HITLER Tried To Get My Dad...

[Eichhörnchen]

https://i.imgur.com/Z6hnoOO.jpg (his parents' garden in Pwllheli, 1945)


My old dad was in the Royal Welch Fusiliers in NW Europe in '45. He woke up as he hit the ground having fallen asleep one night on the warm engine of a churchill tank as it rolled into the Reichswald Forest. He just escaped being crushed by the following tank...

Then he dove under a collapsible boat they were carrying down to the river Weser when a mg gunner zeroed in from a nearby church tower; his mates were all killed...

Finally he was blown up by a mortar barrage and came round in the ruins of a monastery, so the story goes, clutching a big wooden crucifix: I HAVE IT STILL...

I know he was exceptionally lucky when so many weren't.

Does any one have just one really memorable story their dad told them about
when he was in the war?

[Wolferz]

My dad was a sailor in the US Navy. Stationed as armed contingent aboard a liberty ship ferrying supplies into North Africa. During one crossing on a particularly dark and moonless night while pop was on watch, one of the ships in the convoy had a nervous captain who feared he might ram the ship in front of him in the closely formed convoy. So, he turned on his lights like an idiot and got a German torpedo amidships for his trouble and sunk.

The fellow on watch with my dad began crying, fearing that he'd never make it home alive.
That was close but, not as close as a little shore leave in Morocco.
Pop and his buddy strayed into the Arab section where they were hounded for cigarettes and money by an Arab kid wearing a pair of British hobnail boots. Clickety clack, clickety clack. Dad's buddy finally got sick of it and punched the kid. Arabs with scimitars started coming out of the woodwork and chased them both all the way back to their sector near the docks. They paused at the top of a flight of stairs just long enough to turn around and kick the lead pursuers back down the stairs, knocking the rest down like bowling pins.:huh:

[Eichhörnchen]

Wow! This is what we want!

[Sailor Steve]

My dad was just too young for the war. I had two uncles at Pearl Harbor, but I never managed to get their stories before they died. Decades later I still regret that.

[Eichhörnchen]

My dad was just too young for the war. I had two uncles at Pearl Harbor, but I never managed to get their stories before they died. Decades later I still regret that.

And believe me I thought long and hard before posing this question, since I knew there would be some sad reflections.

[vanjast]

If I may, My grandpa..
started WW2 in East Africa, the 'trot' back and forth along North African coast, El Alamein, Sicily, and then finished the war in Italy.

He spent 6 years at war, never wanted to talk about it no matter how hard we, as kids, tried to get him to.

I'm not sure what he did in East Africa, but he started as a private, was a tank gunner during the North African campaign, and soon became a tank commander (rank of Captain - field commission) on Sherman tanks, I think in Sicily and Italy.

The closest he came to dying (according to my mom) was one night when a sniper got the guy sitting next to him - this guy had lit up a cigarette :o

My mother said that the first time she saw her father, was when this guy jumped out of the train window, before the train stopped, and came bounding over to them. She was only 5 years old
I enjoyed being with my grandparents, they were always so funny and happy - 'Pull my finger' :03:

[Eichhörnchen]

Of course you may: grandpas must be included in this.

[Von Tonner]

My grandad, Robert Burns Waterston, back in 1922 formed his own army and with side-drummers and a rag tag of armed miners marched on Johannesburg. Smuts who was the prime minister called up the South African army and airforce and all hell broke loose in Johannesburg.

"Prime Minister Jan Smuts crushed the rebellion with 20,000 troops, artillery, tanks, and bomber aircraft. By this time the rebels had dug trenches across Fordsburg Square and the air force tried to bomb but missed and hit a local church. However the army's bombardment finally overran them"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rand_Rebellion

He, together with the other leaders of the rebellion were captured put onto a darkened train and sent to Durban where they were put on a ship bound for England.

The supporters of the rebellion got wind of this and hastily commissioned a boat to set sail from Cape Town to try and intercept the England bound vessel. They failed to do so.

My grandfather was an Australian and soon after landing on English soil he daily got onto his little soap box in Hyde Park and told all who would listen that as he was an Australian Smuts had deported him to the wrong country:haha:

The long and short of it the British government made Smuts take him back and he not only joined Smuts' goverment as an MP, then later Commissionar of the Railways, and later Escom but had a harbour tug, streets named after him and after retirement became mayor. He just could not leave politics alone.

A very colourful character.

[vanjast]

He, together with the other leaders of the rebellion were captured put onto a darkened train and sent to Durban where they were put on a ship bound for England.
Yeah! that's a penal colony up north... that small little island :D
:arrgh!:

That was interesting... :)
What did my father do... Well he just caused trouble wherever he went...

A few friends and him trashed the Gordon's Bay hotel at an office party - The company fired them...

First one to fly under that Transkei bridge, two weeks after it was opened.
There was a police area hunt for him at all aerodromes in the area.. They asked his instructor if that aircraft was registered there.
The instructor wisely said no and said it must have been from EL (+-150Km away), . About 2 hours he landed roaring with laughter
The instructor saw the humour and they went to the local pub - I don't think he trashed that pub :)

He made many friends in the Police - I think he did that to keep out of jail.

My uncle Doug was a wild one.. about seven feet tall, built like a tank, loud, aggressive and fists to match.
What my aunt saw in him, I don't know but she was just as mad - punched her brother (my father) off a pub chair at the Venture Inn, and broke two of his ribs.
She was about to get married after divorcing Doug, to Andy, a smaller, mild, meek mannered character - a great funny guy, but always drunk.

My old man told me this story.. and we both 'killed ourselves laughing'

Andy and my father were drinking in the Venture Inn pub, as usual. Quiet sloshed old Andy asked for some advice from the old man.
Also sloshed the old man says that he's asking for trouble going ahead with this plan...
The saloon doors fly open, banging against the wall and there stands my aunt, in this man's only territory...
'AAANNNNNDDDYYYYYY.. where have you beeen I've been looking for you all morning', and grabs him by the collar, wrenching him off the bar stool.
Andy.. now pissed as a coot and feeling very brave turns to my aunt... 'You brother says that I'm mad to marry you and I shouldn't'

Of course the old man didn't say that.. Andy was thrown aside and sister got stuck into brother.
The old man wasn't even looking at them and she walloped him, and he flew off the chair - My father's 6 foot something, and ex rugby player - he's not small by no means.
She then jumps on him and starts a punch up...

