WW2 YOUR DAD/GRANDFATHER

[Greg Masters]

My grandfather, Sidney Alfred Masters, enlisted on the 6th Aug 1915 and embarked Suez on 9 Sept 1915 arriving on 5 Mar 1916, [Letter to the army dated Secretary 6 Apr 1967 he states that he arrived in Suez and worked on the naval bridging at Gallipoli till the evacuation]. Sailed from Alexandria 2 Jun 1916. Disembarked Marseilles 10 Jun 1916. Entrained at 2pm 10 Jun 1916 and arrived Le Havre 12 Jun 1916 and detrained. Entrained at Le Havre 9pm 15 Jun 1916 and detrained at Caestre and went into billets. O.C. 11th FAB to hospital sick 11 Jan 1917 [Trench Feet] Rouen. Embarked for England "Carisbrook Castle" 17 Jan 1917. Proceeding o/seas to France ex Folkstone 11 Apr 1917 [Etaples]. Wounded in action and evacuated 16 Sep 1917 S W L hand. Re joined unit 25 Sept 1917. On leave to UK 5 Feb 1918 to 21 Feb 1918. Returned to Australia 26 Jun 1918.

Discharged 17 Aug 1918 - awarded the 1914-1915 Star; The Victory Medal and The British War Medal.

 

[GS-Jonesy]

Some awesome stuff on here. Really pulls at the heart stings and gives a sense of pride.

My Grandfather lied about his age to sign up with his older brother and both served in North Africa. Both as engineers/mechanics in armored divisions. My Grandfather was a bit of a Del-Boy...always looking for an angle to make a few quid. He got caught stealing used tea bags from the rubbish in the Officers quarters (he was drying them out and selling them to locals apparently) and was court martialled. Proud of that in strange sort of way.

Lest we forget

 

[Farmboy]

My great grandfather died 10th April 1918 at Ploegsteert wood Ypres aged 19yrs.

I still have all his medals and original letter from the King on the wall at home. Sad part is his none of the family knew what had happened to him as they did not find his body until 2008. Out of the blue my dad received a letter from the WGC in which they said they had found his body whilst excavating a trench, not enough to warrant a burial plot but at least he got his name on the memorial.

 

[Davey B]

My great grandfather died 10th April 1918 at Ploegsteert wood Ypres aged 19yrs.

I still have all his medals and original letter from the King on the wall at home. Sad part is his none of the family knew what had happened to him as they did not find his body until 2008. Out of the blue my dad received a letter from the WGC in which they said they had found his body whilst excavating a trench, not enough to warrant a burial plot but at least he got his name on the memorial.

I have spent a couple of peaceful hours wandering around those very woods.
My dad was too young for WW2 but did (and hated) his National Service. Grandad (paternal) was a dispatch rider in WW1.

 

[Farmboy]

They are spookily quiet those woods for sure

 

[k9doc]

My Gradfather was the Forman boat builder at yacht building yard till the war then they his skills were seconded by the R N to build these fast attack torpedo boats which they built in significant numbers in record time

My Dad volunteered for the RN in 1939 with a motor mechanic's trade. He 'worked' on these boats, mainly Vospers looking after 3, initially Isotta Frachini and later, when Italy joined the axis, Packard 1200 hp, 50 odd litre supercharged engines. They cranked out about 50 knots full chat, and carried IIRC 1200 gallons of high octane petrol in self sealing tanks. He operated in the Mediterranean, based out of Alexandria.
Brave chaps one and all but the boaters among us can imagine the thrill of a 70 foot 40+ ton boat charging along at 50 knots, and not having to pay for the fuel.

Having said that, you've probably got some johnny foreigners shooting at you with bloody great big guns and 1200 gallons of high octane would make a big bang. Fortunately never happened to my dad's boat.

Amazing when you think about it though. A few months earlier he would have been working in a village garage.

A lot of the Spitfire pilots were 18 year old lads and Guy Gibson was 23, I think, when he led the Dambuster's raid. A remarkable generation. We owe them a lot.

 

[timbox]

Thought Id add to this thread, this picture along with many others only came to light a few months ago after my Mum died.

This is my Granddad Sidney, somewhere in the middle east around 1915, I believe he was serving with the 1/1st Denbighshire Hussars, its confusing as a news paper clipping I found online mentions Granddad as being with the Denbighshire Yeomanry, but as far as I can tell the Hussars were a part of the Yeomanry

 

[Dahoum]

So the old (90 last April) dog my Pa has had his medal tally increased by one

D Day veterans have been awarded the Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur by the French Govt.

