn't wear a scarf like Pike!). He joined up in 1946 as soon as he could and was in Cyprus quickly rising to the rank of Sgt in the REME.
My uncle was in the Desert Rats and fought throughout the North African campaign and then through Italy and lived to tell the tale, he's 89 now and in failing health but he's still one proud guy and a true gentleman despite the horrors he lived through.
My grandfather was a captain with the White Star Line in the Merchant Navy in WW2 and was sank by U-boats/mines six times! On one occaision a U-boat was on the receiving end of his Royal Navy escort and he picked up the german survivors. The U-boat captain was understandably grateful and gave him his binoculars which we still have. He was awarded the OBE at Buckingham Palace in 1942 after leading a large convoy successfully through to Malta.
It goes without saying I'm immensely proud of them all.
Very lucky man "six times truly amazing"
bardicastle
11-10-09, 13:24
that was an amazing result and read.
i did not mention my grandfather who fought in the WW1 in the italian army he like many other saw and fought so serious shit not being made any easier having lost a son in the russain concentration camps and another son being blown to bits by a booby (think thats how you spell it) trapped house and the other son seriously injured in the same house.
my granddad was a great man, my uncle was very gentle, the other two i'll never know, but if the other two were anything to go by, i think i've missed out big time :(
One grandfather was an ARP warden in the Birmingham area (in WW2)
and I actually have an expired one of these from his service
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/Luftwaffe_1kg_Incendiary_Bomb.jpg/800px-Luftwaffe_1kg_Incendiary_Bomb.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incendiary_device
Not sure what the other grand parent did during the war.
My fathers father was in Hamburg on 4 August 1914 and was invited to stay in Germany for the next 4 and a bit years.
My father joined the ATC in 1939 - smart move Dad! - and volunteered for the RAF in 1942. He was an 'electronics' buff and worked on rockets fitted to Typhoons. A few weeks after D-Day Dad was in Europe setting up forward air bases - he recounts that usually they were driving into an airfield as the Germans were driving out the other end. One upside to this was Dad had to test the telex lines. As Mum was in the Army working in a Telex station in Hastings, they 'officially' kept in touch! Well, that's their excuse!
Come VE Day, Dad put in a posting you Woodvale - an RAF airfield just outside Liverpool, near where mum was. He got posted to Eqypt as electronics was an 'in demand' trade and as he'd volunteered they wouldn't demob him.
He finally got demobbed in 1949, found Mum and 60 years later they're still together. Happily, above ground!
Annoyingly, Mum won't talk about what she did. I suspect it was something to do with code stuff, as when I was learning morse code, in 5 figure groups, she mentioned that's what she did in the war. But wouldn't say any more.
My wife's grandfather was one of 4 brothers who fought in France in WW1. All got decorated (the Mrs' grandfather got a DSO) and there's a big stained glass window in All Saints Church in Lindfield commerating the fact they all came back! In one piece!
My father was in the Naval Reserves and was called up on day 1. He was a Telegraphist who served in the Atlantic, North Sea, Russian Convoys and Mediterranean. He also served ashore during the Norwegian evacuation.
His was an equal opportunity war. He was sunk by the RN. His ship - HMS Breda - was engaged in night manouevres on the night of 17/18 Feb 1944 with an RN Submarine - HMSM Proteus - which collided with the ship. Result Sub 1 - Ship 0. Despite the navigation errors by the submarine, the Enquiry found the Ships CO and Naval Officer In Command Campbeltown, responsible for failing "to obtain and keep immediately available all possible pumps". But since it was also held that the water entering the ship was "outside the range of any normal pump suction", no censure on the Officers was called for.
He was also sunk by the RAF during a North Sea Convoy. Mistaken Identity. And to balance things up, the Kriegsmarine made a successful attempt.
He served for a time on a Royal Netherlands Navy ship. The RN required that, to avoid any coercion arising from the RNLN sailors having relatives under the thumb of the Germans, an RN officer and RN telegraphists served on RNLN ships.
And then he spent a spell on board Fleet Tender C, one of the so-called Winston's Wonders. It was a merchant ship, altered to look like HMS Hermes. Her role was simple - attract attention from the Luftwaffe and German submarines diverting it from the real Hermes. Her (anti aircraft ) guns were all wooden, but to give an impression of return fire, valves and burning oil soaked rags made it appear that in the event of an attack the (wooden) guns were blazing away.
The other ships in this Fleet were Fleet Tenders A and B - the dummy HMS Resolution and HMS Revenge respectively, both replicas of the original battleships. Although smaller than the originals, all were convincing enough at distance to fool those even who had served on the original ships.
Not only unarmed, with the added weight from the conversions, none of the Dummy fleet ships now had enough power to keep up with convoys, and with the extra top weight and height they caught any wind going. This made them a bit of a problem when in company with other ships. They were not even safe at anchor as their anchors and winches could not hold the extra load. One stormy night in Scapa Flow they dragged their anchors and averted collisions "by inches" as they were driven by the wind amongst the rest of the Fleet.
After some time, the Commodore of the three ship Dummy Fleet persuaded the Admiralty that serving on these targets was a hazardous duty and the crews were entitled to a daily pay supplement - two shillings a day. The Admiralty even made the payments retrospective.
Like so many, he said very little about his experiences. However, I have been able to piece together some understanding of his war from my mother; some letters; and in respect of HMS Breda, the Board of Enquiry papers following the sinking, and for Fleet Tender C the book The Phantom Fleet, to which the RN Historical Branch referred him when he asked for details of her end.
Fleet Tender C was lost on her way to Chatham to be reconverted to Merchant use, and for this journey she was fitted with a single Lewis Gun for self defence. In E Boat Alley, at night, and having been unable to keep up with the rest of the convoy, she struck a wreck.
Stuck fast and making water, she was then hit by three torpedoes launched by E Boats leaving her superstructure and flight deck only above water. Considered to be a hiding place for ambushing E Boats, she was bombed into destruction by a Canadian Squadron from Coastal Command. As he said in a letter to the RN Historical Branch, she was awkward to the end.
Invicta Moto
11-10-09, 15:42
My paternal Grandad was born in 1902 and too young for WW1 and too old for WW2. He was a fire warden at the NAAFI HQ in Kennington where we spent most nights on the roof. He was also in the East Surrey Home Guard.
My Dad was at home and evacuated when the Germans dropped a large bomb that didn't explode on the railway near St Helier in South London.
On my paternal Gran's side, Uncles Reg & Len were in the Navy and served in the North Atlantic and on the Arctic Convoys.
Uncle Bill was in the RAF as an aircraft fitter working on fuselage repairs and Ross was in the Army Pay Corps at home and then in France.
Her cousins, Ross Esland was captured in Singapore and spent the entire war in the tender care of the Japanese and Joe was a regular and was captured at Arnhem.
Dad died in 1992. He worked for A V Roe as a rivetter here in Manchester, later at Chadderton and Woodford, retiring in 1983, and worked on the first Manchesters, later to become the Lancasters. Therfore he had a reserved occupation. His older brothers took the piss without mercy as he had to stay home. He joined the Home Guard and did his bit til he got called up in April 45 :doh when he went into the RAF. Served in Germany guarding POW's for 18 months. ("Never fired a rifle son, but shot a few of the local lasses " he once said with a glint in his eye.)
Uncle John was a Desert Rat (actually a batman and all his later life he always affected the 'H' in front of the wrong words by trying to be posh like his officer)
Great Uncle John was a Royal Marine in WW1 and I have his parchments and medals.
Grandad did feck all. But his other brother, Tommy, was wounded at Paschendaele and spent the rest of his life disabled and shell shocked. He'd drop to the ground shaking if the kids ran sticks along the railings outside schools, poor bugger.
Maternal side, no idea. Mum was orphaned in 1932.
bardicastle
11-10-09, 17:07
Well one thing have revealed itself from this thread, that ALL of you are VERY proud of your uncle's dad's and grandfather's and some great history and stories.
AMAZING STUFF:thumb2
My recently departed Father joined the Air Force at the start of WW2 and served as a rear gunner mainly in Short Stirlings for the duration of the war.
He had many a tale to tell and I had heard most of them more times than I can remember, now that he has passed on I treasure items such as his log book and all the research he did on the squadrons he served with - I will always be very proud of what he did.
Paul Wakefield
12-10-09, 09:13
My father joined the Fleet Air Arm but fortunately the war ended before he finished his training.
My Grandfather was a Gunner in the Royal Field Artillery having lied about his age. Posted to France in November 1917, he was discharged unfit in 1919. He only briefly talked about his experiences before he died. He lasted until September 1918 when he was blown up twice (or three) times on the same day and his whole battery were wiped out except him and his Sergeant. He spent several years in and out of hospital with shell shock. I recently found all his medical discharge papers on the web and now I know where and when he served, I intend to get down to Kew to look up the Brigade Diary.
Still the Doctors didn't always get it right. My great uncle was gassed in WW1 and given 6 months to live. He died aged 88. :D
My maternal grandfather was on the north west frontier in india with the royal west kents his time ended when he was gassed on the western front 1915 died in 1956,
my great uncle (father's side) was killed in action in 1915 with 1bn K.O.S.B
his name is on the menin gate.
my father was a gunner from 1928 to 1943 when he was seriosly wounded in a bombing raid on liverpool and invalided out
my late brother in law was in the t.a at the start of the war survived dunkirk went to the western desert with the long range desert group and ended up in 1sqn S.A.S with david sterling when the desert war ended he was on operations in the greek islands and the balkans and never spoke about it to anyone.
All hero's IMO and i am glad that myself and my sons did not have to go through anything like that because of their sacrifice.
Invicta Moto
12-10-09, 17:29
Well one thing have revealed itself from this thread, that ALL of you are VERY proud of your uncle's dad's and grandfather's and some great history and stories.
AMAZING STUFF:thumb2
And we've learned what a small world it is.
My maternal grandad was at Ypres, and knew Harry Christian, VC.
Paternal grandad was managing the bus depot in Whitehaven.
Dad drove Sherman tanks in North Africa and Italy.
SWBO's grandad was a Luftwaffe pilot, but was executed in their farmyard by the SS for "un-German opinions".
SWMBO's Mum "ran" across the frontier to the West (3rd time lucky she got there).
HORIZONTALLY OPPOSED
12-10-09, 18:07
WW11 Dad was a Lance Corporal with the military police in Egypt & Palestine(possibly miscast)also involved with police dogs in this period, later became an officers driver, claim to fame he met Haile Selassie, very proud moment for him by all accounts, rest of his service unknown as gleaning this type of information was like drawing blood from a stone, best I got was he hated Egypt, arabs & camels in no particular order, no surprise as he was robbed of several years of his youth stuck there. Came out after six years in the army with a demob suite a bayonette a greatcoat & an Agfa camera a driving license & little else.
My Paternal Grandad was a master carpenter and worked on the wings (wooden framed) of the Sunderland flying boat in the Shorts factory in Rochester, Kent.
Like so many mentioned above, he never talked about it but after he died, my Grandma told me that he was partly embarrassed because he'd been 'at home' through the war , but also that he'd once fallen through the glass ceiling of the factory when the sirens went off, dropped 30 odd feet and landed flat on his back on the middle of a wing, nearly destroying it, something he was always tremendously ashamed of :(
My maternal Grandad was a methodist minister and a conscientious objector, but joined up and ended up at or near the front lines as a minister looking after the front line troops. :bow
My mothers father joined the Royal Armoured Corps in 1940, and was present at some of the major tank battles in North Africa, also El Alamein. He also took part in the Salerno landings in Italy and fought at the various battles up through Italy including Monte Cassino.
Grandad Tom even ended up in a Pathe News film, much to the surprise and delight of my Grandmother (he had been away about a year)
My dads father was reserved occupation, a train driver on Liverpool docks and had one of his goods trains bombed by the Germans.
My dad was a bit too young for WW2, but did active service in the Royal Artillery in various 'policing actions' after the war.
MY father was in the Navy WW2 sailing in the North Atlantic Conveys and also spent alot of time in the Med. He sailed on several ships most notably the SS Chiswick. He was hospitalised after a direct hit on his ship whilst at dock in Sunderland harbour and spend a long time in hopsital conalescing before returning to sea on another ship (Can't remember the name at present). I recently took him over to the West Coast of Scotland near KinlochEwe where alot of the Conveys would head put from to reminiss. He talks fondly about his memories of his days in the Navy even after suffering terrible blast wounds in the Sunderland incident requiring him to wear a face mask for several months, (I think he especially likes Sunderland Nurses;) ).
My mother was in the WRAF and trained as a joiner repairing Wings of damaged planes, mainly Mosquitos. Based on Mums cooking it's a wonder those planes ever flew:rolleyes: Ah bless her:D
My Mums Dad fought as an infantry man in WW1 and always welled up when we asked any questions(seconds before getting whacked from my Father for asking questions). He was in the trenches in the thick of it all and had a real rough time like we can't imagine.
My Dads Dad I never met. He was a boy in WW1 and just missed subscription. He was a Rifleman in WW2 and got blood poisening from barbed wire during an exercise for the landings. As I understand it he became very weak and virtually dependant on my Grandmother suffering huge bouts of depression. Due to this he took his own life, its not a subject my father talks about as he found the body.
My Mums Mum was one of the field girls who helped out on the farm. My Dads Mum work in a Factory in Luton during the War, I can't remember which one.
My Dad has all his medals and some of his uniform (Hats, trousers etc). My Mother claimed all her medals approx 5 years ago after me badgering her to get them.
The only other relative that I can recall on is my Fathers Cousin, Leiutenant Harold Arthur Cherry. He was a Leiutenant in the Royal Artillery and died in Battle. My Father always thought that he was killed in Battle in Germany however I helped my Dad locate his details on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Website and it turns out he survived that incident but was killed in action later in the War in Italy. He is burried in Salerno Graveyard in Italy.
http://www.cwgc.org/search/SearchResults.aspx?surname=cherry&initials=h&war=2&yearfrom=1939&yearto=1945&force=&nationality=&send.x=31&send.y=15
I'd like to take my Dad to Salerno one day but at 86 years old he's not keen to travel too far (even though his Passport is free).
AndyT.
PS What a great thread this is.
bardicastle
12-10-09, 20:34
MY father was in the Navy WW2 sailing in the North Atlantic Conveys and also spent alot of time in the Med. He sailed on several ships most notably the SS Chiswick. He was hospitalised after a direct hit on his ship whilst at dock in Sunderland harbour and spend a long time in hopsital conalescing before returning to sea on another ship (Can't remember the name at present). I recently took him over to the West Coast of Scotland near KinlochEwe where alot of the Conveys would head put from to reminiss. He talks fondly about his memories of his days in the Navy even after suffering terrible blast wounds in the Sunderland incident requiring him to wear a face mask for several months, (I think he especially likes Sunderland Nurses;) ).