Andy married my aunt..
:) :) :) :)

[Von Tonner]

Yeah! that's a penal colony up north... that small little island :D
:arrgh!:
[\QUOTE]

yea but the penal colony down South had this to say:

"All the exiles hope to return to South
Africa legally, otherwise Waterston will
press General Botha to send him and his
family to the country of his birth. Possi
bly the other exiles will go to Australia
if they are not regarded as undesirables."

Bit rich coming from them:har:

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/89867909


[QUOTE=vanjast;2236339] The saloon doors fly open, banging against the wall ... in this man's only territory...

Ah yes, remember those bars well..those were the days:rock:

[Jimbuna]

In Brief:

Grandfather-Infantryman WWI...buried alive during artillery bombardment, rescued but never recovered his hearing.

Father-Merchant Seaman WWII...aboard first ship to be bombed in Spanish Civil War (Barcelona Harbour).

Took part in Dunkirk evacuations.

Last vessel to leave France (Marseille) before it fell, taking off French Admiral.

Sailed on only convoy to Murmansk that went without an armed escort.

Landed first wave of Canadians on Juno Beach (Courseulles-Sur-Mer) and witness sinking of a hospital ship and the consequent straffing of dozens of nurses floating on the surface wearing lifejackets.

[kranz]

My 2 great-grandfathers fought in WW2.

One was a Polish soldier killed on 03.09.1939 at Opatow, Poland. A shrapnel allegedly cut his head off. My great-grandmother received a document from the Red Cross confirming that he was buried somewhere near the battlefield.

The other was a Pole but served in the German army. He started as a mechanic, then became a regular soldier, fought in Africa Korps in 1942, withdrew to Italy where he deserted and joined Polish forces lead by general Anders. Survived the war.

[vienna]

My first ex's father seemed to me to be a rather distant, aloof, almost even, curt man. I barely could get a hint of recognition of my presence when we were in the same room together. I just put this off to just having a bad attitude. One day I mentioned my observations to my ex's mother and she, a bit reluctantly, told me how during the war he had served in bomber crews in combat. Three of the bombers he served on were shot down and he survived the crash landings of all three. One of the crashes, he was the only survivor...

I never again faulted him for having a "bad attitude"...


<O>

[CCIP]

My grandfather (who passed away a year ago) was too young to serve in WWII, but he survived the German occupation as a 14-year-old. His village was smack in the middle of the Demyansk pocket (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demyansk_pocket), so that was certainly no walk in the park.

The initial occupation by the Germans was almost peaceful - they just showed up one day. The whole situation was confusing and caught everyone unprepared - no orders to evacuate were given, the village youth didn't get notice to enlist, and when the Wehrmacht arrived, the place was basically in its peacetime state. The villagers found the German soldiers rude and manner-less, but I never heard any stories of abuse or mass executions, rapes, mistreatement, nothing like that - they were just matter-of-fact and acted like they had a job to do. The locals found it both revolting and hilarious that the Germans didn't bother to cover themselves or seek privacy when doing their, um, bathroom business. Apparently the soldiers found the locals' revolted reactions just as amusing.
Otherwise, the German officers would simply show up at a house and state that they were taking it over, or that the residents were to hand over their food or livestock or tools - no other questions asked, not that anybody dared. A couple of weeks later all fit young men were ordered to move out, ostensibly to a work camp. My grandfather's oldest brother, who was 20, was in this category and was marched off - he was never heard from again. Many more were taken away in subsequent weeks, and the village's population shrunk noticeably, but largely without violence.

Worse things might have come later, but as the Soviet counter-offensive began, the area quickly found itself in heavy fighting and there was no time for that. There was no direct battle for the village, but it was an important depot for the Germans. Over the course of the winter, with the Germans surrounded, things were even worse for the locals. A number of people starved.

Finally, one day the Germans just up and left - no notice, no warning. The Soviet troops were nowhere to be seen and the locals cautiously went out of their hiding places. What they found in the surrounding woods were trenches full of abandoned German equipment. Kids quickly made a game of shooting crows with MG-42s. However, the weapons only occupied them for a short bit because everyone was really, really hungry - quickly, the hunt turned to finding German food tins and German bayonets - after all, machineguns aren't so good for opening cans. Fights broke out between groups of kids and teenagers over said tins, and some had to be dissuaded from shooting each other with their trophy weapons.

After the trenches around the village were scoured, my grandfather and his best friend noticed that an old barn in the village, which the Germans took over early in their invasion, remained untouched. Without telling anyone, they decided to go check it out, in hopes that they could find a bit more food that they wouldn't have to fight over. The barn had a heavy wooden door, which took all my grandfather's 14-year-old strength to pull - but he was lucky to be doing the pulling. The entrance was boobytrapped, but the heavy wooden door absorbed most of the blast - only his feet and ankles were hit by the shrapnel, and he miraculously escaped amputation, spending more than a year recovering in hospital afterwards. His friend, standing right in front of the door as it opened, wasn't so fortunate and was killed instantly.

My grandfather didn't actually like to talk about it much. I mostly learned it from his relatives, including family who still live in that same village near Demyansk.

[August]

My Grandfather Johann was an AA gunner on the eastern front. Having managed to survive the entire war he was walking home on the autobahn two days before the armistice and was captured by an American patrol. He spent the next year as a POW.

He was actually lucky though. The American unit that over ran his home town of Altenbuch apparently picked off several of his fellow Altenbuchers returning home from the war as they walked up the road to the town. Their graves along with the rest of the towns dead from that war are in an overgrown little plot located on the opposite hill from the town cemetary. He took me to see it when I was a youngster.

http://home.comcast.net/~rdsterling/pwpimages/johannkarl.JPG?PHPSESSID=fa65e52b5c2c703c41cc515ab e361215

[CCIP]

I also know a bit about two of my great-grandfathers in WWII, who were both officers. One of them was an engineer and served north of Leningrad during the siege, facing the relatively quiet Finnish lines. From my understanding, one day he went out to inspect barriers out in no man's land and was shot in the leg by a Finnish sniper - all signs point to this being done on purpose, to draw out other troops to his help. The Russian soldiers knew that trick, it seems, and so he lay there bleeding with his shattered leg until nightfall, just meters away from friendly lines. The leg was amputated and my great-grandfather never recovered from this psychologically - he turned into an abusive alcoholic who eventually lost his family and died alone in his 40s, only a few years after the war.

