WW2 YOUR DAD/GRANDFATHER
- Thread starter bardicastle
- Start date
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.
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.
Last edited:
You should be saluted too. Thanks.
Riders Rest
Registered user
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...
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.
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.
Riders Rest
Registered user
you were in the royals when they only had one year off then
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
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
Registered user
Both Sides!
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 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.
Andy A
Registered user
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.
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.
chad
Registered user
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
it would seem im lucky to be here
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
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
it would seem im lucky to be here
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
Registered user
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.
My grandfather died 19 years ago, I was so very proud of him and miss him dearly.
Attachments
Judgeged
Registered user
Not a relative but a brilliant bloke
This isn't a relative but when I toured Normandy 5 yrs ago I met a man at Pegasus bridge he was 89 he came from Belgium and served under Major Roy Farran in the SAS he had a chest full of medals and when I shook hands with him it was like getting your hand stuck in a vice we talked for an hour about the war and the fantastic operations that happened, unfortunately I had to leave but we made arrangements to meet again same time same day in the cafe by the bridge, sadly due to being out of work the following year I couldn't make the meeting :-( I was severely gutted I couldn't afford to go......one of my two never to be repeated moments the other one was being offered a flight over Pegasus by the pilot of the Dakota from the Battle of Britain flight ( my brother in law was the chief engineer of the flight warrant officer Dave Marshall) I unfortunately turned down the offer due to me thinking that there were a lot more lads who'd earn the right to that flight more than I had so I never went on that either :-(
This isn't a relative but when I toured Normandy 5 yrs ago I met a man at Pegasus bridge he was 89 he came from Belgium and served under Major Roy Farran in the SAS he had a chest full of medals and when I shook hands with him it was like getting your hand stuck in a vice we talked for an hour about the war and the fantastic operations that happened, unfortunately I had to leave but we made arrangements to meet again same time same day in the cafe by the bridge, sadly due to being out of work the following year I couldn't make the meeting :-( I was severely gutted I couldn't afford to go......one of my two never to be repeated moments the other one was being offered a flight over Pegasus by the pilot of the Dakota from the Battle of Britain flight ( my brother in law was the chief engineer of the flight warrant officer Dave Marshall) I unfortunately turned down the offer due to me thinking that there were a lot more lads who'd earn the right to that flight more than I had so I never went on that either :-(
Roy Farran ended-up as a minister in the provincial govt in Alberta, Canada. He had a reputation for having a rather "hang-em and flog-em" approach.
my great grandfather and his younger brother age 22 both killed at the somme
Saw some old woman at the Ossuary a few days ago, it looked like she had gone to pick up a copy of some old record, I assumed it was the report on what became of a relative, very moving.
Can't be many people left that even remember someone from WW1.
Can't be many people left that even remember someone from WW1.
Lord Vader
Registered user
Good thread. Been to D-day landing sites now a few times and also visited the war graves and paid my respects.
To both sides.
Coming from the "Runner up"side of the war there where no war stories told at home. I know my one granddad was to old for WW2 so ended up as a air raid warden(and oh my was he busy towards the end
. That stopped when you guys bombed half of his watch tower away.
My other granddad went through some odd stuff during the war. He never mentioned it what happened.
Found out a few years ago that he was injured on the Russian front and declared dead. He obviously survived was taken pow by the Russians where he spent a while in hospital. Managed to escape(he managed to learn some Russian) and make it back to the german lines. After that things get a bit vague. Apparently cause of his language skills(German,englisch,French,russian) and the fact that he managed to escape from the russians he was than transferred to Canaris lot(counter intelligence) But as I said nobody talks about these things and now that they are both dead I doubt I ever will find out
To both sides.
Coming from the "Runner up"side of the war there where no war stories told at home. I know my one granddad was to old for WW2 so ended up as a air raid warden(and oh my was he busy towards the end
. That stopped when you guys bombed half of his watch tower away.My other granddad went through some odd stuff during the war. He never mentioned it what happened.
Found out a few years ago that he was injured on the Russian front and declared dead. He obviously survived was taken pow by the Russians where he spent a while in hospital. Managed to escape(he managed to learn some Russian) and make it back to the german lines. After that things get a bit vague. Apparently cause of his language skills(German,englisch,French,russian) and the fact that he managed to escape from the russians he was than transferred to Canaris lot(counter intelligence) But as I said nobody talks about these things and now that they are both dead I doubt I ever will find out
bardicastle
Registered user
My Uncle
I decided this year to do some digging on my Uncle who was in the Italian Alpini ( mountain fighting specialist ) He fought in Russia and unfortunately captured and was put in a concentration camp in a place called Tambov, He did not survive and his body was never recovered due to the mass graves which were discovered in the late 90's.
I travelled to a place called Udine this year as I heard that a special church was built in honour of all the Alpini which were lost in Russia, having found the church I found a book which his name and place of death was recorded. It's quite a sobering moment when you see all the books and all the names of the dead covering the walls of the church.
On my travels I found loads of interesting monuments. most memorable was Monte Grappa and Redipuglia.
Well worth a visit if your around that area, the roads are pretty awesome as well.
I decided this year to do some digging on my Uncle who was in the Italian Alpini ( mountain fighting specialist ) He fought in Russia and unfortunately captured and was put in a concentration camp in a place called Tambov, He did not survive and his body was never recovered due to the mass graves which were discovered in the late 90's.
I travelled to a place called Udine this year as I heard that a special church was built in honour of all the Alpini which were lost in Russia, having found the church I found a book which his name and place of death was recorded. It's quite a sobering moment when you see all the books and all the names of the dead covering the walls of the church.
On my travels I found loads of interesting monuments. most memorable was Monte Grappa and Redipuglia.
Well worth a visit if your around that area, the roads are pretty awesome as well.
Great Story and nice that you found time to research your Uncle, sounds like a real hero ...............there are many great stories in this thread, and we should never forget what we owe them.
I've been going through some of my mothers papers after she died last year
I came across one of her cousins whom was in the RAF in WW2 and KIA
A bit of googling and I came across this
http://www.49squadron.co.uk/personnel_index/detail/Shaw_F
I have since paid my respects at the Bomber Command memorial
Amazingly the Luftwaffe pilot credited with shooting him down is still alive
http://www.aircrewremembered.com/raf1944/2/clarkfrank.html
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinz_Rökker
It's a very strange feeling knowing that someone who killed one of your relatives and so many others is out there and has enjoyed the long life they did not but such are the fortunes of war I suppose
I came across one of her cousins whom was in the RAF in WW2 and KIA
A bit of googling and I came across this
http://www.49squadron.co.uk/personnel_index/detail/Shaw_F
I have since paid my respects at the Bomber Command memorial
Amazingly the Luftwaffe pilot credited with shooting him down is still alive
http://www.aircrewremembered.com/raf1944/2/clarkfrank.html
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinz_Rökker
It's a very strange feeling knowing that someone who killed one of your relatives and so many others is out there and has enjoyed the long life they did not but such are the fortunes of war I suppose