He is to be awarded it tomorrow by Lord Prescott before the Remembrance Day Parade in Hull.

 

[Fanum]

So the old (90 last April) dog my Pa has had his medal tally increased by one

D Day veterans have been awarded the Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur by the French Govt.

He is to be awarded it tomorrow by Lord Prescott before the Remembrance Day Parade in Hull.

Bollox....that's not yer dad Ken....he looks younger than you

It's nice (and this is meant genuinely, not as sarcasm) that governments can recognise what people have given them over the decades, even though a bunch of shiny medals and associated paperwork must cost a bit

 

[Bobbin-Man]

My great grandfather lost his life in the trenches in 1916, age 29. My father's uncle lost his life flying a Spitfire, I expect there's very few families across Europe that were not touched by the effects of 2 world wars.

 

[Dahoum]

Bollox....that's not yer dad Ken....he looks younger than you

It's nice (and this is meant genuinely, not as sarcasm) that governments can recognise what people have given them over the decades, even though a bunch of shiny medals and associated paperwork must cost a bit

It is - and I'm damn glad he's part of my gene pool. Last five males on his side of the family average age 79 at death

 

[Jonnybiscuit]

It's only a medal, but says so much. I bet he's made up. Very deserved recognition .... at last.

BTW..My Doctor always said the secret to long life, is to choose your parents very carefully. My Dad's 94 and not expecting his "Dodgers" medal anytime soon.

 

[Deleted account 231002001]

WW1.

One grandad was too young and the other didn't want to kill, so he joined the medical corp and served in the middle east before returning to the trenches of Europe near the end. He had a slight stammer for the rest of his life.

My grandmas cousin was killed on the 8th May 1915 at Ypres aged 20.

WW2.

My dad was at school.
Both grandads were too old, one was a Mr Hodges (air raid warden).

 

[RedRick Esq.]

I guess my family were lucky
My Paternal great Grandad survived WW1 despite time on the Somme both grandfathers were in reserved occupations during WW2 but served in the Home Guard and my father did National service in Egypt.

I survived a few scrapes in my time in HM Forces but I lost a few friends.

 

[Lucky08]

One Grandfather in the Inniskilling Fusiliers fighting in Burma, captured early on and spent a long time in Japanese POW camp building the Burma Railway. Second Grandfather in the Artillery, amongst the first onto the beaches of Normandy and subsequently one of the first into Berlin. Both never talked about their experiences one never bought anything Japanese and the other never bought anything French! Proud of their service and of my Father who was killed in an air crash whilst serving in the RAF in the 70's. I managed 20 years in the RAF without getting into too much trouble.

 

[alan29]

My Dad was in the Far East and was totally traumatised by the experience to the extent that he refused to mention it even casually.
The forgotten Army.
Still forgotten as far as anniversary celebrations are concerned where it is all Normandy and VE Day.

 

[geotim]

Lots saw action, all returned... Though not without impact

Boer war: Great grandad
WWI: Grandad
WWII: Dad
More recent conflicts... Brother and friends.

I simply cannot imagine how the 'conscripts' of the great wars of the 20th century dealt with being sent away to fight, and have the greatest respect for them and for all those who served and are still serving in the modern 'peacetime' environment.

I know I couldn't be more thankful for their sacrifice.

 

[Captain Black]

My Dad was in the Far East and was totally traumatised by the experience to the extent that he refused to mention it even casually.
The forgotten Army.
Still forgotten as far as anniversary celebrations are concerned where it is all Normandy and VE Day.

Not forgotten matey.

My pal " John the bank" who died some years ago also served and was a POW in the Far East.

Horrific doesn't cover it .

 

[Diver Rider]

My maternal grandfather was at the Somme, awarded the MM for attacking a machine gun post, and survived the war, and had a fragment of a bullet in his wrist left in till he died. my Paternal grandfather was considered too malnourished for front line service in WW1, so was sent to India instead
My Dad volunteered for the fleet air arm in WW2,as he was an apprentice toolmaker and wanted to use his technical skills,but when he was called up, ended up as a clark in the Army! He ended up working as a clerk at the Nuremburg war trials, collating evidence against Goering and some of the guards at the concentration camps. The photos he had to deal with plus the written evidence really disturbed him and he said he lost no sleep over the people who were executed after trial.

 

[mrsroynie]

I may have posted this before, but this is my grandfather's legacy from WW2: http://www.mtb102.com/. He was a 14-year old midshipman in WW1.