My other great-grandfather was already an older man when the war started - he was 45, and a well-respected doctor. He served through the war with the rank of Junior Lieutenant, from what I understand largely in the Western part of Russia, Belarus and the Baltics. (Side note, by the way, is that by his ethnicity he was basically Saami). His job was field surgeon - and field surgeon he certainly was; at one point, his "operating room" was caught up in a mortar barrage, and he was heavily wounded, spending the rest of his life with a piece of shrapnel embedded inside the back of his skull. After the war, he was awarded several medals and returned to his life as a doctor. He is remembered by all as a calm, jolly, intelligent guy who liked to smoke his pipe, drink vodka and tell stories - just not about the war - and was always great to his kids and grandkids.

[Oberon]

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showpost.php?p=684262&postcount=8

Sadly the pictures died with fotopic but I still have them and can put them back up if anyone would like to see them. :yep:

Also this thread, from more recently:
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showpost.php?p=2230447&postcount=5

[Eichhörnchen]

My Grandfather Johann was an AA gunner on the eastern front. Having managed to survive the entire war he was walking home on the autobahn two days before the armistice and was captured by an American patrol. He spent the next year as a POW.

He was actually lucky though. The American unit that over ran his home town of Altenbuch apparently picked off several of his fellow Altenbuchers returning home from the war as they walked up the road to the town. Their graves along with the rest of the towns dead from that war are in an overgrown little plot located on the opposite hill from the town cemetary. He took me to see it when I was a youngster.

http://home.comcast.net/~rdsterling/pwpimages/johannkarl.JPG?PHPSESSID=fa65e52b5c2c703c41cc515ab e361215


We are ever mindful that Hitler deprived many German people of their relatives too...

[raymond6751]

My Dad was a chief petty officer/stoker aboard the HMCS Ottawa. She was a destroyer escorting convoys.

He was also a scuba diver commando as the need arose.

The Ottawa was stopped to pick up survivors on a cold September night in 1942 when the torpedoes hit. The sub was U-91.

Less than 40 men were rescued, my Dad being one of them. He was saved by an unknown hero, because my Dad was injured severely in the blast. The Captain of the ship went down, but was seen giving his life preserver away.

There were more than two heroes that night, but I think of those two.

The injury ended the war for Dad and he made it home.

[U-15]

A true story my dad told me.

At the end of WW2 he was a Polish soldier attached to the British army.
He required dental treatment and was attended to by an army dentist who was Scottish.
The dentist must have had a rough hand, cos it caused my dad to swear in Polish, and by golly he could swear in Russian and German as well if he wanted to.
The dentist calmly apologised in perfect Polish.

Dad never talked too much about the serious side of war, he was always just grateful he survived.

[Tango589]

My granddad never really spoke much about the war. I know he served in India, and he said he was a sniper. When I was young, my granddad taught me to count from 1 to 5 in Hindi. I always thought he was pulling my leg until I went to India many years later, and bugger me if the old git wasn't telling the truth!:doh: I still have his war medals in a drawer upstairs:

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm260/tango589/1939-45star.jpg
1939-45 Star

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm260/tango589/War_Medal.jpg
War Medal

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm260/tango589/The_Defence_Medal_1939_-_1945_front.jpg
Defence Medal

[HW3]

My dad was in the USAAF in WWII. He was a fighter plane crew chief in the 352FG 487th FS in both Bodney England, and later Asch, Belgium. His squadron was the only 8th Air Force Squadron to be awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation. This award came after a mission flown from the Asch Belgian airfield during Operation Bodenplatte January 1, 1945 when 12 pilots of the 487th, led by Colonel Meyer, shot down 24 attacking German fighters without a loss while under a strafing attack on takeoff. He said the ground crew all watched the action from their trenches.

[Eichhörnchen]

Thanks for that very interesting Post, HW3. I find the "Bodenplatte" episode totally fascinating, and have collected a number of books about it including one in Polish (which I'll have to ask Kranz to help me with for some of the photo captions).

The end of the Reich is a riveting study and this last fling of the Luftwaffe especially so. Oh, to have actually seen it...

[Bilge_Rat]

my Great-Uncle from Toronto served in the RAF as a navigator during the war. His bomber was shot down over Burma and he spent several weeks walking through the jungle back to Allied lines.

I never knew any of this while he was alive. His daughter told me the story at his funeral and even she only knew the bare bones, like a lot of veterans from that generation, he never talked about the war.

[Eichhörnchen]

http://i.imgur.com/HurEAo8.jpg


Hitler didn't get my Dad: after fighting in NW Europe he went on to the Control Commission in Germany, then the Korean War. The peculiar tone of his tie in this photo is due, apparently, to its being red, and worn to denote that he was hospitalised. He said he got spotted by a senior NCO in Lincoln wearing this, who didn't know what it was for, and bawled him out for being improperly dressed; I think of him every time I pass the spot. And along with eddie, a fair few of us must be thinking of our old Dads right now...

[Eichhörnchen]

No-one's yet posted about today being Remembrance Sunday, so...

[Commander Wallace]

I had a number of great uncles who served with the allies during WW2. One in particular had been in the Battle of the Bulge near Bastogne. He was machine gunned in the stomach by the Germans and had a severe head injury. He laid there for a couple days and packed mud into his wounds to stop the bleeding. The allies retook that area and he was discovered alive. He was rushed off to a hospital and survived in spite of the severe infections that resulted from his packing mud into his wounds.

He never fought again and I remember him when I was a child with a steel plate in his head. He never spoke of his war experiences. I also had a great Grandfather who was an electrician who wired up Destroyers, Escorts and LST's and was proud of his work.

[Commander Wallace]

http://i.imgur.com/HurEAo8.jpg


Hitler didn't get my Dad: after fighting in NW Europe he went on to the Control Commission in Germany, then the Korean War. The peculiar tone of his tie in this photo is due, apparently, to its being red, and worn to denote that he was hospitalised. He said he got spotted by a senior NCO in Lincoln wearing this, who didn't know what it was for, and bawled him out for being improperly dressed; I think of him every time I pass the spot. And along with eddie, a fair few of us must be thinking of our old Dads right now...



Great picture of your Dad :salute:

[Eichhörnchen]

Thanks, buddy. They almost got him on a number of occasions but he managed to "come home again to Wales".

