Is anyone related to a WWII Veteran?

[Kapitan_Phillips]

My dad frequents a British Legion club near here, and I went down with him once. That place is brilliant for listening to old war stories and sharing a pint with the people who fought for this country.

[danurve]

My Father served and got trapped behind the lines in Ukraine durring Barbarossa.

[Tchocky]

My grandfather was a sentry/air-raid spotter on top of the Bank of Ireland, later a Vickers gun instructor. Didn't see any action, naturally. Which puts me in an interesting position, I very much dislike Ireland's WW2 neutrality, but if we participated I may not be here today :hmm:

[Schroeder]

Originally Posted by Tchocky

I very much dislike Ireland's WW2 neutrality

Me too, we would have badly needed you.... oh,...err....he means siding with the other side...ok.


Sorry, couldn't resist.:p

[Terrax]

My Grandfather on my mothers side, Kyle was in the infantry and took part in the Normady invasion. He passed away in '88 but lived on the other side of the country so I didn't see him much. But I got a few stories second hand from my parents. He never talked about combat, but said he got a major case of sea sickness waiting to hit the beaches, and that he enjoyed the french wine and grateful French women.

I'm skeptical about this one. Mom said that he hated officers, and twice he was promoted from Sergeant to Lieutenant. Both times, he promptly slugged the first green 2nd Lieutenant that he could find, and was busted back down to Sergeant. According to Kyle, the CO liked him and the fact that he wouldn't leave his buddies from his unit and also got a kick out of the reactions of the shocked Lt's. A good story I like repeating, but I'm not sure about the truth of it. But he did have that type of personality.

I'll give another example of his off the wall behavior. My Dad and Mom have sworn that this is true. He lost his leg just above the knee after the War in a car accident. There was a tiny one level hospital in the town where he lived and Kyle knew the doctor that treated him, who was a vet of the war also. He talked the doctor into letting him take his leg home with him! It was kept in a freezer in the garage.

It was standard procedure that when one of his daughters had a boy come over, he would send them to the freezer to get him a beer. The girls would always warn the boys but they never took it seriously. And there in the freezer was the leg. That caused most of them to just get the hell out of there. When his time came, Dad was horrified when he saw the leg, not believing Mom's warning. Mom said Kyle rolled with laughter as Dad stumbled in pale as a ghost, before telling him that he forgot to bring the beer in.

I really wish he had visited him more in my late teens so I could have heard those stories, and probably a few more. Mom's not so sure that would have been a great idea. She's says I'm too much like him as it is.

[Tchocky]

Originally Posted by Schroeder

Me too, we would have badly needed you.... oh,...err....he means siding with the other side...ok.


Sorry, couldn't resist.:p

[peterloo]

My mum recalls that my great grandpa (on mum's side) was working against the Japanese when the Japanese invaded during the 1930s and he was caught and later killed (someone betrayed him, I believe). He probably saw more actions in the civil war which infested China for more than 20 years but this is something I'm not sure

My grandpa (on mother's side) was born when the war broke out, in 1937 if I'm right, so he had to escape to Hong Kong. When Hong Kong was attacked in 7 Dec. 1941, the day which Pearl Harbour was attacked, my grandpa had to escape back to mainland China and hid in the villages, and survived the war.

(I personally disliked the pro-Japanese pose which most Western countries took in 1930s)

I havn't heard of any accounts of direct actions, through.

[Enigma]

My Grandfather served her Majesty's Royal Engineers in WWII. My great grandmother lost her best friend in England as a result of German strafing. I've heard some stories.....

[supersloth]

my grandfather on my father's side drove a supply truck for the KMT in southern china during the japanese invasion. always told me about how he ate like a king during the war since he drove the truck he had first dips on stuff like shoes, chocolate, cigarettes, whiskey, etc, lol.

my other grandfather on my mother's side was an officer in the KMT during the japanese invasion and the ensuing chinese civil war. his job was to root out corrupt officals and suspected communists. one story my mother told me was when he invited a warlord over to his home to try and convince him to join the govt in the fight against the japanese. before the guy showed up, he gave my grandmother a pistol and told her to shoot herself if he should get killed lest she be raped by a gang of thugs. my mother tells me that he was given an award by the CIA for something he did against the communists, but he didnt get to keep the award and its on file somewhere in the CIA archives i guess. its be pretty cool if i get to see it.

both were wartime buddies. they actually introduced my mom and dad to each other when they moved to the US. both lived in the US for almost 20 years and died well into their old age.