My mother was in the WRAF and trained as a joiner repairing Wings of damaged planes, mainly Mosquitos. Based on Mums cooking it's a wonder those planes ever flew:rolleyes: Ah bless her:D
My Mums Dad fought as an infantry man in WW1 and always welled up when we asked any questions(seconds before getting whacked from my Father for asking questions). He was in the trenches in the thick of it all and had a real rough time like we can't imagine.
My Dads Dad I never met. He was a boy in WW1 and just missed subscription. He was a Rifleman in WW2 and got blood poisening from barbed wire during an exercise for the landings. As I understand it he became very weak and virtually dependant on my Grandmother suffering huge bouts of depression. Due to this he took his own life, its not a subject my father talks about as he found the body.
My Mums Mum was one of the field girls who helped out on the farm. My Dads Mum work in a Factory in Luton during the War, I can't remember which one.
My Dad has all his medals and some of his uniform (Hats, trousers etc). My Mother claimed all her medals approx 5 years ago after me badgering her to get them.
The only other relative that I can recall on is my Fathers Cousin, Leiutenant Harold Arthur Cherry. He was a Leiutenant in the Royal Artillery and died in Battle. My Father always thought that he was killed in Battle in Germany however I helped my Dad locate his details on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Website and it turns out he survived that incident but was killed in action later in the War in Italy. He is burried in Salerno Graveyard in Italy.
http://www.cwgc.org/search/SearchResults.aspx?surname=cherry&initials=h&war=2&yearfrom=1939&yearto=1945&force=&nationality=&send.x=31&send.y=15
I'd like to take my Dad to Salerno one day but at 86 years old he's not keen to travel too far (even though his Passport is free).
AndyT.
PS What a great thread this is.
god it's hard to concentate reading this with a willy wobbling in the left corner :D:D
Tim Cullis
12-10-09, 20:53
WWI: Though considered fit enough for the Territorial Army in 1912, a hernia meant my grandfather (Irving Mather) wasn't called up in 1914, 1915, or 1916. By 1917 things had changed and he was suddenly declared fit. After some trench skirmishes and night patrols he was captured by the Germans in the Spring 1918 offensive at Manchester Hill (named after the Manchester regiment) near St Quentin and spent the rest of the war as a POW.
One of my great uncles (Frank Cullis) is on the Menin Gate as a 'don't know where buried'.
WWII: My father (Tom Cullis) spent a winter under canvas defending Iceland against a German invasion with the Worcesters, then wisely transferred to Royal Artillery, then the Royal Signals and spent much of the time in the Far East. One of his claims to fame was that his mate 'goosed' Lord Mountbatten's wife in Singapore, but reading more of this time it appears she was more than goosed on a fairly regular basis.
My mother (Dorothy Mather) was in the Air Ministry in Worcester working alongside the wife of 'air ace' Johnny Johnson.
My father-in-law (Hubert Philips) spent a couple of weeks in small scale skirmishes defending the Hackenberg Fortress in the Maginot Line in May 1940 before being somewhat outflanked by an attack through the Ardennes. The 51st Higland Division then fought a retreat across France with the French army and he was eventually captured a couple of weeks after Dunkirk at St Valery-en-Caux by a then relatively unknown guy called Erwin Rommel. After that he spent the next four-plus years in Poland. In January 1945 in the middle of a terrible winter, he and many of the other 250,000 POWs in Poland were marched 400+ miles from near Danzig to Lunenburg Heath.
My mother-in-law (Agnes Melvin) delivered ambulance and truck chassis from the factories to the outfitting places, all wrapped up with goggles against the weather. After the war she never drove again. :eek:
My uncle (Frank Cullis, named after my 1914 great uncle above) spent 1944-45 being trained as a Fleet Air Arm pilot in Pensicola, Florida. My father never forgave him for his partaking of peanut butter and ice cream when the rest of the UK was on rations.
Dad served with the 8th army at El Alamien and served in the Royal Artillery,and Also in Italy like many other's he never spoke of his experiences
elmandarino
12-10-09, 23:13
I'm fiercely proud of my grandfather although not too sure where he actually served. Like many others he joined under age and did not talk about his experiences until he was very old indeed. I really like the unofficial sheepskin, the intimidating bayonet, the gas mask holder and the fag at a jaunty angle. This was WW1 and I believe he was at the Somme but I really don't know. He was certainly in the thick of it as most of his mates did not return - according to my grandmother. The writing at the bottom is my daughter's who did a project at secondary school.
Andy Davies
13-10-09, 08:33
My Dad flew Spitfires during WW2 and was involved in the Battle of Malta amongst others. Awarded the DFC for pressing home an attack whilst under heavy fire from superior numbers of enemy and shooting down an ME109 in flames during the same action. I have his DFC, flight log book and a few other bits and pieces, which to say the least, are cherished mementos of his heroism.
Davy, was he with 603 squadron? My dad's brother Sgt Pilot Ron E Plant (he was brought up by his maternal aunt and took their surname) flew with 603. He was operational prior to the Battle of Britain and was 'one of the very few' that made survuved it. However, he was killed on the 21st Nov 1940 in a mid air collision over Faversham. His last sortie was with George (sheep) Gilroy who finished the war as the highest scoring Scottish pilot and Archie Winskill who later became head of the Queens flight.
I have a letter written by George Denholm (then Commander 603) saying that Ron got 603's 100th kill on that sortie. A party was held at the Dorchester to celebrate, paid for by the father of one of the other pilots, who gave a pound for each kill (£100 was a lot of beer I bet). Richard Hillary mentions the party in his book 'The last Enemy'.
My Father was in the Army Dental Corps (as he used to put it) seconded to Supreme headquaters Allied Expeditionary Force. He was a dental mechanic fixing false teeth (how glamorous a was was that!). Apparently, a soldier could be declared medically unfit if his dentures were broken.
My Mother went to Coventry to work in the Armstrong Whitworth aircraft factory and built Lancasters until 1946.
Good thread.
Andy
My mothers father joined the Royal Armoured Corps in 1940, and was present at some of the major tank battles in North Africa, also El Alamein. He also took part in the Salerno landings in Italy and fought at the various battles up through Italy including Monte Cassino.
Was he 17/21st Lancers?
My dad was too young for the army during the war but he worked for Miles Aircraft at Woodley, his dad was 'in' but I can't remember where.
My mum was also to young, and she lived with various families throughout the War, she was even given another name by some families, as they didn't like hers:nenau
Her dad was in the navy, his boat was torpedoed twice, the second time killed him. His Officer (CPO) later married my mums mum after giving her the bad news in person, that was what llife was like then according to her:nenau
I never gave it a second thought till my maternal Gran died a few years back, at the funeral there was a bit of a surprise with a few dignitaries and top brass in attendance. I was then told my gran was an SOE operative during the final parts of the war, she was very fluent in French yet none of the family even knew that:nenau She never ever even spoke to my mum or anybody at all about it.
It answered a few questions of mine about why my mum spent the war with so many different families.
Shep
My dad was in a reserved occupation, but he signed up with the RAF in 1941 just after his 18th birthday. He joined the RAF Regiment and was posted out India to protect airfields. He went through Burma and ended up in Saigon at the end of the war. He never spoke about his experiences at all until Christmas 2003 when he told us about why he was in Saigon. He was part of a detail that was sent there to liberate the POW's held in the area. He spoke with such clarity about what he had seen 58 years before that you could be forgiven for thinking that it he had only just witnessed the events. His descriptions of the POW's were vivid and heart wrenching. I understood why he and many of his generation never talked about what they had seen.
Dad stayed in the RAF after the war and eventually retired in 1978 after 37 years service. He had changed to the catering branch after the war and he reached the rank of Warrant Officer. He's 86 now, and as some of you will know from my "Battle With the NHS" thread, he is not in the best of health.
Grandad on my fathers side was in the machinegun corp in WW1. My other grandfather was in a reserved occupation. Both were dead by the time I was born.
My father was in the engineers and built bridges and drank beer all over northern Germany. He also guarded POW's (Germans & Italians) at various camps in England.
Colin.
My father was in the Auxilliary Fire Service in London.
GOATIEBABY
13-10-09, 13:29
Shep,
Interesting you mentioned Miles Aircraft at Woodley as I also had relatives working there during WW11. My maternal grandfather Reginald Nash and his son Rodney Nash both worked for Miles. Reginald had served with both the RFC and the RAF during the first war as a Rigger and joined Miles in the Thirties when he retired from the RAF.
His other son Ken was a fighter pilot with the RAF flying Hurricanes don't know a great deal about his service only that he was shot down in the Med off of Italy and parachuted out of his plane. When he landed in the water he found his dinghy wouldn't inflate as it had a bullet hole in it, but he was picked up by an airsea rescue plane fairly quickly. The crew who picked him up told him he was very lucky to be rescued as he had landed in the middle of a minefield and no ship could get to him!
Lastly my father was another like yours as he was kept back in a reserved occupation (foundry patternmaker) and in the home guard in the evenings. It must have been tough to stay behind and be asked why they weren't in the services.
Steve
Deleted account rno
13-10-09, 13:37
My dad was too young for the army during the war but he worked for Miles Aircraft at Woodley, his dad was 'in' but I can't remember where.
My mum was also to young, and she lived with various families throughout the War, she was even given another name by some families, as they didn't like hers:nenau
Her dad was in the navy, his boat was torpedoed twice, the second time killed him. His Officer (CPO) later married my mums mum after giving her the bad news in person, that was what llife was like then according to her:nenau
I never gave it a second thought till my maternal Gran died a few years back, at the funeral there was a bit of a surprise with a few dignitaries and top brass in attendance. I was then told my gran was an SOE operative during the final parts of the war, she was very fluent in French yet none of the family even knew that:nenau She never ever even spoke to my mum or anybody at all about it.
It answered a few questions of mine about why my mum spent the war with so many different families.
Shep
Amazing bit of family history there :clap
Amazing bit of family history there :clap
Now they are all gone, I really wished I'd pushed a bit more to learn about the family history, unfortunately my mum is in no condition to remember anything nowadays so all knowledge of that side of the family died off when she went 'doolally'
My paternal grandfather fought on the Western Front in WWI, was shot in the head, left half blind but alive - he died relatively young in the early 1960's.
My Dad was on the way to Germany in WWII - was diverted to India, to be sent onto Burma, but 'luckily' was injured whilst in India, developed gangrene, was saved by penicillin and spent the rest of War guarding POW's in India.
My paternal uncle fought in North Africa during WWII - think he fixed tanks.
Tim Cullis
13-10-09, 14:51
Supplementary which might be interesting...
In between the wars my grandfather moved from Manchester to Worcester and in the 1920s and 1930s cycled the 100 miles between the two cities many times. By WWII he was too old to serve, so volunteered for the ARP.
When Manchester suffered the 'Christmas Blitz' of December 1940 all the fire pumps for hundreds of miles around were called upon which was a bit difficult when all the signposts had been taken down and vehicle headlights were restricted to narrow slits. So my grandfather, who knew the route intimately, stood on the running board of the lead Worcester fire pump next to the driver, directing him the whole way.
[Contrast this to today's Health and Safety/risk assessments idiocy when a policeman won't pose for a photo astride a pushbike as he's not taken his cycling proficiency test.]
My Granddad was a real maverick and a lovely guy and at the time of his death the Stones 'Paint it Black' was in the charts which expressed my sentiments very well.
Was he 17/21st Lancers?
No he was in the Royal Tank Regiment, can't remember what number.
HORIZONTALLY OPPOSED
14-10-09, 09:18
I always find it quite humbling when I read about the sacrifices our forebears made either voluntary or conscripted, they just accepted their lot & got on with it. It can't have been easy for the likes of my mum either, left at home with my elder brother a babe in arms & nursing her mother through cancer which became terminal. We really do have it easy in comparison, with the current youth generation having it even easier with probably no knowledge therefore no respect for sacrifices of those that went before.
The importance of threads like this is that we can see that our family's experiences are not unique and possibly more important is to grab the opportunity to ask the older generations about their lives (war-time or not) before the chance is lost.
I never really asked my father about his life. His life before I became a part of it is pretty much a mystery to me. It's the same for my grandparents lives.
My interest started when I did some research on a great-uncle killed-in-action in 1917. His was a life I knew nothing about and it made me realise that I knew almost as little about his brother (my grandfather).
Fortunately, my father took the time to write down much of what he knew about his family before he died so I at least had a starting point.
I started to piece together more of my dad's life when I was given a box of old photos and discovered images of him as a child (I'd never thought of my father being a kid and doing childish things: Odd I know).
Now, I take every opportunity to talk to my mum about her childhood and her life, her family and have been told things that I could never have found out without asking.
Talk to the older generations now before it's too late. Don't be like me and end-up regretting that you didn't when you had the chance.
bardicastle
14-10-09, 10:01
I'm fiercely proud of my grandfather although not too sure where he actually served. Like many others he joined under age and did not talk about his experiences until he was very old indeed. I really like the unofficial sheepskin, the intimidating bayonet, the gas mask holder and the fag at a jaunty angle. This was WW1 and I believe he was at the Somme but I really don't know. He was certainly in the thick of it as most of his mates did not return - according to my grandmother. The writing at the bottom is my daughter's who did a project at secondary school.
Great photo, not so sure about the sheep on his back, he certainly doesn't want to walk though wales like that, who knows what could happen :augie :D
really like the unofficial sheepskin,
Great photo, not so sure about the sheep on his back, he certainly doesn't want to walk though wales like that, who knows what could happen :augie :D
Actually, it's not an unofficial sheepskin. They were winter issue, similar to the sleeveless, brown leather jerkin you also see being worn.
bardicastle
14-10-09, 10:11
i must admit when i started this thread i did not expect this kind of response, i've read every single one and was gobsmacked. i hope that it will run a bit more i would especially love to hear more from our foreign visitors especially places as far afield as russia, africa, japan would be a real bonus.
anyhow i would like to thankyou all for taking the time to contribute to this thread.
GREAT STUFF:thumb2:thumb2
.... My mum was also to young, and she lived with various families throughout the War, she was even given another name by some families, as they didn't like hers :nenau .... I never gave it a second thought till my maternal Gran died a few years back, at the funeral there was a bit of a surprise with a few dignitaries and top brass in attendance. I was then told my gran was an SOE operative during the final parts of the war, she was very fluent in French yet none of the family even knew that:nenau She never ever even spoke to my mum or anybody at all about it.Who needs to read fiction when you've got stuff like that in your family? :eek
The importance of threads like this is that we can see that our family's experiences are not unique and possibly more important is to grab the opportunity to ask the older generations about their lives (war-time or not) before the chance is lost. ....Talk to the older generations now before it's too late. Don't be like me and end-up regretting that you didn't when you had the chance.Bang On Mike. All my WWII age uncles, aunts, granparents etc have now died but I would love to have the chance to talk to them properly, but its too late now. :(
All my grandparents were in Reserved Occupations (farmers) and just joined the Home Guard. My dad was only 8 when the war started.