[swamprat69er]

Dad was enlisted in the R.C.A.F, he was an armorer (better known as a 'gun plumber') at a secret base in northern Quebec, Bagotville. He made the necessary climb up the ladder to Sargent, only to be busted back down to Corporal and then to LAC.

Between shooting the roof of the hanger, twice, (the first time he got the coal pile to move), [the second time he lost a stripe].

He was busted for being AWOL during a snow storm because the plane he was in couldn't land and he didn't have jump training so he couldn't jump into the base. By the time the bus got him from Mont Jolie, PQ he was AWOL. Lost the other stripe for that one.

He was still an armorer, though and took the crap when one of his mates screwed up.

When he got out of the air force my mother made him promise that he would NEVER teach me about guns, which she hated with a passion. He never did.

I learned from my Uncle, he was in the Army and a good liar. He lied to get into the Army, [he told the truth and the air force turned him down] as he had Scarlet Fever as a kid and was deaf, but he could read lips good. He was in tanks.

My avatar is Dads picture right after he graduated from basic training, just before he went to Bagotville. Regarding the avatar, his arm is over his mothers' shoulder that is why he is not standing square.

The mail from the rest of Canada went overseas to England and then back to Bagotville. The base was 'that' secret.

[Eichhörnchen]

Poor old Dad! He had a bit of a bumpy time of it, didn't he? I always thought the avatar was you.

[swamprat69er]

Poor old Dad! He had a bit of a bumpy time of it, didn't he? I always thought the avatar was you.
Bumpy time! My a$$! He had a ball, party time all the time.
He still got an honourable discharge at the end of the war.
Me and Dad looked almost exactly the same at age 22.

[AVGWarhawk]

I had two uncles and one aunt in the war. My uncle ship was shot down over Kiel Germany 1943. Did not survive. My uncle Ed was a torpedo and aircraft mechanic in the PTO. Lied about his age to join. His mom offered him a new car if he would not sign up. He served on aircraft carriers. He said the fighters would land and brought below for repairs. The engines were hot and his fingers would get burned. The repairs made and off the deck the plane would go for more action. He did not speak much about the war. It affected him quite a bit. Especially as his brother was killed in action. His wife, my aunt, was a WAVE who overseen 30 nurses in the PTO. She was a tough cookie. She had to be as watching 30 nurses while GI was around was not easy.

[Eichhörnchen]

A couple of wartime pics of my dad when he was in the 53rd (Welsh) Division, Royal Welch Fusiliers. If you look carefully at the left-hand photo, you can see the black ribbons (the "Flash", as it was known) at the back of his collar... see link below for explanation.

http://i.imgur.com/qadZUte.jpg http://i.imgur.com/7Z2rPhb.jpg Probably early 1945, somewhere in Europe. Dad is on the left


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal Welch Fusiliers

http://i.imgur.com/CXrTEAq.jpg http://i.imgur.com/WFC5ny5.jpg Old photo showing the "Flash" and a RWF cap badge

[Eichhörnchen]

Just got off the 'phone after the weekly scolding from my old mum and she was talking again about this boozer called The Grenadier in the country lane where she lived during the war (in Hildenborough, Kent).

http://i.imgur.com/UBDfks0.jpg

It got flattened by the Luftwaffe in April 1941 and if you walk through a field near her old house you can still see the huge depression where the first of a stick of bombs fell. I've told her that the German was probably trying to scarper way from a fighter (they saw a number of such pursuits over the village).

No one got hurt; the landlord was in the cellar changing a barrel when the bombs hit.

[Oberon]

Found out the other day that my great-uncle was in the armed forces, I couldn't tell you his enlistment date but I think he may well have been in service during the Second World War, I couldn't be certain. I do know though that he started in the Bomb Disposal Group, once having to drive a live bomb through the center of Birmingham apparently. :haha:
At some point before 1947 he was in India, where I've got a couple of pictures that my first cousin once removed has posted on the book of faces.

http://i.imgur.com/k2z0VZw.jpg?1

[Eichhörnchen]

I remember seeing a TV programme about a reunion of the Afrika Korps. You always get the feeling that the Desert Rats had a special regard for these men and that their war was untainted by the atrocities of the SS, I don't know for sure. But we also appreciated that they were led by a decent and honourable man, Rommel.

[Oberon]

Pretty sure Luftwaffe pilots had get togethers post-war, also pretty sure that some uboat crews did, but I think a lot of them were instigated by former allied soldiers, sailors and airmen. For most Germans I think they wanted to forget it happened and focus on putting Germany back together, well...whatever half of it they were living in.
I certainly imagine that reunions in Eastern Germany were a good way to get a room full of Stasi. :hmmm:

[Catfish]

"Hitler tried to get my dad"
I guess it was nothing personal. Mind you after all, England declared war to Germany, not the other way round.
You know "Churchill then tried to get my" dad, too. As well nothing personal, of course.

Regarding veterans, reunions and the like:
A lot of german soldiers of course plain did not suvive, after the war there was a big dent in the numbers of young male population, in Germany.

Then there were reunions, but a lot of soldiers had not exactly known what was going on in Germany, in concentration camps and so on. The civilian population living near concentration camps, knew more about that.
The Wehrmacht of course perpetrated atrocities, too.
Let's say a lot were not particularly proud

After all when seeing all that, all but the most fanatic idiots would have held patriotic (!) reunions or whatever. They were forced to realize what had happened. That they met inofiicially as friends who had gone through hell, of course.

Atrocities perpetrated by the Allies have never been punished or publicised, so their soldiers probably did not have the urge to look into their own country's behaviour, let alone be critical about themselves.

This is certainly not true for all soldiers or people who have lived through the war, but i think for most.

[Eichhörnchen]

"Hitler tried to get my dad"
I guess it was nothing personal.

This is just a silly "Anglicism", Catfish... the British population commonly referred anything done to them or their serving relatives in the war directly back to Hitler, in a manner suggesting he personally was at the controls of the plane or the levers of the tank :haha:

In a similar way, our armies were fighting "Tojo" and "Mussolini", rather than the Japanese and Italians.

[Jimbuna]

^ Good post Catfish....fair and balanced :up:

:ping:

[Eichhörnchen]

I learned only today that an uncle of mine was in the 'second wave' ashore on D-Day at Sword Beach. Not surprising, since he never spoke about the war and died before I was really old enough to be really appreciative of what this meant.