[Ishmael]

My father was a merchant seaman beginning in 1939 and was 2 days out of Pearl on his way there from SF on 12/7/41. His ship was about 200 miles south of this ship, the first American casualties of the Pearl Harbor attack:



and heard her distress calls. He pulled into Pearl on Dec. 9th to find out he had a critical job skill and a draft deferment for the entire war. His critical job skill was taking troops to invasion beaches and dropping them off. As a merchant seaman, he took part in the invasions of Attu, Kiska, North Africa, Sicily, Salerno, Anzio and Iwo Jima invasions as well as the Japanese occupation. He was shot at by representatives of all three AXIS powers and only used a firearm in the commission of two armed robberies which netted him a year in San Quentin from mid-43 to mid-44. After the war, he was drafted in the Army in 1946 for about 3 months before obtaining a hardship discharge.

His brother, my Uncle Emmett, was a Lt. Cdr in the Naval Reserve and was port captain in Noumea during the war.

[Schöneboom]

My father was in the US Army 1st Cavalry, trained in Texas, & as a Filipino he naturally participated in the liberation of the Phillipines. He was wounded by shrapnel, captured by the Japanese, and fortunately escaped.

[Jimbuna]

My father (almost 85 now) lied about his age in 38 and joined a merchant ship (Euphorbia) that ran guns to the Spanish Government in the Spanish Civil War.

I believe they were the first British merchantmen to be bombed (Barcelona Harbour) by the German Condor Legion.

http://lacucaracha.info/scw/diary/1938/may/index.htm

He made numerous trips to Dunkirk evacuating Allied troops and was aboard the last ship to leave Marseille before it fell, taking off some French Admiral (the Royal Navy left 24 hours earlier).

He was in the only convoy to sail to Murmansk without an escort (these were held back for duty in Operation Torch).

12 or 13 ships set out and only 4 or 5 returned (thankfully he was on one of the survivors).

For this he received the princely bonus of £50 and was honoured/rewarded approx 20 years ago by the Russian Ambassador in London who presented those still living with a medal.

It is only in the past 5 years or so the feat of these brave seamen was recognised by the British government who gave them a crappy little lapel type enamelled badge.

On D-Day his ship beached at Courseulles-sur-Mer to offload heavy vehicles at Juno Beach in support of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division and the 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade about 2 hours after the initial landing.

My father was luckier than a lot of our loved ones......especially when compared with his own father (my grandfather) who sailed as a 2nd engineer and whose ship went missing without trace whilst carrying every seamans favourite carge....Ammunition.

[panzer 49th]

My grandfather was the radio operator Sheffield (participated in the Bismark attack).

And my dad's friend's grandfather was Albert Speer.

[Jimbuna]

Berthold Konrad Hermann Albert Speer, commonly known as Albert Speer :hmm:

Interesting

[JALU3]

Originally Posted by Schöneboom

My father was in the US Army 1st Cavalry, trained in Texas, & as a Filipino he naturally participated in the liberation of the Phillipines. He was wounded by shrapnel, captured by the Japanese, and fortunately escaped.

Was he assigned directly with 1st Cav Div or was he assigned to a higher until such as the many specialized units utilized by 6th Army during its campaign in the Philippine Islands.

My Paternal grandfather was a naval steward and retired after giving a good amount of his health life to the US Navy. Back then that was all filipinos were allowed to be. He's buried now back in San Marcelino, where he was born.

My maternal grandfather was stuck in occupied Philippines and participated in guerilla activities. After the war he worked at Subic Bay Naval Base and retired after more than 30 years. He's now buried here in San Diego.

My wife's maternal grandfather was part of the new Philippine Scouts which were reconstituted upon the liberation of the islands and was involved in occupation duties in Japan. He later became a member of the PNP and retired doing so, and was eventually buried in Anao, where he was born.

I have no idea about my wife's paternal grandfather.