My father was too young at the start of WW11, but managed to get on one of the small boats which made up the flotilla for the Dunkirk evacuation. he later joined the RN and was with the Royal Naval Auxillary Service as a stoker, operating mine sweepers in the English Channel.
I remember him telling me that they were docked in Dieppe and had been 'ashore' for the evening, when they returned they noticed a large mine bobbing between his boat and the next!
After he was demobbed he joined the Territorial Army (REME).
My dad was in the Royal Signals - joined in 1941 and served in North Africa and Italy; he ran radio stations and helped to equip agents being dropped into France so had to do parachute training. On the 4th jump broke his knee - no compensation then!
He rarely spoke about the war; although not "frontline" he used to sit in the planes on clandestine trips to France. After the war he was able to join a London Club called the Special Forces Club; just as a base instead of an hotel, not for reflected glory. I don't think many of the people already mentioned in these threads went in for that very much.
He stayed in the Army until 1965, leaving as a Major.
His younger brother joined the RAF, trained to fly in Arizona, then flew Spitfires in North Africa (drove a jeep up Cairo Railway station steps!). His diary is full of "wizard-prang" and similar; they really did talk like that!
Joined 222 Squadron flying Typhoons rocketing trains in Holland. Was KIA in February 1945; his plane was damaged and he tried to get back.....I named my son after him and my similarly mad brother.
I think the public is only just realising what our parents/grandparents did to give us what we have now. We may never understand it fully because life is so easy these days. Iraq & Afghanistan give us a small glimpse, but all we ever hear is "why?", not "thank you".
A
just remembered a few things about another great grandad of mine.
as kids we used to visit him in a little bungalow in Cottonmill - St Albans.
the house was full of indian stuff that I am sure would be very valuable, elephants foot, ivory, spears, brass stuff, medals.
he was a career soldier who fought in the north west frontier, WW1 and was even in WW2.
I remember him telling us about some drug crazed tribesmen who were not taking much notice of the new Lee Enfields, so the martini henry with the .45 lead bullet was re-issued.
He used to drink a case of Barley wine a day and sat in a wicker chair with a drain tray under it (he was pretty old) and stank of boozy piss.
all my uncles say he was a grumpy old c**t who would fight anyone but I imagine he had a few interesting tales to tell.
bardicastle
21-10-09, 20:09
just remembered a few things about another great grandad of mine.
as kids we used to visit him in a little bungalow in Cottonmill - St Albans.
the house was full of indian stuff that I am sure would be very valuable, elephants foot, ivory, spears, brass stuff, medals.
he was a career soldier who fought in the north west frontier, WW1 and was even in WW2.
I remember him telling us about some drug crazed tribesmen who were not taking much notice of the new Lee Enfields, so the martini henry with the .45 lead bullet was re-issued.
He used to drink a case of Barley wine a day and sat in a wicker chair with a drain tray under it (he was pretty old) and stank of boozy piss.
all my uncles say he was a grumpy old c**t who would fight anyone but I imagine he had a few interesting tales to tell.
well that was certainly different from the rest of the stories:D:D
I've enjoyed this thread, so I thought I would add what I know about my Grandad and my great uncles.
My Grandad on my Dads side was RSC (royal army service corps) he joined up in 1915 and saw service in France and worked his way from Ypres back to the Somme in time for the 'big' push. At this point the info I have on him is a bit vague, he was wounded at the Somme and spent a week in no mans land trapped between the lines, the 'water' he drank from a shell hole affected his stomach and he was also wounded with Shrapnel to his abdomen. He was rescued and sent back to Amiens to the hospital, he spent some time there and so the story goes he fell in love (lust!) with a very pretty French nurse.. he wrote to his comanding officer asked permission to marry the lass and permission was granted, this is where thing's take an odd twist, he was being sent to a recovery centre and she went with him to the train, in the crowds of thousands of men they became seperated, he told me that he was holding her hand and the crowd got so thick that her fingers slipped from his, he could'nt sit up as the wounds prevented him doing so... she was pushed away in the crowd and despite his best efforts to get to her he could'nt, he never saw her again! she vanished (maybe killed or posted away) despite this he never forgot her and I remember talking to him about her before he passed away.
My great uncle Frank wasn't so lucky, he served with the RGA (Royal Garrison artillery) and was 17 when he signed on, his service records show he spent time at Woolwich before being posted to France, the Battery he was with was fairly decimated and he was transfered to the Northumbrian Heavy battery, being a Kent boy he felt a bit lonely amongst the Northern lads. Nothing much happens until the 2nd battle of the Somme when his battery was to suffer a gas attack, he never got his mask on in time and his lungs were badly burnt, evacuated to Bolougne he was put on a boat that took him to Newcastle, in the mean time he was posted as a deserter! (idiots didn't even know he had been sent to blighty) My great Grandma had been told he was wounded and I've seen the letter she wrote to his commanding officer asking where he was. (incredibly moving letter, had me in tears) he was sent down to the hospital at Chatham, he even spent a bit of time back home, he fought against the burnt lungs, but sadly he died (it took him two years to die) and is buried in Harty church on the isle of Sheppey, he's the only military grave there in the tiny church yard. (see the link and you can see his grave) I've been to the service on the 11th November many times and find it very moving.
http://thames.me.uk/s00010_files/Harty_Church.jpg
Further to my post earlier, here's a link to a thread I started ages ago all about Great Uncle John who served with the Royal Marines in WW1 and beyond.
Apologies if you read it first time round:
http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=166945&highlight=marine
My paternal grandfather served in WW1 in Belgium with the Canadian Expeditionary Force as a signaller throughout the whole war.
His brother also joined the CEF in 1916 leaving his farm in Canada, he served as a rifleman and died of his wounds at Vimy Ridge in April 1917. I never knew he existed until a few months ago, I then took the GS to France and found his grave.
My father joined the RAF in 1942 and served most of the war in the far east, flying P47 Thunderbolts in operations against the Japanese. He was demobbed in 1946 in Poona, India.
john plane
22-10-09, 15:33
My dad was in the home guard than he was called up in 1941.
dvr plane d platoon 310 coy rasc (arm bde) bla.
D Day plus nine
Called up for korea x force. Didnt need him sent him home after two weeks.
WWI not II I'm afraid but here's a short article about my Grandfather http://www.ripleyandheanornews.co.uk/news/Town39s-eldest-dies-aged-105.718073.jp
What the article does not mention is his service in the merchant navy during WWII. Nor the fact that during his service at sea he ended up in it 4 times due to sinking etc, and he couldn't swim!
Unfortunately during WWII his son, my uncle, was not so lucky http://www.twgpp.org/information.php?id=1601761
Hi All
I had a English Father (RAF) and and German Mother ( Red Cross)
The story in short regarding my mother was that during the war years she was a German Red Cross Nurse and work in many Hospitals throught the Ruhr area in Germany . As the War progressed the Red Cross attended to any soldiers / Airmen English / German / French / American.
This was here that she meet my father and they fell in love.
He was injuried whilst repairing a airfield and was shot by a german airplaine early one morning ( some of his fingers shot off). It was while he was in hostpital that they fell in love and when the war was finish they married and moved to England afterwards.
And here am I to tell the tale.
It also intresting that my 1 uncles on my mothers side died in Starlingrad and the other 2 weeks after the war finished someware in poland. My auntie made bombs in the factory untill that was bombed out.
I went back to germany this year and found the house that she was born it and meet the family that lives there.........
Its a strange world :)
Bigboy
bardicastle
22-10-09, 20:29
My paternal grandfather served in WW1 in Belgium with the Canadian Expeditionary Force as a signaller throughout the whole war.
His brother also joined the CEF in 1916 leaving his farm in Canada, he served as a rifleman and died of his wounds at Vimy Ridge in April 1917. I never knew he existed until a few months ago, I then took the GS to France and found his grave.
My father joined the RAF in 1942 and served most of the war in the far east, flying P47 Thunderbolts in operations against the Japanese. He was demobbed in 1946 in Poona, India.
Vimy ridge went there last year what an amazing place well worth the visit
bardicastle
22-10-09, 20:37
I've enjoyed this thread, so I thought I would add what I know about my Grandad and my great uncles.
My Grandad on my Dads side was RSC (royal army service corps) he joined up in 1915 and saw service in France and worked his way from Ypres back to the Somme in time for the 'big' push. At this point the info I have on him is a bit vague, he was wounded at the Somme and spent a week in no mans land trapped between the lines, the 'water' he drank from a shell hole affected his stomach and he was also wounded with Shrapnel to his abdomen. He was rescued and sent back to Amiens to the hospital, he spent some time there and so the story goes he fell in love (lust!) with a very pretty French nurse.. he wrote to his comanding officer asked permission to marry the lass and permission was granted, this is where thing's take an odd twist, he was being sent to a recovery centre and she went with him to the train, in the crowds of thousands of men they became seperated, he told me that he was holding her hand and the crowd got so thick that her fingers slipped from his, he could'nt sit up as the wounds prevented him doing so... she was pushed away in the crowd and despite his best efforts to get to her he could'nt, he never saw her again! she vanished (maybe killed or posted away) despite this he never forgot her and I remember talking to him about her before he passed away.
My great uncle Frank wasn't so lucky, he served with the RGA (Royal Garrison artillery) and was 17 when he signed on, his service records show he spent time at Woolwich before being posted to France, the Battery he was with was fairly decimated and he was transfered to the Northumbrian Heavy battery, being a Kent boy he felt a bit lonely amongst the Northern lads. Nothing much happens until the 2nd battle of the Somme when his battery was to suffer a gas attack, he never got his mask on in time and his lungs were badly burnt, evacuated to Bolougne he was put on a boat that took him to Newcastle, in the mean time he was posted as a deserter! (idiots didn't even know he had been sent to blighty) My great Grandma had been told he was wounded and I've seen the letter she wrote to his commanding officer asking where he was. (incredibly moving letter, had me in tears) he was sent down to the hospital at Chatham, he even spent a bit of time back home, he fought against the burnt lungs, but sadly he died (it took him two years to die) and is buried in Harty church on the isle of Sheppey, he's the only military grave there in the tiny church yard. (see the link and you can see his grave) I've been to the service on the 11th November many times and find it very moving.
http://thames.me.uk/s00010_files/Harty_Church.jpg
shame you didn't get a name, what with the internet and red cross opening new files last year, who knows.
what beautiful place to be buried
WWII
My Father, now a frail 87yr old, served in the Reconnaissance Corps. Often working up to and past the front line. Fought across North Africa with the 1st Army (he would never go on the beach when I was a kid) Then on to Italy, initially on the beach landing at Solerno, later on to the Hell Hole of Anzio.
Again being the first there he and his mates set off to look for Jerry. They drove straight to Rome, liberated a few bottles of vino kissed a few girls and went back to tell the gaffers that the place was empty (of the bad guys at least) only to be overshadowed by bloody ALAN WICKER and his camera, who took a different road and of course got all the glory.
When they eventually they got out of there it was back home to marry my Mam and then back out to Palestine to patrol some main road from somewhere to somewhere else.
Took a very long time for him to start talking about it and I am sure he misses a lot out.
My Mother served in the ATS in an ordinance supply depot at Chillwell in Notingham.
Both are very proud of there service. This year, due to failing health, will be the first year my dad is not out selling poppies, but they will both be at the cenotaph in Sheffield on Remembrance Sunday wearing their berets, cap badges and medals.
My dad had a younger brother serving with the Coldstream Guards. He was killed at the age of 19, 28 days before the end of the war.
Hi everyone, i would like to tell you about my Dad...
He was in the Royal Engineers Bomb Disposal in WWII...he was orphaned at 13 and he looked after his younger brother...they both joined the Army at the start of the war (Dad was born 1919)..from Birmingham they got billeted to Derby as 2 young soldiers...there they met two sisters....the two sisters married the 2 brothers...I digress...from what i know Dad did some of his war service in Northern Ireland...he got posted there after he had married mum in 1942, he was something to do with Stormont Castle - so my Mum told me..wish i knew more.
I know that my paternal Great Uncle was killed in the first world war, but unfortunately, i know very little.
It has been a great thread to read, thanks for starting it.
Luci
bardicastle
23-10-09, 09:22
Hi everyone, i would like to tell you about my Dad...
He was in the Royal Engineers Bomb Disposal in WWII...he was orphaned at 13 and he looked after his younger brother...they both joined the Army at the start of the war (Dad was born 1919)..from Birmingham they got billeted to Derby as 2 young soldiers...there they met two sisters....the two sisters married the 2 brothers...I digress...from what i know Dad did some of his war service in Northern Ireland...he got posted there after he had married mum in 1942, he was something to do with Stormont Castle - so my Mum told me..wish i knew more.
I know that my paternal Great Uncle was killed in the first world war, but unfortunately, i know very little.
It has been a great thread to read, thanks for starting it.
Luci
Hi luci
if your interested in finding out more about your great uncle use this site
http://www.twgpp.org/index.php
good luck
shame you didn't get a name, what with the internet and red cross opening new files last year, who knows.
what beautiful place to be buried
No name I'm afraid, if he did tell me I can't remember, I was 16 when he died and was probably thinking about 'Fizzy' expansion chambers and ace bars!
Funny thing is that he spoke French almost fluently, even after years of not using the language! He hated the Belgians wish a passion that had to be witnessed... something to do with poisened water that killed the horses that he looked after. He was a 'carter' by trade (Trucker in modern terms) loved working with horses and after he returned to the front lines he won a competition for best kept team and ended up looking after the Co's horses and driving him around every now and again.
He suffered all his life with the result of his wounds and it's probably what hurried his passing. I looked for his records but most of them were lost in the blitz in 1940.
I've been to the building in Amiens where he recovered, I have a picture of him and his unit outside the town.
bardicastle
05-11-09, 19:08
i really enjoyed reading all your stories so i thought i would resurrect this thread as i'm sure a lot more of you could write something about your ancestors who fought in both world wars, especially as it's coming up to Armistice day
My Dad was born and bred on the Isle of Man. He sailed to liverpool the day after war broke out in Sept 39 and joined the Army in Manchester the next day. He could drive so ended up a driver in the royal corp of signals and went to France as part of the BEF. He was in the retreat to Dunkirk and was taken off on the last day. He was passed out over the heads of his mates because he couldnt swim and he carried all their valuables in his tin hat resting on his chest.
Once back in the UK he was retrained as a dispatch rider and went back to France on D Day and subsequently served in France until Demob in late 1945.
He didnt talk much about it and by the time I was interested enough to ask him he had died. I got most of the above information from his army record which I obtained from the historic records office.
I have done Normandy on my bike in 2004 the 60 anniversary and intended to follow his route thru france into germany. But havnt managed to research that bit of it yet
Regards
Centurion
If the pic does attach my old man is the one sitting on the front of the bike
My dad was in the Lincolnshire Regiment, he was wounded by shrapnel in his back on the first day of the D-Day landings. He was looked after by a French farmer and his wife on their kitchen table until he could be taken to a field hospital.