[August]

Stalin got my Grand Uncle Eduard in Sept 1941 and Churchill (or Roosevelt we don't know) got my Grand Uncle Josef somewhere in Italy in 1944

Uncle Joseph
https://mediasvc.ancestry.com/v2/image/namespaces/1093/media/70a210e4-9d07-414d-a6ff-47cf613a1955?client=TreesUI&maxSide=160

[Eichhörnchen]

Thanks, August. Honour their memory.

[Catfish]

Yes, let us remember them.

[Eichhörnchen]

Just got off the 'phone after the weekly scolding from my old mum and she was talking again about this boozer called The Grenadier in the country lane where she lived during the war (in Hildenborough, Kent).

http://i.imgur.com/UBDfks0.jpg

It got flattened by the Luftwaffe in April 1941 and if you walk through a field near her old house you can still see the huge depression where the first of a stick of bombs fell. I've told her that the German was probably trying to scarper way from a fighter (they saw a number of such pursuits over the village).

No one got hurt; the landlord was in the cellar changing a barrel when the bombs hit.


In this same locality my mother was picking hops one day (as a 15 year-old) and watched as a burning Heinkel III came down for a forced landing in a nearby field, at Meopham Bank.

Here is an account published by the local historical society; she lived at 'Garlands' in Hildenborough throughout the war.

https://hildenboroughhistorysociety.weebly.com/heinkel-bomber-crash-lands-in-hildenborough.html

I recently persuaded my mother to relate the event as she saw it for posterity, which testimony I'll post here shortly...

[Eichhörnchen]

"I've been reading accounts of the 1940s Heinkel crash landing near 'The Old Barn' in Hildenborough... one account from a man picking hops at Meopham Bank. I was also picking hops there at the time (I was fifteen).

I remember glancing up and seeing the plane, its underside all alight, gliding along in front of me. The strange thing is, I don't remember hearing any noise from the plane or seeing any markings on it. But I do remember thinking "It's going to crash". But I can't remember any noise... even the hop garden seemed silent. It crash-landed in a field near The Old Barn, so it must have come down only seconds after I saw it. I couldn't see the wings, so it must have been quite far away; thinking about it years later, I realise that it must've been further eaway from me than I'd thought. I spoke to my younger brother some months ago, asking if he remembered it, which he said he did... he ran with some other boys and people from the hop garden towards it but they were turned back by the soldiers.

I never saw the plane when it was parked at 'The Half Moon' in Hildenborough".

[Eichhörnchen]

My mother also remembers this happening in 1940 and the Half Moon pub is not at all far from the crash site of the Heinkel HeIII detailed above; I pass the pub whenever I go to visit her, but for some reason I've never been in there for a pint.

https://hildenboroughhistorysociety.weebly.com/john-romney-mather-spitfire-pilot.html

https://i.imgur.com/sYQ8f0C.jpg

[Eichhörnchen]

https://i.imgur.com/WT1Spq6.jpg

This photo was sent to me yesterday by a kind soul in Pwllheli, North Wales, whose family loved my old dad (Pwllheli was his home town)

He was in the BAOR's Civilian Control Commission in Germany in 1945, and it seems that the VW Beetle was installed as their transportation of preference

I never saw this photo before, so I was thrilled to bits to see this new image of my father from so long, long ago

Hitler did not get him!

[Eichhörnchen]

https://i.imgur.com/h7TxFJx.png 'Bump!'

[Reece]

Quite a story there E, looking at the VW, it certainly hadn't changed much over the years. I am almost 70 so you must be around the same age (old fart). :D

[Eichhörnchen]

No I'm not nearly 70, so you are still the old fart

https://i.imgur.com/EoWZmW6.jpg

Here's the photo after I cleaned it up on the pc

[Texas Red]

My grandfather- I'm his great-grandson- served in the US Army in WWII and he fought in the Battle of the Bulge. He was a Technician 5th Grade. He was definitely the old man at the time as he was 31 when he saw combat since the average American GI was around 18-23 years old. He said that they were in a town in Belgium and they had only 2 days worth of food and ammunition or else they would have to surrender to the Germans. Then the weather cleared up and the Air Corps took out the Germans.
He made his way into Germany, and he even brought back a Nazi flag that was littered with bullet holes.
His name was Gilbert DeVries. He was born in 1913 and died in 1989.

My grandpa remembered him having a box full of medals. But sadly these were all destroyed by my grandpa's mentally ill brother. All we have of him are two photos of his wartime experience. One of them is the photo taken after he graduated training and the other is a picture of him and his brother fishing in a pond in Belgium. He actually met his brother on the front-lines!

I wish I could've met him.

[Aktungbby]

His name was Gilbert DeVries. He was born in 1913 and died in 1989.

My grandpa remembered him having a box full of medals. But sadly these were all destroyed by my grandpa's mentally ill brother. All we have of him are two photos of his wartime experience. One of them is the photo taken after he graduated training and the other is a picture of him and his brother fishing in a pond in Belgium. He actually met his brother on the front-lines!

I wish I could've met him.
Well, as my family's historian/geneologist, head for Monee, Will County, Illinois and leave some flowers and a small American flag.. at 1 foot from marker. https://api.army.mil/e2/c/images/2015/05/22/395236/size0.jpg:Kaleun_Salute: https://images.findagrave.com/photos250/photos/2012/102/87478072_133424303812.jpg Technician fifth grade (abbreviated as T/5 or TEC 5) was a United States Army technician rank (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Army_enlisted_rank_insignia_of_World _War_II#Technicians) during World War II (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II). Those who held this rank were addressed as corporal (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporal), though were often called a "tech corporal". As for replacing the lost medals: https://www.military.com/benefits/records-and-forms/military-awards-medals-decorations.html (https://www.military.com/benefits/records-and-forms/military-awards-medals-decorations.html) (one of many sites) Good luck and good hunting.

[Texas Red]

OH MY GOD, how did you find his headstone? Man, I got goosebumps looking at that!
Wow, wait till my grandfather hears this!

And thank you for the link, I will try to get his records so we can look at the medals and awards he had, as my grandpa is his only biological next of kin. He has a daughter that is still alive, but she isn't his biological daughter.

[Commander Wallace]

My grandfather- I'm his great-grandson- served in the US Army in WWII and he fought in the Battle of the Bulge. He was a Technician 5th Grade. He was definitely the old man at the time as he was 31 when he saw combat since the average American GI was around 18-23 years old. He said that they were in a town in Belgium and they had only 2 days worth of food and ammunition or else they would have to surrender to the Germans. Then the weather cleared up and the Air Corps took out the Germans.
He made his way into Germany, and he even brought back a Nazi flag that was littered with bullet holes.
His name was Gilbert DeVries. He was born in 1913 and died in 1989.

