What happened in your town/city during WWII? - Page 2

aaken · 10-11-06, 11:14 AM

I was born in Naples, Italy. Being a big commercial harbor, and since many convoys going to Libya departed from Naples, it was bombed many times by americans and english. When ,in september 1943, the Allies landed an army in Salerno (40 km south of Naples) and Italy signed the armistice with the Allies, the germans took control of the city and started vexing the civilian population. Tired of 3 years of war, hungry, with the menace of typhus, with the news of the Allies advancing towards the city, the people started an uprising. It lasted 4 days. The germans were forced to leave the city. It was the first major italian city to free itself from the Nazi occupation after the surrender.

Polak · 10-11-06, 11:52 AM

Ustka, Poland. Before the war and during the war the town belonged to the Germans and was called Stolpmünde. The town saw some combat during the German retreat, a small tank battle on the outskirts of the town and some small arms fire.
I also know that American POW's worked in the town. The town was frequently visited by uboots.

Bertgang · 10-11-06, 12:55 PM

Rome, Italy.

My town saw the rise and fall of Mussolini, as minister of the king, and countless fascist meetings under his famous balcony in Venice square.

It was bombed by allied several times, mainly because of railway connections; lot of civilians lost their lives, or at least their home, that way.

The town was under german rule since september 1943 to the arrival of allied troops. It was the worst period for jews (even if oppressed by fascism since years before). Some engagement between royal army, later partisans, and german troops, several casualties without relevant militar outcome; a memorial remembers that.

During wartime civilians were allowed to work public parks as vegetable gardens.

Dan D · 10-11-06, 01:57 PM

Bochum, Germany.

Bochum as part of the Ruhrgebiet, once called the "weaponery of the Reich", was hit hard by air raids. The historic townscape does no longer exist. If you want to see some of the old stuff, you have to go underground. Some of the old housing facades, stones and putti have been built into the modern underground stations to give an idea what Bochum once looked like, a new town center built on the ruins of the old one.

The attempts to defend the Ruhrgebiet against advancing Allied forces at the end of the war were desperate. A story told by the Bochum author Frank Goosens exemplifies this. His uncle Heinz as a soldier at the Eastern front had suffered such a heavy injury to the head that he was completely "beyond good and evil" (insane). Nevertheless, in an effort to defend the Ruhrgebiet, a gun was handed out even to him. With his rifle he caused some casualties: he killed a German Shepherd dog and shot the block warden in the leg.
During his captivity as an American POW in Bavaria he somehow got used to the phrase: "Strike, Bossa Nova, Strike" which he as the village idiot and target of mockery by neighbour kids constantly repeated on every occasion until the day he died, as Goosens reports.

lesrae · 10-11-06, 03:53 PM

Bath, Somerset. England.

Bath was bombed by the Luftwaffe over 3 days (25 - 27 April 1942) which has become known locally as the 'Bath Blitz'. Some 19,000 buildings were damaged and over 400 people killed.

It's commonly said that these bombings were in retaliation for the Allied bombings of Lübeck and Rostock which were both beautiful Heritage cities - Canterbury, Exeter, Norwich & York were also bombed in a series of raids nicknamed the 'Baedecker Raids' after a tourist guide by Karl Baedecker.

I've never read much about this, just heard vague stories (I moved to the Bath area 15 years ago) however nosing around for some detail I found this site: http://www.bathblitz.org/ - which is now bookmarked.

Happy Times · 10-11-06, 04:10 PM

I was born and lived in Helsinki half my life so i chose it. Helsinki is the capital of Finland so it was heavily bombed during the war, it was also the most heavily defended target by Finnish AA-units. It had important industry, military and goverment buildings to protect. From the first day of Winter War, Nov 30 1939 to the end of Continunation War, September 19, 1944, Helsinki was bombed over 50 times. In February 1944 Soviet bomber command got an order to destroy Helsinki. In three days over 700 planes dropped some 20.000 bombs, scale comparable to Dresden. Do to the effective AA tactics, only 799 bombs hit populated areas of the city. Casualties during the whole war were "only" 350 dead and 1000 wounded. Some 500 buildings were destroyed or damaged.