He was given a medal by the French (by the Mayor of a small town) a couple of years before he died in 1996.
He was a Army man before the war broke out and for some years after the war.
He was on guard outside the courtrooms at the Nuremburg Trials after the war.
He was a very good shot and was a bit of a sniper during the war, he also boxed for the Army and one time fought an Italian that went on to be an Italian Champion (don't know at what weight).
He lived his whole life following the war being excepting of all races whatever colour or creed with the exception of the ' bloody Germans' (his words not mine).
esoxlucius
17-03-10, 01:15
The following is an account written by my Great Uncle L.Cpl James Riddell M.M. Of how he was awarded the M.M. at the battle of Cambrai
In these few pages i will endeavour to set forth as clearly as possible how i won the military Medal at the battle of Cambrai on the 22nd November 1917. The battle opened on 21st November, all preparations were carried out very quickly beforehandb ut the night and morning of the 20th and 21st jerry seemed to have smelled a rat for he put 3 or 4 barrages of shells on our front line and support killing a few and wounding more of our company, he also blew up the cook's dugout with the consequence that we got no breakfast before we made the attack. However we repaid him back in his own coin that morning, we put our barrage on just as dawn was breaking and over we went about an hour afterwards. Our company, which was No1 were in the trenches waiting to go over so we passed the time watching the struggle between the two artilleries. The British guns opened up with almost one report and the sky was turned red with with the exploding shells, it was a pretty sight if one only had been further away. About half an hour after No1 Coy. advanced up to the point where we were to go over, and when we got there and settled a bit a whisle blew behind us and all of a sudden about fifty trench mortar bombs seemed to rise up from nowhere behind us and speed with sly and mocking swiftness toards the German lines, these were the wire cutting missiles. A short time after this we were wished the best of luck and over we went to finish the work which the artillery had so well begun, it was then we got our own back with jerry for destroying our cooking establishment. We did not have much trouble getting into the German lines but when we got there we found that the huns had not had their breakfast, although some were about to begin the feast, these we made prisoners and sent them back to our lines before they had time to eat.
When we got about half way to our objective we were held up by machine gun fire and it was almost two hours before we got the gunners under control, but before we did they succeeded in killing and wounding quite a number of our boys, so we thought we would rush them and just at that moment a couple of shells dropped very near us, a piece of one struck me on the big toe nail, I thought at that time my toe was off but when i looked down i found it hadn't even cut the boot so on we went untilwe captured the gunners and reached our objectives. When we got there we preformed the usual operations, digging in and posting sentries, the remainder walking about and looking for souvenirs etc.
The night passed quietly, hardly even a rifle shot, but the long range guns kept sending over an occasional shell and a great fire started on our left front thus the night passed untilabout 03.30 when we heard we had to advance again at 04.30 so we got our tommy cookers alight and we all emptied our water bottles to have some tea. My section kept their water together but all they had was hardly two pints between seven and then we could hardly get it boiled. However, we put in the tea and drank it warm, ate biscuts and bully after this and a tot of rum, we felt refreshed so we started to move forward just before dawn. our objective was to find out where the enemy was and when we had gone about three kilometres or two miles we soon found out, so there we stopped and got our rifles and lewis guns cleaned and tuned up, this was made easy by the aid of some german shirts which we did not hesitate to use.
This is now where i won the M.M.I had just finished my rifle and had a look at the lewis gun which was cleaned by N0s 1 and 2, the remainder looking after the magazines. Things were going nicely, with the exception of a few german machine guns which were not very far away and kept firing in our direction, making us kep our heads down of course. So long as we were in that trench they could not harm us, only they made us feel far from home.
Just then one of our officers came up to me and said "Cpl Riddell do you think if you took a few men further up the trench you could locate those guns till we get them put out of action?" Off i went with three men and myself until i came to a road, getting behind some bramble bushes i had a good view of the country round about but they were so far away i could not distinguish their uniforms or tell who they were. I then turned about to go another road and was nearly back where i started from when i saw our Intelligence Officer with a prisoner, so he told me which road to go but the men hung back, all but one, so him and i went by ourselves.
Well we advanced about 100 yards or so without meeting or seing anybody untilwe had a look over the top and seing two huns firing a light machine gun we shot one each and went on again but before we did so we had a look round their dugout for souvenirs but found none. we went on further taking a good look over occasionally until i spotted about fifty yards away a gun crew of about 15 men, so i had a shot at their heads from where i was , taking the precaution to duck my own head as soon as i fired. I then told my mate what i saw so we both fired again and ducked, when we looked again we saw the crew were beginning to get a bit confused and evidently their officer sent two men up in our direction. I suppose with the intention of finding the snipers and ending their game by killing them. however they failed to carry out their mission and got killed themselves instead. As soon as i saw what was happening i went to meet them and when i got in a position which suited me i wited for them. the leading hun could not see me till he was about three yards or so from the point of my bayonet but alas for him he was too late i just pressed the trigger and he fell dead. i then rushed over to him to get the other fellow and plugged him just as he was making a run for his life, the road was then clear till i reached the gun and crew. i told the other fellow to come on for when i got the taste of blood i wanted more. However the other boy was not quite so mad and would not come so i went myself. When i had got within ten yards or so of them i too began to study the situation and as i stood there with my rifle on guard and a roud up the spout i wished for a mills bomb or two. There were plenty of jerries bombs lying about but they were no good as they would only frighten the germans away and i wanted to kill them. As i stood there i did not want to go back and i knew if i rushed them by myself they would prove too many for me for there was still about twelve or perhaps more.
Just then my guardian angle sent two men to my relief. these two men had come up behind looking for plunder and souveniers and one of them had the forethought to fetch some bombs,the leader of the two was a tall handsome boy about 20 and Patterson was his name the other was about forty or so his name being Donaghey and he carried the bombs. So from this you will learn that old men are wiser than young ones. As soon as these two men stumbled upon me i asked in a whisper had they any of the longed for bombs. well Patterson and i took a bomb each and threw them at the same time. The bombs hit their mark the gun stopped firing there was a explosion and then; a... well never mind; as the bombs exploded Patterson and i charged with fixed bayonets. we both fired at the escaping huns. Patterson being behind me nearly blew my head off. we both did all the escaping huns in. Talk about the mad moment when you fire fifteen rounds rapid, it would not be in this mad moment when men went mad for life or death. Patterson and i pursued the escaping huns round a few traverses of the trench till we had them all.
From the book A Wheen of medals-The history of the 9th (Service) Bn Thte Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers (The Tyrones) in World War One
Blimey all for a few souveniers :bow:bow:bow
You must be proud, he was a very brave man:cool:
My great grandfather was in Egypt during WW1. We have lots of pictures of the pyramids and tombs etc. His team 'righted' the statue of Ramses the II... didn't appear to have too much of a hard time there from the look of the photos.
My grandfather, during WW2, worked at Bletchley Park in the Testery, Mil Section, Block F. Basically he was a cryptographer who also spoke fluent English, German, Spanish, Italian and Latin. Because of this he was able to, both try to break the days coding system as well as immediately see if he was correct as he would be able to read the messages. For his work he was awarded an OBE... though many years after.
He told a funny story around this. It goes something like this:
'When I was younger my real passion was botany. By some stroke of luck I managed to win 1st prize the the Chelsea flower show for two years running. After the second event I was introduced to the Queen Mother. She was a lovely woman with a devilish sense of humour. It was all very formal and we shared a glass while the sun was setting in the gardens'.
'Many years later, I was awarded a OBE. Afterward my friend (I can't remember the name) was about the introduce me to the Queen Mother, whom I had previously met although not expecting her to remember me I acted as though it was the first time.'
As (insert friends name here) was about the introduce me the Queen Mum said 'Oh yes, Michael, I believe we have previously met. How splendid to see you. I did enjoy your garden and our conversation on what was a lovely end to the day'.
'Now I was quite taken aback by her very good memory and was almost lost for words. The queen mum remember exactly where we met and recounted the wonderful weather we had had. Then she motioned that my fly was down at which point I quickly 'did up' though I cant say I was embarrassed... if you know what I mean.
So my Grandfather swears that on the first occasion they met, after the flower show he must have had his fly down as in all honest it is the only part of him that is unremarkable and unforgettable.
I think it was the champagne myself.... :D The old codger!
The old codger!
Great. :D
Thanks for that.
esoxlucius
19-03-10, 19:52
Blimey all for a few souveniers :bow:bow:bow
You must be proud, he was a very brave man:cool:
Yep. very proud-just recently found out about his exploits
Both my Grandad and Great Grandad were in the War's. Dont know nothing about Great Grandad but my Grandad was in the Artillery his Regimental number was 797336. I got in touch with the Military Historical disclosures, it was a long process but worth it. Got loads of info. I also served for 22yrs
I have photos of both but cant work out how to put them on
Stay Frosty
Caps
... had a very big head, consequently he spent the first 6 months of his WW11 in a beret while his mates had tin hats, very upsetting. His first posting was the defense of Scarborough, armed with 8' of gas pipe with a bayonet blade welded on the end 'cos all the guns were in France.
Subsequently went off to North Africa with the artillery, then walked up Italy dragging 'the bloody gun' where he got as far as Napoli before executing a body swerve and joining the Palestine Police; this latter move was something to do with woman trouble back home which was never fully explained :augie
I have a picture of him in the foyer of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem where he was picking up exhibits following the bombing of the hotel; he never had a lot of time for the Israelis after that.
My late F-I-L was an electrician in the RAF pre hostilities and was involved with early radar sets, was chuffed to bits when I took him the the RAF museum in Hendon where we found a radar control panel he'd operated on !
He got involved in some shenanigans when they were all issued plain clothes and his radar unit was shipped to a neutral country in the Balkans (?) by train; he recounts how they pulled into an unknown station to find a German train on the other platform, full of blokes in plain clothes with a radar unit; gentlemans agreement and both sides retreated without any unpleasantness :thumb2
In post war Germany he 'liberated' a DKW two-stroke, put it in a truck and buried it under several tons of radar equipment and sent it back to the UK; several months later he directed the unloading of the truck only to find someone else had got there first :blast
Top thread; lest we forget ...
was nine at the outbreak of WW2. My Grandfather worked at Croydon, a reserved occupation something to do with Wellington bombers. One of the first German air raids resulted in the relocation of Wellington assembly to North Wales, my father tells me to a hastily converted slate facility.
The family stayed in London until my Grandfather managed to find accomodation for them in a near derelict cottage (complete with rats, mice and a blocked chimney) on a Welsh hill farm. My Grandmother couldn't get the fire to light properly and asked the women at the next cottage to help. She stuffed masses of old newspapers up the chimney with a broom handle and set fire to it. Came close to burning the cottage to the ground but the fire lit subsequently lit easily enough.:)
Dad had a brilliant childhood hunting rabbits with an old shotgun and selling them plus helping out the local farmer who still used draft horses instead of tractors.
He went on to serve with the RAF in Aden and Pakistan.
My mothers father was in the British Army in the Boer War in South Africa. He got demobed there and stayed there. My dad joined the RAF and became a radio operater/mid upper gunner in bommer's, Wellington's and Lancaster's. He did time in North Africa as well as England, was on the first 1000 bommer raid over Germany. Spent time in England teaching the Yank airmen about radio's and said that there food made him sick as it was to rich after rations issued by the RAF. Also said that he survived three crash landings and three planes being shot up. One where he had to bail out at a great height and got made a member of the caterpiller club for it. He was given a gold caterpiller and a card stating the hight, also had about 6 medals. He spent the last two years in POW camp. After the war he went and lived in South Africa. He told me that wars bring out the best and worst in people. I can vouch for that as I spent five years in a country at war.
My granddad fought through the first world war, was at the Somme, survived, and eventually returned home in 1919. His medals were kept in a Robin Redbreast tobacco tin for years, and when eventually my dad gave them to me I had a special frame made for them, and I'm now proud to display them on my wall.
For the second world war he was in a reserved occupation and wasn't allowed to sign up. He drove steam trains, main line, throughout ... and occasionally any returning or lost German bombers would dump their leftovers on him, or try to. It's my good luck they missed.
My dad was a fireman on the steam trains during the second world war, and as such, being a reserved occupation, he couldn't sign up.
My dad was his dads fireman throughout :bow
:beerjug:
Both my grandfathers were in reserved occupations in WW2, although one of my step grandfathers was with the first British troops into Belsen-Bergen concentration camp and the photos he took were very, very grim :(
Just found this thread :thumb
Don't have any details but this photo was taken ( I think) just around the end of WW1
Not sure what the uniforms are ....
Paternal Grandad in the middle (William) Great Uncle Jack rear left, Great Uncle Herbert rear right
Great Aunt Nell ( front right ) looks a feisty one :D
Dad was a bit too young for WW11 but served in Palestine just afterwards ..
WorthingWelsh
23-06-10, 17:38
My great grangfather was in the Welch Regiment and then seconded into the newly formed RAF in WW1. He survived the war.
He had made it through the battle for Mametz wood (Swansea Pals).
4000 Welsh men killed or injured in just 48 hours. On his death bed in 1974 his mind started to replay the battle in his head, my uncle sat through it with him and was horrified at what he was saying. Up to then he had never spoken of the war.
My great grandmother had four brothers 1 survived the other three were killed.
Elias Jones RAMC died of gas and wounds August 1918 Le treport.
John Jones 17th Batt Welch Regiment KIA 24 April 1917 Villiers-Plouch.
David Jones 2nd/1st Pembroke Yeomanry Died of wounds 25 January 1915.
(Buried at Alltwen Cemetery Pontardawe South Wales)
Dewi Jones who Survived was killed when he rode his motorcycle into a wall in Alltwen in the 1930's It was suggested that it was suicide due to depresion.
Maybe the war got him in the end.
I try to visit there graves every year, since doing my research I realised I was the only one from my family and our past to visit there graves. I will continue to do so aslong as I am able.
I went to see my 85 year old dad yesterday and he showed me the article in the local paper about him getting his latest gong from the Ruskis.....
http://www.eladvertiser.co.uk/polopoly_fs/kc-irving-june24-1.724597!image/48314033.jpg_gen/derivatives/halfColumn/48314033.jpg
http://www.eladvertiser.co.uk/news/gunner-irving-awarded-russian-convoy-medal-1.724596?referrerPath=home
My uncle Stephen (father's brother, now deceased) was in the Royal Navy sometime during the late 1960's - mid 1970's.
My uncle informed me that my grandfather (father's father, now deceased) was a Chief Petty Officer (CPO) in the Royal Navy and was aboard one of the British Warships at the Battle Of The River Plate where Captain Hans Langsdorff scuttled his ship the Admiral Graf Spee.
I am uncertain whether my grandfather was a CPO at the time of the battle and would dearly love to know which warships he served on.
I know the three RN warships at the battle were HMS AJAX, HMS ACHILLIES and HMS EXETER. They were subsequently joined by HMS CUMBERLAND.