My grandpa remembered him having a box full of medals. But sadly these were all destroyed by my grandpa's mentally ill brother. All we have of him are two photos of his wartime experience. One of them is the photo taken after he graduated training and the other is a picture of him and his brother fishing in a pond in Belgium. He actually met his brother on the front-lines!

I wish I could've met him.


That's tough. You have the stories hopefully that have been passed down. It's been said that if you remember the deceased, they are truly not gone. That was a time when there were men of substance and men were men.


:salute: To your grandfather's memory and his sacrifices.


@ Aktung can find anything. :D

[Texas Red]

I will pass them down for my children as well. I have many other grandparents who served during WWII, but none of them are alive. The last one died in 2018 at the age of 101. He is also the only one that I know of who saw action.
I really wish that he was still alive and healthy. My grandpa said it was very hard to get him to talk about the war too.

Part of my reason for wanting to serve in the Navy is because of him.

[Aktungbby]

I got goosebumps looking at that!


@ Aktung can find anything. :D True enough; pouring over Real Estate appraisal data for 15yrs and as a history major grad: I was also a bulldog 'skip tracer' for a sleazy loan company... and occasionally helped my DA wife find disappeared deadbeat-dads in her county Child-Support capacity. Generally, if your poopin' or using a Social Security number, I can find you- always after a lot of dead trails. Currently I track down old classmates for other classmates-unfortunately at the 50 year mark, (class of'69:o that's getting depressing). In The Beast's case: I went first with "Gilbert DeVries born 1913'' and up she popped: Marker FOTO on my tablet but not my computer; and then I couldn't regain the tablet source; but fortunately it had given me the town, county and cemetery so i looked up the cemetery and Voila! a search by name restored the picture. I then found out that a tech 5th class is referred to as a 'corporal' and figured "there can't be two corporals with the same birth and death year":hmmm: so I opted to give The Beast goosebumps... ever fearful of raising his young hopes in so delicate a matter! But he sounds like he's his family genealogist-in-the-making too!:yeah::arrgh!:

[Texas Red]

Ha. Well, old farts like you got some really good stories to tell since you are so old and you got a lot of experience under your belt.
Tracking down classmates or ex-girlfriends or just people I interacted with is what I want to be able to do.

I hope that in Heaven, you can go to like this registry for people in both Hell and Heaven so you can take a deep look into their lives.

[xristoskaiti]

my grandfather Theodoros was born in 1912.
He fought with a submarine Papanikolis in the Mediterranean, an Averoff ship in the Indian Ocean and small ship destroyer sfendoni
In the destroyer they passed 3 torpedoes but none of them exploded because from what they said they had the wrong deep regulation.
the submarine that dropped them was Italian in the Mediterranean.
They had a dog on the ship when it had big waves and it kept slipping left and right.n the submarine they had small Indian pigs when they went crazy and made circles around themselves they had to go to the surface to clean the air

[Texas Red]

my grandfather Theodoros was born in 1912.
He fought with a submarine Papanikolis in the Mediterranean, an Averoff ship in the Indian Ocean and small ship destroyer sfendoni
In the destroyer they passed 3 torpedoes but none of them exploded because from what they said they had the wrong deep regulation.
the submarine that dropped them was Italian in the Mediterranean.
They had a dog on the ship when it had big waves and it kept slipping left and right.n the submarine they had small Indian pigs when they went crazy and made circles around themselves they had to go to the surface to clean the air

That is quite the story!
Thank you for your grandfathers service!:Kaleun_Salute:

[Col7777]

My dad was in the RAF, he was stationed in the north east of England, I used to ask him what he did but like a lot of WW2 service men he would never talk about it.
I think though I may be wrong he worked with radio comms, the reason I think that he used to mend wirelesses for people after the war for extra cash, he was a bricklayer by trade.

I had an uncle who was captured by the Germans and was a POW, he and another guy managed to escape, I don't know the details but he made it back home to a heroes welcome.

I worked with a guy who was very inoffensive sort of man, then one day it was in the local newspaper the RAF were holding a special dinner for him.
It appears he was a tail gunner in a Lancaster that crash landed in France.
He and another guy survived the crash and the French resistance got to them before the Germans.
He took part in a resistance raid with them while he was there and blew up an train, he eventually got back the England, but he too never talked of it.

Another guy I worked with was a Welshman with a strong Welsh accent, a few of the young lads were taking the pi$$ out of him when I told them where he was in WW2.
He was at Arnhem in one of the bloodiest battles in WW2, he saw his best mate blown up right in front of him, they never took the P after that.

Col.

[Texas Red]

My dad was in the RAF, he was stationed in the north east of England, I used to ask him what he did but like a lot of WW2 service men he would never talk about it.
I think though I may be wrong he worked with radio comms, the reason I think that he used to mend wirelesses for people after the war for extra cash, he was a bricklayer by trade.

I had an uncle who was captured by the Germans and was a POW, he and another guy managed to escape, I don't know the details but he made it back home to a heroes welcome.

I worked with a guy who was very inoffensive sort of man, then one day it was in the local newspaper the RAF were holding a special dinner for him.
It appears he was a tail gunner in a Lancaster that crash landed in France.
He and another guy survived the crash and the French resistance got to them before the Germans.
He took part in a resistance raid with them while he was there and blew up an train, he eventually got back the England, but he too never talked of it.

Another guy I worked with was a Welshman with a strong Welsh accent, a few of the young lads were taking the pi$$ out of him when I told them where he was in WW2.
He was at Arnhem in one of the bloodiest battles in WW2, he saw his best mate blown up right in front of him, they never took the P after that.

Col.

Wow, you got some amazing stories to tell!

My grandpa also said that it was very hard to get his dad to talk about the war as well. He said that he hated to bring up those memories. He went through pure hell in Belgium and Germany.

[xristoskaiti]

Fortunately, we have such great ancestors, so now we have freedom

[Eichhörnchen]

Great stories, you guys, and thanks for sharing :salute:

[Jimbuna]

Yep, some nice stories guys but I seldom talk about my lero namely my father, Sailor Steve being the exception.

[Col7777]

May I go back a few posts to the one about my ncle who escaped the POW camp.