The last time I visited my grandfather before his died of bowel cancer was with my father and I recall him promising my father that he could have the framed black & white photo of him standing "At ease" on the deck of a warship wearing his white uniform.
Sadly, when he died in hospital, his room at the care home was stripped of most of his belongings by relatives and the photo went missing. That is the only object which my father asked his father for in the event of his death.
The loss of that framed picture really upset my father.
On an entirely different front, my great uncle (my mother's mother's brother) died on the same day as the Colonel Claus Von Stauffenberg failed bomb plot agaisnt Adolf Hitler on 20th July 1944.
My great uncle was a Corporal in the 2nd Bn, Royal Ulster Rifles. He is buried at Ranville CWGC Cemetery, Calvados near the Caen Canal and Pegasus Bridge.
One of my other uncle's said that the 2nd Bn, Royal Ulster Rifles trained in Scotland where only commandos trained and he is sure that my great uncle was a commando.
My wife, sons, mother and I went and paid our respects a few years ago, its time I rode there on my GSA and laid some flowers again.
Richard.
esoxlucius
09-11-10, 21:44
Richard,
If you haven't already check out http://www.2ndbattalionroyalulsterrifles.com/
My uncle Stephen (father's brother, now deceased) was in the Royal Navy sometime during the late 1960's - mid 1970's.
My uncle informed me that my grandfather (father's father, now deceased) was a Chief Petty Officer (CPO) in the Royal Navy and was aboard one of the British Warships at the Battle Of The River Plate where Captain Hans Langsdorff scuttled his ship the Admiral Graf Spee.
I am uncertain whether my grandfather was a CPO at the time of the battle and would dearly love to know which warships he served on.
I know the three RN warships at the battle were HMS AJAX, HMS ACHILLIES and HMS EXETER. They were subsequently joined by HMS CUMBERLAND.
Richard.
My old man was present for the scuttling of the Graf Spee. He lived in Argentina during the war, and was doing something for the British Embassy which required him to go to Montevideo, possibly to assist in the pressure being put on the Uruguayan government to intern Graf Spee if it did not leave with 24 hours. Or, as a fluent Spanish speaker, who could pass as a native Argentinian, he might have been spreading rumours about what ships the British had waiting. He never let on exactly what he was doing though, at least not to me, but as he should have been called up in 1942, he must have been doing something fairly useful, as he stayed in Buenos Aires until after the end of the war.
I had a Grandfather who unfortunately passed away when I was about 15, he never spoke about the war to me and got cancer at a relatively early age, would love to have spoken to him about the war.
I know he never really spoke about it much to anyone, he went on the rememberance marches and I remember trying to spot him on the telly as a youngster.
All I know is he was at Dunkirk and spent most of the war getting bombed on a daily basis in Gibralter.
Had a great Uncle who was a Japenese POW, no idea how he ended up there, he never spoke a word to anyone, a real shame that so many people took their stories and troubles to the grave with them.
Great thread by the way.
Had a great Uncle who was a Japenese POW, no idea how he ended up there, he never spoke a word to anyone, a real shame that so many people took their stories and troubles to the grave with them.
Great thread by the way.
Indeed. My Grandfather returned from the Somme, I have his medals on my wall now, but he never ever spoke of it. As a kid I asked him questions but he just dismissed them.... I learned later that my father had quizzed him too and had got the same response.
Until my grandfather was dying that is, he was in a half coma, my dad nursing him. In his last few hours my grandfather was reliving those terrible days in the trenches ... he was in a water filled bomb crater nursing his pal he had joined with, it was a headless corpse that was in his arms. My father was in tears later when he was telling me. My granddad just rambled and rambled as he relived the torment ....
Respect .....
Richard,
If you haven't already check out http://www.2ndbattalionroyalulsterrifles.com/
Thank you for the link :thumb2
My great uncle is mentioned. :aidan
Corporal O' Reilly finding himself the senior NCO of his platoon, took command and did very good work during the difficult period of consolidation which followed.
R.I.P. :(
My old man was present for the scuttling of the Graf Spee. He lived in Argentina during the war, and was doing something for the British Embassy which required him to go to Montevideo, possibly to assist in the pressure being put on the Uruguayan government to intern Graf Spee if it did not leave with 24 hours. Or, as a fluent Spanish speaker, who could pass as a native Argentinian, he might have been spreading rumours about what ships the British had waiting. He never let on exactly what he was doing though, at least not to me, but as he should have been called up in 1942, he must have been doing something fairly useful, as he stayed in Buenos Aires until after the end of the war.
Interesting info.
He must of had an important job, perhaps he was S.O.E.
My mums dad came over from Italy in 1905. He served during WW1 in the Lancashire Fusiliers. He met his wife (also Italian) when he was guarding German POW's at Wythanshaw General Hospital. As he was never naturalised during WW11 he was an enemy alien. He worked for British Rail at the time and had to give up this job.He was not allowed a radio and had to report to the police once a week.
My dads father was also a Lancashire Fusilier who went missing during the Arakan offensive in 1943. His name is on face 9 of the memorial in Rangoon
Captain Slow
17-12-10, 17:58
My Grandfather was an amazing chap, lived with us for the last few years of his life. He was a regular with the Border Regiment and served in India and was sent from there to Gallipoli for the landings, was wounded twice and finally sent back to the UK to recuperate. He was then sent to the Western Front and was awarded the VC at Ypres for taking out a German machine gune nest. He died when he was 74 from a cancer that grew around a bullet that the doctors couldn't remove as it was too close to his spine, he retired from the Army as a Sgt. Major.
My Father was an regular officer with the RAF during WW2, serving in Blenheims, Wellingtons and Lancasters, after two tours in Bomber Command he was posted to Coastal Command and served in Sunderlands. He remained in the RAF after the War and his final posting was Brize Norton.
my grandfather was the foreman in a yard that built MTBS (motor torpedo boats)
Been trying to find out more on my Grandad, I know he was with the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Regiment and was rescued at Dunkirk, found this on the web:
The British rapidly sent the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) to France in September, which included the 1st Ox & Bucks and the Territorial 1st Buckinghamshire Battalion, later joined by the 4th Ox & Bucks, all of which eventually became part of the 48th (South Midland) Division, with the 1st Ox & Bucks part of the 143rd Brigade and the 4th Ox & Bucks and 1st Buckinghamshires part of the 145th Brigade.
The Germans launched their invasion of the Low Countries on 10 May 1940, shattering a period of the conflict that was known as the Phony War. The German invasion of northern Belgium—where the BEF was located—was a diversion with the main attack being through the poorly-defended Ardennes forest. The BEF withdrew west towards the Dendre river after the Dutch Army had surrendered, and then withdrew further towards the Scheldt river by 19 May. The British force, having given a good account of themselves in the defence of the Scheldt, eventually withdrew into France, moving towards the Dunkirk area where, on 26 May, the evacuation of the British force back to Britain began, known as Operation Dynamo (26 May-3 June). The 1st Ox & Bucks took part in the defence of the Ypres-Commines Canal (26–28 May) and was eventually evacuated, having suffered heavy casualties. The other battalions took part in the defence of Mount Cassel until 29 May where they eventually attempted a breakout though the 4th Battalion was encircled by German forces near Watou and being overwhelmed. The 1st Buckinghamshires, having also suffered heavily, made it to Dunkirk and was evacuated back to Britain. The Dunkirk evacuation was extremely successful, with over 330,000 British and French troops evacuated.
I know after that he spent the rest of the war on Malta, which was bombed heavily, although I cannot find references to his regiment being there, although he may have transfered :nenau
I know he was gone for the rest of the war as my dad was born around the start of the war and did not meet his dad until he returned after the war.
Malta was one of the most intensively bombed areas during the war. The Luftwaffe (German Air Force) and the Italian Regia Aeronautica (Italian Royal Air Force) flew a total of 3,000 bombing raids over a period of two years in an effort to destroy RAF defences and the ports.[10] Success would have made possible a combined German—Italian amphibious landing (Operation Herkules) supported by German airborne forces (Fallschirmjäger). It was never carried out. In the end, Allied convoys were able to supply and reinforce Malta, while the RAF defended its airspace, though at great cost in material and lives.
Balders1450
18-12-10, 10:36
My Grandad was on board the M2 Sub, every one on board was lost, his was one of only 2 bodies recovered as his job was to time the launch of the plane when it surfaced.
"It is believed that the disaster happened because the submarine’s hangar doors were opened before it had properly surfaced. The entire crew perished and with the exception of two, whose bodies were recovered, remain inside the hull"
At least his was a quick death by drowning, the rest all suffocated slowly in the freezing depths.... he was identified by dental records!
In the video at 3m 15 secs in, the woman carrying a child going into church is my Gran carrying my mum!
<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/-PGXyxZV62M?fs=1&hl=en_US&color1=0x234900&color2=0x 4e9e00"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/-PGXyxZV62M?fs=1&hl=en_US&color1=0x234900&color2=0x 4e9e00" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>
Like many on here it would seem, my grandfather turned into a virtual recluse when he came back from the Somme. My mum tells how he never smiled, never laughed and had turned from a normal fun loving bloke into a depressed and angry man.
He had a hand grenade blow up between his legs and was in hospital for two years, Apparently he begged and begged the doctors to amputate his legs because he was in so much pain. I remember him as a grumpy old bent over man who hobbled about.
There was a story that he jumped into a trench and was faced with a German. He shot him dead. It was shoot him or be shot himself. He went through the guys pockets, found his wallet, the photos of his wife and kids and sent them back to his widow explaining all and saying how sorry he was.
Easyrider5258
18-12-10, 14:07
My Dad was part of the paras involved in the action below, in the pic taken in Athens in Jan 45 after the action (2nd row down 4th in from right) he is still fit and well aged 89 :thumb2
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh31/Easyrider5258/dadupload.jpg
What it doesn't say in the report below is that when dropped by Dakota at Megara, half the troops were drowned when blown out to sea with full kit on, my dad was one of the Lucky ones or I would`nt be here !
Fact File : British Expedition to Greece
September 1944 to January 1945
Theatre: Mediterranean
Location: Greece
Players: Allies: Force 140 under Lieutenant General Ronald Scobie, including 2nd Brigade, Parachute Regiment and 23rd Armoured Brigade (later reinforced by 4th Indian Division and 4th British Division); Force 120 (Royal Navy). Communist EAM/ELAS forces in Athens.
Outcome: Operation Manna was sent to prevent the Communist EAM/ELAS from seizing power in Greece after the German withdrawal.
'Do not hesitate to act as if you were in a conquered city where a local rebellion is in progress.' - Winston Churchill to General
Scobie on the uprising in Athens, December 1944
Local resistance to the German occupation of Greece emerged in the form of the communist EAM/ELAS movement and the royalist EDES party. During the winter of 1943-4, civil war broke out between the two groups and the British became alarmed at the prospect of communist rule in Greece after the war.
Following the German withdrawal from Greece in 1944, Churchill arranged for a small British force to accompany the Greek government back home.
In late September 1944, Scobie's Force 140 began landing on the Peloponnese while the Special Boat Squadron (SBS) captured Araxos airfield. Parachute troops were dropped at Megara on 4 October and entered Athens on 14 October. The rest of Force 140 landed soon afterwards.
The Greek Prime Minister, George Papandreou, arrived in Athens on 18 October. However, confrontation with EAM/ELAS loomed. After 15 communist protesters were shot dead, fighting broke out between ELAS and the British on 3 December. Scobie's troops were outnumbered and clinging onto a small section of the city, but once reinforcements arrived they regained the initiative and suppressed the uprising.
On Christmas Eve, Churchill and his foreign secretary Anthony Eden flew to Athens to resolve the situation. A ceasefire was agreed on 11 January and a political settlement reached in February. It was not to last - Greece fought a bitter civil war from 1946-9.
T
The above was posted a couple of years ago on a similar thread, pleased to say Dads still going strong at age 91 now, :thumb2
.
charlie brown
18-12-10, 14:54
My Grandfather was in the Royal Artillery, he died on the 12th of February 1982. He was a lovely bloke, clever sharp and driven. Must have been quiet a nice chap cause some bloke who signs himself Rex wrote to him on a couple of occasions and sent him these lovely coin things with ribbons attached. My uncle has those letters now and they have a map of North Africa and the Med behind them.........
Miss him now and again, especially now when I try to make light of what he did and how much him and so many of his friends gave.
Im a copper now and cant not say what I would do to those who chose to desecrate the cenotaph and other monuments , burning the tree, Jesus, they were supposed to be left wingers, surely that tree symbolizes one of the greatest fight against extremism ever. Still blimming good punch up.
Ooops rant sorry
charlie brown
18-12-10, 15:00
Just googled him. He got the Military Cross as a Captain in the Royal Artillery in 1942. Crickey
silver fox
08-01-11, 21:17
My Grandad was in the DLI (Durham Light Infantry) 1st and 2nd WW. Was injured and i have a copy of the letters sent home to his mum and dad somewhere and a couple of photos of him. I think my uncle did National Service, but i think i am the only one in the family who followed him into the services. Can't confirm this though as i don't do the close family thing after years of arguing!!!!! He survived to tell his tales although i was too young to remember them unfortunately. I would love to have a chat with him now as i'm sure we would have lots to talk about!
My Grandad was on board the M2 Sub, every one on board was lost, his was one of only 2 bodies recovered as his job was to time the launch of the plane when it surfaced.
"It is believed that the disaster happened because the submarine’s hangar doors were opened before it had properly surfaced. The entire crew perished and with the exception of two, whose bodies were recovered, remain inside the hull"
At least his was a quick death by drowning, the rest all suffocated slowly in the freezing depths.... he was identified by dental records!
In the video at 3m 15 secs in, the woman carrying a child going into church is my Gran carrying my mum!
Incredible Balders .... incredible!
I'm booked in at Martin Peglar's Orchard Farm (http://www.martinpegler.com/tours.html) for three days 4th 5th and 6th April for a three day visit to the Somme Battlefields with my two sons and a couple of pals. From there we'll go for a razz down to the Schwarzwald for a couple of days, or up towards der Nürburgring, but probably both ;)
Anyone welcome to join us ... open invite :thumb
:beerjug:
silver fox
08-01-11, 22:17
Random Pic's of my Grandad's past
silver fox
08-01-11, 22:24
And more
... is one of my Father that was recently scanned and sent to me. Following demob in Naples he was reluctant to return home (women trouble) and so went off to Palestine; this is taken in the foyer of the King David Hotel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_David_Hotel_bombing) in Jerusalem the day the Irgun blew it up :augie
My Grandfather who was in the Army was gassed and taken prisoner in WW1 and my Father was a gunner in the RAF in WW2. I don’t know much about their military days, my Father never spoke much about the war, but I know he was stationed on the South coast of England and also at Rimini in Italy.
Does anyone know how to ask about records from the MOD, or if there are any websites with unclassified meterial (or classified for that matter:blast) that can be trawled.