The story I got told by my family was my Gran thought he had been killed because she never got any news from him.
Anyway one day some gypsy ladies were going round door to door selling cloths pegs, when they got to my gran's door the gypsy lady said something like, "You look troubled, I can see you have someone in the war."
My Gran thought one of the neighbours had told her but then the gypsy said, "Well very soon he will be home, he is safe now so don't worry."
My Gran gave her some money and off she went, again my Gran thought a neighbour had told her and the gypsy was just trying to make her feel better.

Then lo and behold a few weeks later she got a letter from my uncle, he told her he was on his way home and would see her soon and he was OK.
True enough on his return all the street had banners and flags up and they had a bit street party for him.

As years went by I happened to be working with a guy who was laying drainage pipes in the road, I told him my uncle was a pipe layer, he asked his name and when I told him he said, "You mean Leo Greenwood is your uncle?" I said, "Yes why?"
He replied, "He is one of the best pip layers in Manchester, he taught me years ago." I felt so proud.

Col.

[_dgn_]

May 29 is, rather, a date of little historical significance. But that is no longer the case when it comes to May 29, 1940, and when the facts are in the entrenched camp of Dunkirk.

And that date is very important to me, because it's about my father.

At the begining of WWII, my father was captain in the French Engineers Corps. He was 31 years old (born in 1908), but in the army since 24 years.

24 years ? Amazing ! In fact, in 1915, when my grand-father, senior NCO in the Gendarmerie Nationale, was transferred to the Dardanelles (as member of the Military Provost), my father was sent to the military school of Autun ("Enfants de Troupe" or troup children), an institution dating back to the monarchy, designed to educate the boys of NCOs, to make them future NCOs (the backbone of any army).

My father enlisted at the age of 18 and joined in Versailles the 5th Engineers Regiment and was "very proud" to wear on his outfit a badge with a red locomotive (this unit, giant with its number of companies, was the unique railway sappers regiment of the French Army). It was stationed at the "Camp des Matelots" or sailors' camp (dating from the construction of the Palace and used to house sailors maneuvering the "Flottille royale de Versailles" or Versailles Royal Fleet of Louis XIV, composed of gondolas, rowboats, galleys and small vessels sailing on the "Grand Canal"), and was close to the 4th railways station in Versailles ("Versailles-Matelots").

https://s7d8.turboimg.net/t1/60095699_Locomotive_5me-Gnie.jpg (https://www.turboimagehost.com/p/60095699/Locomotive_5me-Gnie.jpg.html)


After some years as NCO, my father became officer "from the rank" (around 1932), formed in the Artllery and Engineers Officer School of Versailles (not in the Military Academy of Saint-Cyr, only 4 kms away). Then a "long" career in the Fort Mont-Valérien (8th Engineer Regiment), specializing himself in radio signals in the Eiffel Tower (a perfect radio antenna ! Without betraying military secrets, the French Army still has facilities under one of its 4 feet) and at the Satory maneuver camp (between Versailles and Saint-Cyr) for communications ground/planes.

September 3, 1939, the 8th Engineers Regiment "exploded", giving birth to numerous war regiments (18th, 28th, 38th ... Engineers Regiment). My father was assigned to the 38th, in Montargis (where is now the Signals Officer School), and this regiment became a war depot, creating new engineers units with the arrival of reservists.

In particular, the 39th Engineers Battalion was organized, made up of 2 components, engineering (3 companies "portées" for construction / destruction, mining / demining + 1 bridge unit), and signals [1 radio, 1 telephone and 1 colombophile (!) company]. Oddly, my father took command of its "Compagnie Télégraphique Divisionnaire" (Field Telephone Signals Company). This particular Engineers Battalion wasn't an anonymous unit, but belonged to the most modern division : the 3ème DLM (3ème Division Légère Mécanique or "3rd light mechanized division"). Its 4 tanks units were old (1st and 2nd Cuirassiers regiment, founded in 1635, the 12th Cuirassiers in 1668 and the 11th Dragoons in 1674) and prestigious : the 4 regiments had the battle honours for Austerlitz on their banner. Naturally, this new division took as symbol the "sun of Austerlitz" that illuminated the Pratzen Heights and contributed to victory.

A divisionnal metal badge was created, but not mandatory. Many disappeared during the war and since. This is my father's :

https://s7d7.turboimg.net/t1/54549803_InsigneDivision-3DLM.jpg (https://www.turboimagehost.com/p/54549803/InsigneDivision-3DLM.jpg.html)


I'll move on to details : belonging to the Cavalry Corps meant on May 10, 1940 the Dyle-Breda Plan and the departure to Belgium. 12-14 May, the 2ème et 3ème DLM confronted the German XVI. Armeekorps (General Hoepner) during the Battle of Hannut (3rd DLM mainly against the 3rd Pz. Div), the most important tanks battle in 1940. A good delay fight, significant tank losses in the Germans, but the 3ème DLM must retreat, in good order.

https://s7d3.turboimg.net/t1/60095841_petite_gette_002.jpg (https://www.turboimagehost.com/p/60095841/petite_gette_002.jpg.html)


A Telephone Signals Company, near of the Divisionnal HQ, is not a fighting unit, but in some circumstances, the situation can get very hot, mainly in case of withdrawal. Such company often moves to post offices to use telephone exchanges and public telephone lines. In a long Belgian village (Jandrain or Jauche ?), the company, in the poste office, saw coming the General Langlois, head of the Division, and at this moment forming the ultimate rearguard. He had separated himself from his HQ protection company, engaged in combat. His only escort consisted of 2 radio armored cars AMD 35 (known too as "Panhard 178"). The General was furious, the Signals Company had not retreated. And for cause, that order had never reached it ...

The event is to be on May 14, 1940. On that date, General PRIOUX at 2:00 p.m. gave the order of withdrawal to the 2 divisions (2nd and 3rd DLM) of his "Corps de Cavalerie" or Cavalry Corps. In the case of the 3ème DLM, most of its HQ (including the Radio Signals Company) had to move southward while the Telephone Signals Company remained as close as possible to the fighting units protecting the withdrawal. And during this delicate situation, the "39/81e Compagnie Télégraphique Divisionnaire" was likely "forgotten" ...

An bold (and rather fast) German reconnaissance unit (motorbikes, sidecars and light armored cars) were already at the other entrance of the village. It was under fire that the company withdrew its equipment, but mainly the fire from the 2 Panhard 178 (each, a 25mm AT gun and 2 7.5mm Reibel MG with 150 rounds drums). Their armour was sufficient compared to German 20mm shells. On the other hand, the 25 mm Hotchkiss anti-tank gun (SA-L modèle 1934, /L72 caliber) could pierce 50mm of armor to 600 meters, almost all of the German armored cars and personnel carriers, as well as many tanks (even the early versions of Panzer III). So the German recon unit suffered large losses.

So, first time where "HITLER Tried To Get My Dad" ...

A small note by the way : when my father went to thank the crews of the 2 signal armored cars for their valuable assistance, he noted that in the combat compartment, which had been reduced by the presence of radio stations, the space was filled with numerous gun shells and machine gun drums, well beyond the normal endowment. So, no more sufficiently place for the usual (?) "French white flag" ...

After this episode, it was then the retreat to Dunkirk. A very bad memory : the arrival in this (in principle) French town & harbour, presumably on May 26. Tommies had built blockades, and the company had to abandon or destroy all its vehicles (and the signal equipment contained). The behavior of yesterday's allies was no longer the same ...

Without any equipment, the unit was useless in defense of Dunkirk. So it received the order to reach the port of Cherbourg by boat, with other remnants of the Division, in order to rebuild the unit. May 27 was the worst day of bombing, and the port was almost completely destroyed. But the boats could still get out. A freighter named "Le Douaisien" was assigned to the evacuation (with the "Hors rang" company and the second group of squadrons of the 1st Cuirassiers, at least the surviving crews).

My father was "interested" in German air attacks. He had noticed that the Stukas arrived on the city, put themselves in a circle, and then, following the squadron leader, dived towards the ground, dropping their bombs and firing their machine guns, then went up and put themselves back in a circle, probably observing the damage caused or choosing a new target. And so on. "A beautiful ballet !", according to him ...

But their main objectives were of course the boats, at least inside the port. On May 28, my father had to board "Le Douaisien", in order to get the instructions for boarding his unit (the freighter had orders to set sail for Cherbourg at 10 p.m., with 1,200 troops, some refugees and crews from sunken ships). After that, he took a few moments to chat (and possibly smoke a cigarette) with 4 or 5 English officers (from the near MV "Queen of the Channel" ?), on the quay. But the Stukas were getting closer and closer to such interesting targets, and more precise in their attacks. So such "beautiful ballet" was becoming more sinister and more dangerous. He decided to get away from the cargo ship and to take cover under the concrete of the dock. He urged the English officers to follow him, but by phlegmatism or defiance they remained in place. A few minutes later, a bomb fell exactly where the English were still, spraying them.

So, second time where "HITLER Tried To Get My Dad" ...

https://s7d1.turboimg.net/t1/54550997_Le_Douaisien.jpg (https://www.turboimagehost.com/p/54550997/Le_Douaisien.jpg.html)


At the scheduled time, the freighter set sail. At 11 p.m., its crossed the piers. May 29 (exactly 80 years), at 00:10 am, arrived at buoy 8 of the East pass (entrance to Zuydcoote), a very strong explosion shaked the ship which began to sink : "Le Douaisien" hit a German magnetic mine.

3 dead only among the passgers, and about fifty wounded. Before evacuating the sinking boat, my father recovered (and counted) his troops. A man was missing. With the standard black-out, accentuated by the fact that the machines were no longer running, it was rather dark. It was in the light of a weak flashlight that he discovered a body floating in the fore hold : he immediately knew who it was just by seeing his shoes. It was his staff car driver (the only loss of the Company during the Battle of France), who close to the "boss" allowed himself to wear non-regulatory shoes.

A great thought, today, for the faithful and dedicated sapper Maurice DANIS (he was 36 years old, and married since 15 years).

So, third time where "HITLER Tried To Get My Dad" ... but he still managed to take another one, this day.

Its's enough for today ...

Cheers.

[Texas Red]

I have many many grandparents who served in the armed forces in almost all of the wars we have fought in, until after Vietnam when our family stopped serving. After my grandpa was born, he didn't serve, but he got out of the draft by a lottery which was strange because that was the way they sent you to war during Vietnam. :hmmm:

Anyways, hopefully, one of my teacher's grandparents counts.

Apparently, his great-great-grandfather was too young to serve in WWI, so he lied about his age and joined the Army, then when WWII came, he was too old to fight so he lied about his age and got into the Army again.

:haha: What a guy!

[Eichhörnchen]

Thanks for that amazing account, _dgn_, exactly what this thread is all about :Kaleun_Salute:

[Texas Red]

About my post earlier of my grandpa who saw action in the Battle of the Bulge, I have two pictures of him. The only known pictures we have of him in Wartime, and the only items we have of him from that period.

https://i.postimg.cc/d0sLTZgx/IMG-0982.jpg

I'm not sure what period this was, most likely mid-1942 to early 1943.He was done with training and was at the rank of Tech Corporal, his rank patches visible on his shoulder.

https://i.postimg.cc/s2T4NhWk/IMG-0983.jpg

This is a picture of him when he met his brother on the frontline in Belgium. He is the one on the right.

That is all. Cheers!

[Eichhörnchen]

Thanks for posting these photos of your grandpa, mate. It's extra special and important to get to see pictures like these from someone's personal albums as they are "new" for the rest of us :up::Kaleun_Salute::yep:

[Eichhörnchen]

https://i.imgur.com/K6HekvW.jpg https://i.imgur.com/eNtkvWq.jpg

Dad with his VW while he was with the Civilian Control Commission in Germany, also walking in town with a pal. He was in the Royal Welch Fusiliers

[Eichhörnchen]

https://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showpost.php?p=2236203&postcount=1

Today I took a picture of the crucifix mentioned above and to go with it a slightly more detailed account posted for friends on Facebook:-

https://i.imgur.com/1ZfetiX.jpeg

"Dad's final wartime encounter with eternity came when his battalion were heavily mortared. He was found, so his family always said, lying in the rubble of a ruined abbey clasping a large wooden crucifix - which I have at home now. I don't know where this was but there can't have been that many abbeys in the path of the Division in 1945. I believe I did find mention of one in a book somewhere and I'm trying to locate that again. I also found a reference to a heavy mortar 'stonk' on the 6RWF which may have been in the same book, since I haven't been able to find this either. After this he was sent home from the war with shell-shock"