Pity they did not invent the database before the bloody war instead of putting everything on billions of bits of paper.
My kids' great-grandfather (their gran apparently used to play with Charles when he was a nipper)
Admiral Sir Maurice James Mansergh KCB CBE (1896 - 1966) was a Royal Navy officer who went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth.
First officer knighted by Elizabeth after she bacame Queen.
He was made Deputy Chief of Staff and subsequently Chief of Staff to the Allied Naval Commander-in-Chief for the Normandy Invasion Expeditionary Force in 1943.
After the War he became Commodore commanding 15th Cruiser Squadron and then, from 1946, he became Naval Secretary.He was appointed Commander of the 3rd Aircraft Carrier Squadron in 1948 (HMS Theseus & HMS Vengeance) and Fifth Sea Lord and Deputy Chief of Naval Staff (Air) in 1949.
His last appointment was as Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth in 1951.
unfortunately this line of the famiy is now part of the ex-wife... however the boys still benefit from the lineage!
My Dad was called up into a Panzer Division of the Wehrmacht as a 16 year old. He was captured as a POW by the Americans at the Battle of the Bulge and spent the rest of the war in various POW camps in the USA. He was used to pick cotton and help on a cattle ranch.
In 1945, when the war ended, he was transferred to a POW camp outside Alyth in Scotland and was soon sent to work at a dairy farm in Blairgowrie. When he was released in 1946, he was kept on by the farmer and he met and married by Mum who lived a few hundred yards from the farm.
My Dad was very fortunate. A boy of the same age from the same small town in Germany was also called up with my dad and he ended up being taken POW by the Russians. He was in a camp in Siberia and didn't get home until the mid 50's. Apparently he was like an old man albeit he was only in his late 20's. My Dad is 84 now so he can rightly be called an old man.
An 18 year old POW
http://ronno.smugmug.com/Friends/Scanned-pix-fae-years-ago/002/54200151_JNaQJ-O-1.jpg
My Dad with other German POWs at Balharrie Camp, Alyth
http://ronno.smugmug.com/Friends/Scanned-pix-fae-years-ago/003/54200153_zfkpT-O.jpg
Grandfather was a royal marine, artic convoys and then later the med.
Served on HMS London during the yangtse incident and we have the pictures on return into portsmouth...not an inch of the ship without a hole in it
I'll never be able to understand what he went through, the more I read the more humble I feel. Just wish I could tell him how much I appreciate what all these guys did......total and complete respect for everyone one of the armed forces....be that then or now
Easyrider5258
09-01-11, 19:19
My Dad was part of the paras involved in the action below, in the pic taken in Athens in Jan 45 after the action (2nd row down 4th in from right) he is still fit and well aged 89 :thumb2
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh31/Easyrider5258/dadupload.jpg
What it dosent say in the report below is that when dropped by dakota at Megara, half the troops were drowned when blown out to sea with full kit on, my dad was one of the Lucky ones or I would`nt be here !
Fact File : British Expedition to Greece
September 1944 to January 1945
Theatre: Mediterranean
Location: Greece
Players: Allies: Force 140 under Lieutenant General Ronald Scobie, including 2nd Brigade, Parachute Regiment and 23rd Armoured Brigade (later reinforced by 4th Indian Division and 4th British Division); Force 120 (Royal Navy). Communist EAM/ELAS forces in Athens.
Outcome: Operation Manna was sent to prevent the Communist EAM/ELAS from seizing power in Greece after the German withdrawal.
'Do not hesitate to act as if you were in a conquered city where a local rebellion is in progress.' - Winston Churchill to General
Scobie on the uprising in Athens, December 1944
Local resistance to the German occupation of Greece emerged in the form of the communist EAM/ELAS movement and the royalist EDES party. During the winter of 1943-4, civil war broke out between the two groups and the British became alarmed at the prospect of communist rule in Greece after the war.
Following the German withdrawal from Greece in 1944, Churchill arranged for a small British force to accompany the Greek government back home.
In late September 1944, Scobie's Force 140 began landing on the Peloponnese while the Special Boat Squadron (SBS) captured Araxos airfield. Parachute troops were dropped at Megara on 4 October and entered Athens on 14 October. The rest of Force 140 landed soon afterwards.
The Greek Prime Minister, George Papandreou, arrived in Athens on 18 October. However, confrontation with EAM/ELAS loomed. After 15 communist protesters were shot dead, fighting broke out between ELAS and the British on 3 December. Scobie's troops were outnumbered and clinging onto a small section of the city, but once reinforcements arrived they regained the initiative and suppressed the uprising.
On Christmas Eve, Churchill and his foreign secretary Anthony Eden flew to Athens to resolve the situation. A ceasefire was agreed on 11 January and a political settlement reached in February. It was not to last - Greece fought a bitter civil war from 1946-9.
T
I keep an eye on the net for any new info on the above operation my Father was involved in, imagine how pleased I was to find this youtube clip of the actual operation, in there somewhere is my Dad !, he probaly knew some of the faces in the clip, I,ve tried to spot him but cant, but would love to save the clip somehow to show him on my laptop, anyone know a simple way to save the clip, he has no internet or wireless where he lives, could I get onto dvd somehow???
heres the clip.........
<object width="640" height="505"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/mTeAot_MgeQ?fs=1&hl=en_GB"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/mTeAot_MgeQ?fs=1&hl=en_GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="505"></embed></object>
Does anyone know how to ask about records from the MOD, or if there are any websites with unclassified meterial (or classified for that matter:blast) that can be trawled.
Pity they did not invent the database before the bloody war instead of putting everything on billions of bits of paper.
Access to WW2 records is availble. If you have a bit of a Google search you can find the right forms to download. As far as I know its free for next of kin but if you are note related then I think you have to pay and the will not release as much info. I am just about to get my Nan to apply for copies of my Grandad's war service records.
All the WW1 records (that still exist) are available. If you want anything looking up then drop me a PM (:augie)
but would love to save the clip somehow to show him on my laptop, anyone know a simple way to save the clip, he has no internet or wireless where he lives, could I get onto dvd somehow???
heres the clip........
Get REALPLAYER - install it and check the options for installation, where you can have it embedded into Microsoft Internet Explorer with options to download/save video clips.
Once installed you'll find that when "mousing over" the clip a small silver grey bar will appear on the top right-hand side of the video clip that you can click on - this will then download the file/clip for you!
:thumb2
anyone know a simple way to save the clip, he has no internet or wireless where he lives, could I get onto dvd somehow???
If you use firefox as your browser there is a free add on for it called DownloadHelper. After install there is an icon beside your address bar, once on a web page that has a video clip on it click on this icon it it saves the video for you.. very easy to use!
i just downloaded the file and have hosted it on megaupload for you to download if you want, heres the link http://www.megaupload.com/?d=IRF941R0 its in mp4 file type, you can watch it on your pc/laptop or burn to a dvd..
bardicastle
01-04-11, 20:28
OMG ....i haven't been on this site for about 6 months and i'm amazed that my thread has been resurrected. It's fantastic to see new blood adding to it, i particularly liked ronno, olbertone and silver fox's input.
ronno as it nice to see the what happened if your on the other side
olbertone my dad was in palistine ( never know he might have known my dad )
silver fox's impressive pic's and doc's
:clap:clap GREAT STUFF
Speckled Jim
01-04-11, 21:21
Dad: RAF in WW2. Mainly training hand to hand combat for new recruits. Not sure about any details. I'd sure like to ask him but he passed away 30 years ago.
Mum: RAF in WW2. Communications in the UK, and North Africa - Egypt, Libya and Algeria. (She's now in her late 80's and I'm currently making a series of video interviews with her, reminiscences of her childhood, war years, meeting Dad, etc. I've got a couple of hours of it so far and I'm going to surprise my brother and sister with a copy of it when she eventually passes away. Hopefully not for a few years yet though!)
Grandad: Whatever the WW1 equivalent of ARP Wardens/Special Constables were. He was involved with the shooting down of Zeppelin L33 near Little Wigborough, Essex with hand guns in 1915. As a young man, he was a motorcyclist too. Somewhere I have a picture of him on a belt drive Levis, I'll see if I can dig it out and post it.
gingerbeemer08
08-05-11, 20:31
Grandad 1= Wounded at Dunkirk, left for dead, treated and repatriated by the Germans, 6 months memory loss in a UK hospital, arrived at my (very surprised) Grans about 1 year later!
Grandad 2= Artillery observer on D-Day, injured by the Bosch at Aachen whilst taking out a Tiger tank.
Dad= Light infantry, 1959-70. Veteran of Aden and Northern Ireland.
Me= REME Warrent Officer (still), veteran of Bosnia and Afghanistan.
Runs in the family!!
My Grandad didn't want to carry a gun or shoot people in WW1, and as he was to study medicine at Uni after the war he volunteered for the medical corp and spent his war in the middle east and later in the trenches of northern france. My aunty who is now in her late 80's said thats where his slight stammer came from.
AJSmith110
12-02-12, 22:38
Grandfather was a Captain in East Kent Regiment, served shortly in The Somme and was one of the lucky ones to survive, unharmed.
He then served in Home Guard during WWII.
My father was not old enough to get involved until 1944, when he qualified as navigator on lancasters, serving in 50 Squadron, based at Skellingthorpe, near Lincoln. He flew 22 missions,many into Russia. Survived unharmed and then hardly ever talked about his experiences.
Grandad - in 1939 he was working on a pilot boat with the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board. The story goes that he became one of the few sea-born RAF personnel in the air/sea rescue service serving on a rescue boat. Family oral history has it that his boat was torpedoed off the Mersey Bar on it's way back from picking up survivors from a convoy vessel sunk in the Irish Sea. He pushed a float and an injured man back towards shore for several hours and they were, fortunately, picked up by his mates in one of the other rescue boats.
stephen.stallebrass
13-02-12, 09:33
My grandad was a gun layer on HMS Mauritius during Second World War. HMS Mauritius was the Flagship off Sword Beach during the D-Day landings. It was part of Fire Support Squadron D that supported the invasion of Normandy. It was especially pivotal in supporting the British 6th Airborne Division Forces, particularly those at Pegasus Bridge.
These airborne troops later said that without the fire support from the Royal Navy they would probably have been overun and suffered more casualties. So what Without the protection of the eastern flank of the bridgehead German forces would have pushed them back into the sea and Europe wouldn't have been liberated and the war lost... In other words my grandad won ww2 with his accurate gunnery, LOL!
No seriously, like most veterans my grandad rarely talked about what he did in the war, I had to find out by doing my own research and pricing together bits of information and recollections of what he did say from my foggy childhood memory.
My other graded was a Japanese POW. don't know where he. Was captured, probably Singapore. He survived the war but didn't talk of his experience. Sadly he died before I was born and I haven't done any research about his war. The only thing I do know is if my gran cooked rice pudding he would go into some PTSD type rage. I think the rice was the trigger?
Another unknown relative was killed and buried in Gallipoli in WW1...
Tunnel Rat
26-02-12, 00:30
At the outbreak of WW2 my grandfather ran off and tried to join the Royal Navy. I say "tried" because as soon as they found out he was a fireman on the Southern Railway he was sent straight back to his former job.
So, although not forces, as far as I'm concerned he and many other thousands of railway workers played a key role during the war.
He joined a railway that served the leafy 1930s suburbs of the South East, taking commuters in to London and day trippers to the coast, and everything was a lovely shade of malachite green.
By 1940, everything was painted matt black, he was spending days, sometimes weeks, away from home hauling stuff all over the country around the clock, with the run up to D-Day seeing railway crews live, eat and sleep on the footplate, and all whilst at the receiving end of some of the Luftwaffe's more determined efforts with no way of shooting back.
:bow
Paternal grandfather was a medic in WW1. Like many he faked his age and was too young when he joined up. He served on the Somme and Ypres, never talked about what he saw, but if a gun appeared on the TV or if he heard gun fire or explosions from the TV he changed channels or turned the TV off right away.
Quite annoying as a youngchild, but the older I grew the more I understood.
If you've not been to the Menin Gate, Ypres, Amien, St Omer and the war graves go. My grandmother has two of her brothers names are on the Menin Gate, its a huge monument covered with 54,389 names of men whose bodies were never found.
Maternal grandfather was a pro Royal Marine who joined up in 1925 time for 22 years, His father marched him in to Stonehouse barracks Plymouth and told the recruiting officer and sergeant that his son was joining the Marines. It was first my Grandfather knew of it as he thought he'd gone with his father to Plymouth to go shopping. He was given no choice but t sign away his life for 22 years:eek
In those days Royal Marines trained under live machine gun fire in Cornwall. Guns were set to fire across the side of the hill with bullets just clearing the hill side by a couple of feet. If you weren't flat on your belly crawling you could get shot! At the local Cornish park the sign on the gate read "No Dogs and No Royal Marines". Royal Marines were considered very dangerous hard men.
Grandfather travelled most of the world, he saw my mother for the first few months of her life and then next when she was 5 in 1937 as his ship had been away all that time! Marines Boxing, Rowing, Swimming and shooting champ and he spent time attached with British secret service when on China Fleet duty. In WW2 he was the Marine sergeant in charge of Winston Churchill's body guard group at the Casablanca Conference. He is on Pathe News Reel film walking behind Churchill so it's not BS. He went down on two ships that were sunk in WW2 and survived (One was the "Bon Adventure"). He also did 7 Russia Convoy trips and not many people survived that many in WW2. After his first trip he refused to go the the Red Army Choir shows that were laid on for the British, they were not aloud to carry their side arms and armed Russian soldiers stood guard at the end of every row of British sailors and marines:eek:
Towards the end of his life we found out that he had been in places where the government of the day would never admit that British servicemen went or did whatever they were asked to do. After WW2 there was no counseling services or shrinks and he apparently found it hard to adapt and come to terms with the horror of how he and colleagues had to kill silently on some select raids they were involved in. He mentioned very little of what he had done and his faith and his religion became a big part of his latter life.
My father was a boy in WW2 and then did National Service and I spent 3 of my school years at HMS Mauritius school:clap
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j209/scotboxer/thwright058.jpg
In hospital in Glasgow after being wounded on the Somme when the Sherwood Foresters attacked La Boiselle on July 5th 1916. He captured a machine gun and several prisoners. God knows how but he was given the Military Medal for it. Wounded again in 1918 when he lost most of his left arm. As a lad, I remember him cracking eggs one handed into a frying pan and being amazed that he could do that. He was still a Private in 1918. Must have been just as awkward and thrawn a gobshite as myself!
stephen.stallebrass
26-02-12, 09:42
My father was a boy in WW2 and then did National Service and I spent 3 of my school years at HMS Mauritius school
My Grandad served on HMS Mauritius (http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2992037&postcount=137)... any info you might have on this ship between D-Day and 1945 would be most appreciated.
:thumb
My Grandad served on HMS Mauritius (http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2992037&postcount=137)... any info you might have on this ship between D-Day and 1945 would be most appreciated.
:thumb
'HMS Mauritius' was also the British Navy Base in Mauritius from the late 50's to the 70's. had to be one of the best navy postings on this earth.:thumb
Rob Farmer
26-02-12, 13:39
My Grandfather was wounded while fighting in Malaya against the Japanese. They gave him a terrible beating that he was being treated for right until his death. He spent the rest of the war building the railway including the bridge over the river kwai. Theres a brief summary here http://www.royalleicestershireregiment.org.uk/have-you-a-tiger/record/20295/ He went back to Malaya a couple of years before he died to visit the places he fought.
His brother fought as a Chindit with the 2nd Battalion of The Leicestershire Regiment.
Started to read this thread from the start. Got something really irritating in my eye so can't focus. Will have to comeback to it.
Respect
Jonnybiscuit
26-02-12, 15:00
http://i1050.photobucket.com/albums/s410/jonnybiscuit/323BatteryRAatSharpness1941.jpg
My Dad is 3rd from right on front row. He saw service on defence of Great Britain and then in N. Africa and Italy. He "left" a lot of the others in this photo in various places on the way (D-Day Dodgers !!!!).
323 battery RA. Taken at Sharpness in 1941. he met my Mum within days of this photo and they're still together now (bless them).
He's still very much alive and made 90 last October.
Jonnybiscuit
26-02-12, 15:06
Going back to WW1. here's my Grandfathers.
Jim Pegler was on Western front 1914 -18 incl. and Tom Preston was LieutCmdr RNVR ("Wavy Navy" as he was a trawler skipper in civillian life) and commanded HMS Drypool in the Med (and I think off Gallipoli).
http://i1050.photobucket.com/albums/s410/jonnybiscuit/JimPegler.jpg
http://i1050.photobucket.com/albums/s410/jonnybiscuit/TomPreston-1.jpg
Rob Farmer
26-02-12, 17:24
Started to read this thread from the start. Got something really irritating in my eye so can't focus. Will have to comeback to it.
Respect
gets you like that doesn't it.
This is a summary of the battle where my Grandfather was wounded. He had a load of pictures from when he revisited, dissapeared into the family somewhere, I'd love to know who has them.
The fighting became fierce with Japanese and British positions taken and retaken at the point of a bayonet. Japanese casualties were heavy with a continuous stream of wounded passing Colonel Okabe's headquarters.
The ferocity and confusion of the close-quarter fighting around the British Battalion was especially violent in the forward positions. Lieutenant Edgar Newland, commanding a platoon (http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Platoon?qsrc=3044) of 30 Leicesters, held the most forward position of the battalion. His platoon was surrounded and cut off for most of the battle but Newland and his men fought off all attacks and kept hold of their isolated position throughout the two days
ELIMINATOR
26-02-12, 18:13
My Dad was in the Royal marines. Got torpedoed in the Med. on board HMS Birmingham.
After the war he was in Malaya during the war, oh no it wasn't a war, silly me! His photo album had one of his mates holding a severed head and smiling. FFS what must they have gone through to be able to do that?
My late grandad replied that he had a great time in WW1! he was a Royal Marine bandsman, don't think he saw any action.
My dad came from a mining family in Bentley (just outside Doncaster). As such he went down the mines at age 14 I believe. But he and his best friend hated it and ran away and joined the army. He was in the RE's.
His war was: British Expeditionary Force in France. Dunkirk. North Africa. Anzio. Hospital ship. Then Italy again.
After the war he was sent to Palestine.
That was followed by the Atom Bomb tests in Montebello - he had vivid memories of the journey out to and back from Oz, as it was in a flat bottomed tank landing craft which did not like being in open sea!
Later it was the hydrogen bomb tests in Christmas Island.
I have memories of sitting in bed with my Dad and my brother on a Sunday morning as re recounted his 'war stories', which actually told us nothing, as he rarely talked about his real experiences.
Unfortunately now, at the age of 91, he is in a care home and suffering from worsening dementia.
Jonnybiscuit
26-02-12, 18:57
As an aside, my Dad rarely talked about his war. It's only in the last couple of years he's started telling bits. He now has PTSD and can't sleep without a light on and radio set very quiet. Apparently it's not uncommon for PTSD to set in later in life. I had it explained to me (by a Doctor) that it's due to them not needing to talk/explain to the many others of their generation who had had similar experiences (and not wanting to hear about other's experences). Life had to just go on. Now they are becoming fewer, they feel the need to talk. Problem is, once he starts, he can't stop and ends up getting quite upset.
Two particular stories he now keeps recounting are about two of the other guys in the photo (above post). One (top right) blew his brains out messing about with a revolver (playing Russian roulette) in front of an Italian farm family and another (his best friend during the war) hit a landmine during a forward position recce. Dad had to pick up just his mate's top half from the roadside. 3 days before they had been on leave in Rome together. How do they live with these images in their heads ?
My Dad was a spitfire and hurricane pilot during WW2 and his dad (grandad) was a regular soldier in the Rifle Brigade prior to the outbreak of WW1. He was an 'old contemptable' and went all the way through the First WW. He got the DCM and the MM for his bravery.
Dad was shot down twice and got out via the Pyrenees helped by the Resistance. He was awarded the DFM and later the DFC. I can remember him waking the house up at night with his screaming - dreadful nightmares.. PTSD as its now called. Grandad suffered as well but in those days there was no help.
Im a volunteer for a charity called Combat Stress - set up at the end of the First WW to treat shell shock. Unfortunately we still have a huge amount of sufferers from all conflicts but at least we are here to help.
My Dad was a spitfire and hurricane pilot during WW2 and his dad (grandad) was a regular soldier in the Rifle Brigade prior to the outbreak of WW1. He was an 'old contemptable' and went all the way through the First WW. He got the DCM and the MM for his bravery.
Dad was shot down twice and got out via the Pyrenees helped by the Resistance. He was awarded the DFM and later the DFC. I can remember him waking the house up at night with his screaming - dreadful nightmares.. PTSD as its now called. Grandad suffered as well but in those days there was no help.
Im a volunteer for a charity called Combat Stress - set up at the end of the First WW to treat shell shock. Unfortunately we still have a huge amount of sufferers from all conflicts but at least we are here to help.
Here's to your dad and grandad gal ... bless
Here's to you too :beer:
:beerjug:
the cakeman
02-06-12, 08:38
Both of my Grandfathers were reserved occupation during WW2 but my Great Uncle Thomas Hesketh served in the Grenadier Guards during WW1.
He was wounded at Passchendaele in July 1917 and died of his injuries a few days later in the military hospital at Wimeraux near Calais.
My wife and I visited the grave in the small town cemetary in July last year (there are two military cemetaries at Wimeraux, a large one just outside and one in the town which is part military and part local residents). He is buried just a few yards away from Lieutenant Colonel John Alexander McCrae who wrote In Flanders Fields.
I did take a few pictures (and left a message in the memorial book), but can't find them at the moment but I will post them later if I can dig them out.
One of the most emotional days of my life.
(there are two military cemetaries at Wimeraux, a large one just outside and one in the town which is part military and part local residents). This one....
http://mikep.smugmug.com/Travel/Great-War-Tour-2007/DSCN2648/197172696_EZ2k5-M.jpg
Did you spot this tasteful memorial on the way through to the CWGC section of the cemetery?
http://mikep.smugmug.com/Travel/Great-War-Tour-2007/Wimmereaux-6/190021754_bX7FE-M.jpg
the cakeman
02-06-12, 09:57
Yup, that's the one......My uncle is buried just in front and to the right of the memorial area in the right of your first picture.....
thank you for posting the pic.
Hero's all of them. My hero and I am proud to say my friend is my farther in law. He is still with us aged a sprightly 90. He flew Wilcats in the Fleet Air Arm and was decorated twice (DFC and DFC and bar). The first DFC was for him and his wingman fighting off superior numbers of german aircraft on an island off Norway having gone to the aid of two Royal Navy corvettes who were trying to evacuate Norwegian civilians from the docks.
They both ran out of ammunition with his wingman resorting to wing tipping the ME 110s who were shooting up the docks which Dick Allen at the age of 23 flew behind him to keep the fighters off. His wingman didn't make it and to this day there is a plaque to both of them and the men on the two corvettes who risked their lives.....yet another unknown and forgotten action of great courage and heroism.
Typical of the man we found out about this on his 80th birthday when an old colleague of his had returned from Australia and came to the big family birthday bash and started telling us stories.....not even his wife new. They even printed a story in the Exmouth Herald that made him quite angry as in his words he was simply doing his duty like many thousands of others, many of whom were not lucky enough to survive.
Without wishing to get too deep, it is heart warming to see this thread and know that people are proud of what there relatives did for this country.... it is the memory of their sacrifice which honours them.
The story of the second DFC was even more incredible but I guess I am rambling on now so will sign off.
Cheers
My mum's uncle was a rear gunner in a lancaster bomber. He was shot down and killed over Germany. His grave is in Hannover and none of the family have ever been. This is going to change. On the 5th of July my 3 brothers and I are riding to Hannover, my mother and niece are flying over. We will all be going to pay our respects.
My mum's uncle was a rear gunner in a lancaster bomber. He was shot down and killed over Germany. His grave is in Hannover and none of the family have ever been. This is going to change. On the 5th of July my 3 brothers and I are riding to Hannover, my mother and niece are flying over. We will all be going to pay our respects.
Good on you. You may find it more moving than you anticipated.
I'm fiercely proud of my grandfather although not too sure where he actually served. Like many others he joined under age and did not talk about his experiences until he was very old indeed. I really like the unofficial sheepskin, the intimidating bayonet, the gas mask holder and the fag at a jaunty angle. This was WW1 and I believe he was at the Somme but I really don't know. He was certainly in the thick of it as most of his mates did not return - according to my grandmother. The writing at the bottom is my daughter's who did a project at secondary school.
Actually, it's not an unofficial sheepskin. They were winter issue, similar to the sleeveless, brown leather jerkin you also see being worn.
i remember watching a program about WW1 with British troops involvement in Russia and seeing the lads with these sheepskins on.
Brilliant thread and thanks for sharing all , i shall have to try to extract some info about my grandad as he was in the Navy and had a few medals:)
My Grandad was an anti aircraft gun instructor during world war 2, he never really spoke about it, but I never really asked.
If he was alive now I would love to ask him about it, he died a few years back at the age of 96, I miss him greatly.
I do know he was in Scotland for most of the war and had a great fondness for the place until he died. I would love to do some research to find out where he was stationed, maybe visit the place.
Not sure how to go about it.
Great thread, very emotional, but in a good way for most I hope.
My Great Grandad was in Malta during the war. He was a tug captain in the harbour at Valetta and is buried in the naval cemetary at Kalkara.
Dad was on North Atlantic convoys, he was in command from the outbreak of war, first an armed trawler (built in 1938 with a 4" forward gun, depth charge throwers and twin lewis guns on each bridge wing). He was torpedoed north of the Faroes but was pulled out of the water by his number one. He was then given a Corvette, HMS Scotstoun and I have plenty of black & white pictures of her in the Faroes, there and Scapa Flow. They were adopted by a small lurcher in Shetland and took her aboard, not knowing she was in pup! there are pictures of her and the pups on the quay in the Faroes - they called her WREN!
He captured a German surface raider and sank 3 Uboats. He was again torpedoed mid atlantic and was then sent to train officers in anti submarine warfare and the use of ASDEC.
I want to visit the Faroes and take the pictures with me for locals to see and maybe recognise some of the spots in them. I bet they haven't changed a huge amount.
Kneeslider916
13-07-12, 09:05
My grandfather spent the war years in the RAF working in experimental RADAR in Norfolk with the author Arthur C Clarke, was involved in the Berln airlift, then went on to spend a couple of years in Africa when the RAF RADAR mapped the continent. He moved to Australia in the 50's to work on the Blue Streak missiles at Woomera, moved back to england a few years later, and did numerous jobs including a bit of house building, owned a shop, and worked finally at a power station as an instrument engineer before retiring. A Gordie, his sense of humour was wonderful. He is much missed.
For ELIMINATOR .
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p00hhrf6/Jungle_Green_Borneo/
My Gran'pa Broon was in the Army in WW1 got gassed and taken
prisoner. My Dad was a gunner in the RAF in WW2. I don’t know much about their military days, my Dad never spoke much about the war, but I know he was stationed on the South coast of England and also at Rimini in Italy.
I have just found out recently that Gran'pa Broon escaped from the POW camp and was taken in by a Belgian family who owned a bakery. My Gran'pa had been a baker when the war broke out and soon offered his services in return for shelter. Despite many close encounters with the German troops he remained there till the liberation in 1918. My cousin told me he used to add special ingredients to the pastries ordered by occupying forces.
I would love to know more about his time in the army but with a name like James Brown it's not easy finding his records.
My Dad turned 18 in 1942 and joined the Navy, where he was a gunner. He saw service in the Atlantic, Pacific Far East and Europe.
My Maternal Grandfather was a career Navy Man, joined the navy very young around 1920, and by the start of WW2 was a Chief Petty Officer, he was involved in many campaigns during WW2 and won the DSM. he continued after the war eventually retiring in 1947.
My Paternal grandfather was too old to serve in WW2.
God bless all of them, fine men that they were. To my great shame, I have promised time and again to get both sets mounted but haven't. I will do that very soon. :(
Top Row, My Grandad's medals; Atlantic star, Italy star, Africa star, 39-45 star, WW2 medal, RN LSGC medal & his DSM.
Bottom row, My Dad's medals; Atlantic star, Italy star, Pacific star, 39-45 star and WW2 medal.
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l40/dudeneys1968/Medals.jpg
I didn't find out what either my maternal Grandfather or my Father did until after both my parents had passed away 10 years ago,and I was able to acces the trunk in the roof with all the papers in it. At last I was able to piece together what they would not talk about.
My mother's father was the gold medallist Chartered Accountant in 1912 ( top in year) and joind the RNR in 1914 as Second Lt Paymaster. In fact he never did that job, it was a cover, because he spent the whole of the first war billeted in the Hotel Splendide in Marseille as an Intelligence officer and code cracker. He was awarded the MID (Mentioned in Despatches) Oak leaf for his efforts, which is attached to the 14/18 Victory Medal. Inter war he went to theological college and took Holy Orders, and was vicar at Knowle Bristol when he was bombed in WW2 and lost part of his leg. Despite this, he managed to minsiter to his congregation and organise shelters, for which he was awarded the MBE by the King, the citation being for ''devotion to duty''.
My father was in the TA, and was a Royal Artillery Battery Commander of heavy artillery. He campaigned in North Africa with the 6th Army and also in Italy. At Monte Cassino he was put forward for an Immediate MC for rescuing some soldiers depsite having been shot through both knees. This was later commuted to a Mention in Despatches due to the large number of awards given at this action. He was awarded the territorial decoration (TD) as well.
He was demobbed in 1946 a Lt Colonel, two days before his 30th Birthday.
When I think about what he went through at such a young age, I just get the jitters.
My dad joined the Royal Navy In WW2, starting as a petty officer artificer before transferring and training as a pilot in the Fleet Air Arm. As far as he will admit he never fired a shot in anger. Got loads of campaign medals because he said they kept moving him around!
Kept crashing his planes (mainly Fireflies) becoming a member of the Goldfish club twice over for ditching in the drink. When his squadron was due to change to jets, my mother made him transfer to the regular navy before he killed himself. Then went into navigation and direction of planes on aircraft carriers.
Now just turned 90 and still going strong-ish, his biggest claim to fame may be that he drew cartoons for the Navy News for many years until fairly recently, may be known to some ex RN on here as "Smiles"
:clap:clap
My father (Royal Norfolk Regiment) arrived in Singapore days before the Japanese overran the territory then spent the next 4 years or so slowly moving up through Burma on the railway. Repatriated some time in 1946 in very poor health which he never really fully recovered. He never really forgave the Japanese but positively loathed the Koreans (whom the Japanese employed as POW camp guards).
His brother was accidentally shot by a US GI who was playing with a loaded side-arm - not entirely sure of the exact circumstances other than it happened in the UK but rather than remaining with his unit, once discharged from hospital he was taken into HQ support staff as an military intelligence film projectionist - one of his assignments was in connection with the D-Day landings intelligence briefings. Interesting, given the information that follows...
Their father (my grandfather) was originally from Frankfurt (family name until changed by deed-poll in 1919/20 was Gottsheim). Although he served in the British army in France 1914/18, had an army pension, etc., etc., during WWII his mother (my great grandmother) was considered to be an enemy alien and had to report to their local Police Station in east London periodically...
My father's brother-in-law was part of the BEF sent to France in 1939/40 and his regiment (I believe Middlesex Regiment) was detailed to try to delay the German advance on Dunkirk whilst the beach evacuation was carried out - consequently their positions were taken by the overwhelmingly superior numbers of German troops and he spent the remainder of the war in various POW camps.
Paul Rochdale
28-01-13, 15:56
http://i49.tinypic.com/24odb8z.jpg
This is yours truly during the 80s at Sennelager Ranges in Germany on a BSA B40 350cc bike. I took part in the Rhine Area Motorcycle Trials that year. I wonder what became of 78ET99?
Fluffmeister
28-01-13, 16:09
I'm a Mongrel, One Grandad on my mothers side was on 8th Army and made it through the War alive but lost both of his legs at El Alamein, the other Grandad on my fathers side was an SS Fallshirmjager, and my Great uncle was a "Tankie" in Liebstandarte Adolf Hitler, he did not make it through the war.
My German Grandad was captured and eventually got shipped back to a UK POW camp, the German side of the family where / are "Easties" so he avoided repatriation after the war because he was a skilled toolmaker or a machinist of some kind, then married my Grandmother, who's from Edinburgh.
I'm ex military myself, and have some "cool" stuff, a Christmas Card from the 8th Army, a few letters of my Grandad's before going into action at El Alamein, and I have my German grandfathers Iron Cross (oldest Grandson) and other items some may consider less savory.
My paternal grandfather was working in the Naval dockyard in Plymouth so was exempt from "going to war" as such. Plymouth was a major target for the Germans because of the docks and my grandfather was killed during one of these raids in April 1941 shortly after putting my gran and my dad (then about 4yrs old) in the Anderson shelter at the bottom of the garden.
My Maternal grandfather was a carpenter and spent the war working on building airfields around the country. Apparently Honiton, somewhere in Cheshire and London were some of the places he was stationed. I wonder if any of his handywork is still standing?) He contracted TB in the underground bombshelters in London and died shortly after the war.
Paul Rochdale
28-01-13, 19:35
Stevedude
Are you familiar with 'court mounting' medals? My son recently left the RAF after fourteen years and had had his six medals court mounted, the same with mine and the same with my grandfather's. The medals are mounted on a card with new ribbons wrapped around the card. Very smart IMO. We had ours done at the Tailor's Shop in Woolwich Barracks.
My Dad was a kid living near the GEC factory in Bham, so had quite a few noisy nights and irregular schooling. Tales of watching incendiaries going into the lake on brookvale park and going in after them... So... they were let out during bombing raids!!
Portrait of my Dad.
http://i637.photobucket.com/albums/uu93/Davy_F/Dad.jpg
GreatScott
28-01-13, 22:45
My Grandad joined the RAF in September 1918 flying bi-planes. By the time WW2 came around he was a Wing Commander in Bomber Command. Had a fabulous hand bar moustache and rode a Norton International. When he left the airforce he worked at Marshalls on the prototype of Concorde.
My old man was present for the scuttling of the Graf Spee. He lived in Argentina during the war, and was doing something for the British Embassy which required him to go to Montevideo, possibly to assist in the pressure being put on the Uruguayan government to intern Graf Spee if it did not leave with 24 hours. Or, as a fluent Spanish speaker, who could pass as a native Argentinian, he might have been spreading rumours about what ships the British had waiting. He never let on exactly what he was doing though, at least not to me, but as he should have been called up in 1942, he must have been doing something fairly useful, as he stayed in Buenos Aires until after the end of the war.
My Uncle on my dad's side was a Regimental Seargant Major in the Royal Marines and he was on HMS Exeter waiting outside Montevideo for the Graf Spee to come out. The Exeter was badly damaged in that fight. He also served on numerous cruisers and battleship throughout WWII and when I asked him "what did you do in the war Uncle" he said - "learn't to swim, learn't to bloody swim lad" Apparently he was sunk many times.
My Aunt was married to my Uncle Ernie (before I was borne) and he was called back on urgent duty to the Hood on the night of his wedding. He was killed on HMS Hood when the Bismark lobbed the shell that went through the magazine. There were only 2 or 3 survivors I believe from a Battleship compliment of men.
Dad was in a reserved occupation, he lived in Portsmouth, and was a fitter at HM Dockyard by day and a ARP at night.
Paul Rochdale
29-01-13, 10:10
My paternal grandfather was a clerk in London's Docks during WW1 when he joined the London Rifle Brigade and must have seen action on the Western Front as his lungs were damaged in a gas attack and he was invalided out.
My maternal grandfather joined up in 1917 on his 19th birthday and enlisted in the Machine Guns Corp, a particularly hazardous unit to be in. The Germans both feared and hated the machine gunners and always retaliated with ferocity.
It wasn't until I looked at his Medal Card (online) this year that I realised he also went abroad.
Sadly Service Records for both men were lost in the Blitz of WW2 but I shall keep beavering away to discover more. I just WISH I had asked more questions when they were alive.:rob
What I missed out from my earlier post is something that has left a lasting impression on me.
Our Grandparents and parents went through things that we could never imagine, this was front line stuff, no drones, no AWACS, no sophisticated intelligence.
My respect is endless, if they hadn't sacrificed their lives we would be living in a different Europe.
One more thing which I'm sure some of you will associate with is that my father could recollect stories about the war easier to my son than he could to me. A very proud man whom I sadly lost last August on the morning of his 90th birthday.
GOD BLESS THEM ALL
....
Our Grandparents and parents went through things that we could never imagine, this was front line stuff, no drones, no AWACS, no sophisticated intelligence.
My respect is endless, if they hadn't sacrificed their lives we would be living in a different Europe.
...
Yep - so that scroats of today can whine about their "rights"; half of them couldn't spell "responsibilities" let alone have a pussy-clue what it means. Thank God our forebears had integrity.
Yep - so that scroats of today can whine about their "rights"; half of them couldn't spell "responsibilities" let alone have a pussy-clue what it means. Thank God our forebears had integrity.
You don't by any chance read the Daily Mail, do you? :D
You don't by any chance read the Daily Mail, do you? :D
you dont need to read that shiet to form that opinion round here :blast:D
My Grandfather was with one of the Kent regiments the Buffs not sure whether that is east or west kent, he managed to survive the war but wouldn't tell me much about it, he died when i was about 7, my dad was with a few regiments but during the war he was with the tank regiment and directly afterwards a RMP at Nurenburg he also was in hiroshima 6 months after the bomb but again he didn't tell me much it is only what i have tried to find out through websites that i can start putting a picture together sadly he died when i was 15, and I was just about to join the Royal Navy, now as a veteran of the Falklands and Bosnia I can understand why they didn't want to talk about it you see things smell things that you wouldn't wish to see or smell again, people ask me about the falklands it was covered ok on TV but they dont show you the real horror of war, i lost 14 good friends when our ship was hit and you do get the guilty survivor feeling, and as someone said earlier in the thread there relative changed, my wife and children have said i have changed ( i dont think i have) but then i only see me others see the the past and the present me. I have Great RESPECT and ADMIRATION for those that fought in both world wars and for those that are still fighting now, as i have been there seen it and got the T shirt, will dig out some photos and post later.
This thread has been a really good read and it is surprising what some people have done in there life and come home to anonymity and i salute them.
:beerjug::beer::jager:rob
Jonnybiscuit
22-03-13, 09:59
You should be saluted too. Thanks.
Riders Rest
22-03-13, 10:32
My Grandad n my mothers side was in the Royal Engineers and was in bomb disposal during WWII served his entire time in the UK mostly North defusing bombs dropped by the Luftwaffen... He survived to have a heart attack at 58
My grandad on my dads side joined from 39 was at Dunkirk, Africa 1st Army, Italy, France and Germany, took part in DDay too, never met him until he was late 80's and never had a chance to ask questions but have his medals.
My Dad served in the Cavalry 1960 to 1987 Aden, Ireland, sadly he passed last year but I was lucky to be around all his service career. I joined the Royal Marines in 1974 until 1998... Served in Ireland, Falklands, Lebanon, Iraq, Africa and some small political skirmishes around the world and at home.
Lost a couple of uncles in WWI,
I have traced my paternal family tree back to the 1700's and all in the iron Ore, Coal mining industry Yorkshire so no doubt exempted in the main...
Bardicastle ....
What do you mean you can't find any info about your fathers Regiment ? The Parachute Regiment although relatively "young" .. formed upon the orders of Winston Churchill in 1942.. is one of the most famous in the world. Go to Google and put it in. There is the PR Association who will have details of all members and history of their postings and rank etc ... then of course you could try "Ancestry.co.uk" who have a free 30 day trial going at the moment and their military history files are amazing .........do any of these things and you will 1. Be very busy for a while and
2. learn a lot about you father.
Hope this helps.
My Grandad n my mothers side was in the Royal Engineers and was in bomb disposal during WWII served his entire time in the UK mostly North defusing bombs dropped by the Luftwaffen... He survived to have a heart attack at 58
My grandad on my dads side joined from 39 was at Dunkirk, Africa 1st Army, Italy, France and Germany, took part in DDay too, never met him until he was late 80's and never had a chance to ask questions but have his medals.
My Dad served in the Cavalry 1960 to 1987 Aden, Ireland, sadly he passed last year but I was lucky to be around all his service career. I joined the Royal Marines in 1974 until 1998... Served in Ireland, Falklands, Lebanon, Iraq, Africa and some small political skirmishes around the world and at home.
Lost a couple of uncles in WWI,
I have traced my paternal family tree back to the 1700's and all in the iron Ore, Coal mining industry Yorkshire so no doubt exempted in the main...
you were in the royals when they only had one year off then :JB
Riders Rest
22-03-13, 22:41
you were in the royals when they only had one year off then :JB
Nope, I wasn't in in 1968 before my time ;)
My grandad was a captain in the Merchant Navy during WW2 for the Blue Star Line and was sunk 6 times. He was awarded the OBE for heading up a convoy that got through to Malta around 1942
My dad was in the Home Guard! He was in a reserved occupation but did his bit after the war during the troubles in Cyprus attaining the rank of Sgt in the REME
cheesysalesman
29-03-13, 17:58
My maternal grandfather was based in Freetown serria leone with the Royal Signals from 1940 - 45 "morse tapping". After he died we discovered he'd been recording German submarine and warship transmissions in mid and south Atlantic and that they must have been passed back to Blecthley Park for ULTRA. My other grandfather was a farmer so was in a reserved occupation - he was in the home guard though.. One of his friends shot and killed an escaped German pow in a small Cambridgeshire village but not before the POW had killed another Home Guard with a spade. It was the only case of a Home Guard being killed in combat on home soil during the war.
My wife's grandfather (my wife is half german) was a railwayman for the German State Railway during the war until he retired in 1960. A few of his brothers didn't come back from Russia! My farther in law is a bit cagey about what his dad actually did as I'd like to be able to tell my kids one day about their family history.
My Grandfather who died when I was 9, was frail and not well for much of the time I knew him, was a sergeant in the Royal Kings Rifles, he was part of the BEF and part of the defence of Calais, heavily outnumbered they held off a Panzer division for 48 hrs, refused several offers of surrender and on the morning of 26th May 1940 were bombarded by artillery and apparently 200 german bombers, holding out for several more hours, it wasn't until about 4pm that the germans crossed the bridges and the order was given " every man for himself " to the 60th rifles. This is when my grandfather was captured, marched to Poland and spent the rest of the war in a POW camp.When he came home my mother didn't know who he was.
This Old, frail man i knew as a child lived through more hardship than I can ever imagine and still lived the rest of his life with a humble unassuming humility, I wish I could have expressed my thanks and utter respect for him. I only found out a lot of this info on an impromptu trip to Winchester and the museum there. I found the whole trip quite emotional and humbling but in July I will be taking the GSA over to Calais and some other northern french sites to pay my respects. :bow
ive recently found out my grandfather on my fathers side served on
the HMS petard as a Gunner
he never really talked much about it , but opened up to my dad much more before he died. dads got quite a few photos and some more information that he is going to get to me .
by all accounts the Petard was the only destroyer to sink subs from german , italian and japanese navy's and in one such action grandad was injured when a depth charge exploded above the surface with him receiving a piece of shrapnel that went through his leg and into his john thomas :eek:
it would seem im lucky to be here:P
ive managed to obtain a copy of a book called fighting destroyer the story of HMS petard , from canada of all place's , and looking forward to reading it:)
and when my dad gets back from his place in greece i'll see if i can get some more info :)
Daisy Duke
11-05-13, 23:04
My grandfather was a pilot and intelligence in the RAF during WW2. He was Irish but was based out of Lossiemouth. His war records show a good bit of what he did including time spent on the Arabian Peninsula but even though the record appear to be complete I know from other belongings of his including documents and photographs that he spent a fair amount of time in France and Belgium. He was amazing for taking photographs, there are so many of them, he took photos of so many people he met and kept notes and messages about them all. He didn't talk about the war, ever in fact. In the mid 60's he took my dad to France on holiday. As they drove along he suddenly pulled the car off the road and up a laneway to a farmhouse, said nothing, got out of the car and went to the door. After a while he came back and my dad asked who the people were, his only words were "I stayed here during the war", that was the one and only time he mentioned it.
My grandfather died 19 years ago, I was so very proud of him and miss him dearly.
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