Hylander_1314 · 10-11-06, 06:45 PM

Lots of armaments building in WWII Detroit.

STEED · 10-11-06, 06:56 PM

I just rechecked and it's true at that time my city was a town and not one bomb hit it any way in the surrounding areas we had aircraft factories Handley Page and de Havilland. I suspect they built aircraft in WW2 but I need to check up on those facts.

Bort · 10-11-06, 07:23 PM

All sorts of stuff was going on in and around Chicago during the war, despite the fact that the shores of Lake Michigan were far from the front lines...Probably most importantly, Chicago was one of the major sites of the Manhattan Project, and on December 2, 1942 the worlds first nuclear reaction took place under the bleachers at the University of Chicago's football stadium (it isn't there anymore, in spite of its historic importance). At Navy Pier on the lakefront, two small aircraft carriers which were converted from paddle wheel passenger ships, the USS Wolverine and USS Sable, were used for training new Naval Aviators who were based at NAS Glenview (which was closed in 1993). NTC Great Lakes was the boot camp site for much of the Navy's enlisted sailors and today is the only Boot Camp for the entire Navy. Subs built at Manitowoc on Lake Michigan passed through the Chicago River on their way south down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico, and eventually the war. Just a ways southwest of Chicago in the Illinois River there was a shipyard at Seneca IL that cranked out LSTs. In short, Chicago was a busy place during the war!

PeriscopeDepth · 10-11-06, 07:40 PM

Aeroplanes were made. Lots of them.

PD

Ishmael · 10-11-06, 09:08 PM

I was born in Ventura, Ca. where the closest action was Japanese subs killing some sheep about 50 miles north near the Point Molate oil depot. I lived most of my life in Benicia, Ca., home of the Benicia Arsenal. It was the main US Army ammunition depot for the Pacific War. It is located directly across the Suisun Bay from the Port Chicago Naval Weapons Station, site of a disastrous explosion and fire on 17 July, 1944 that killed 320 people. My father was using the toilet on a ship in San Francisco at the exact moment of the explosion. The concussive force of the blast knocked him off the toilet even though the ship and SF were some 50 miles away. They found wreckage from the blast as far away as San Jose. Here's a link to the history.

http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq80-1.htm

During the war, there was a POW camp for, primarily, Italian prisoners. Sprinkled among them were a few German POWs. Benicia also has the oldest volunteer fire dept in California. They still possessed the original hand-pump engine manufactured in Germany in the 1860's. It turned out that one of the German POW's grandfather had worked at the factory that built the engine and he saw it one day during a work detail. He went to the commandant and the city fathers at the time and obtained permission to restore the old fire engine. He completed this work, fully restoring the engine. As a result of his work, the Benicia Fire Dept holds an annual Firemen's Muster in October that draws fire departments from all over the nation with their antique equipment. They have a 3-day long competition of firefighting skills utilizing the old equipment.

Pants · 10-12-06, 06:58 AM

I live in Staffordshire and we got bombed a lot.
World War Two, Stoke-on-Trent was a strategic high priority target. The main targets were the Michelin factory, the railway goods yard, the British Aluminium Works and Radway Green munitions factory at Radway Green.
Plus we had an RAF base close to where i live so they made a dummy airbase further away to take the attention away from the real one..due to the constant bombing.

Dowly · 10-12-06, 07:38 AM

Keep them coming, mates! I´ve learned alot from the thread already!

Godalmighty83 · 10-12-06, 07:39 AM

got completely levelled, thousands died.

joea · 10-13-06, 05:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Godalmighty83

got completely levelled, thousands died.

Which city?

10-11-06, 11:14 AM	#16
aaken Planesman Join Date: May 2005 Location: Naples Posts: 188 Downloads: 43 Uploads: 1	I was born in Naples, Italy. Being a big commercial harbor, and since many convoys going to Libya departed from Naples, it was bombed many times by americans and english. When ,in september 1943, the Allies landed an army in Salerno (40 km south of Naples) and Italy signed the armistice with the Allies, the germans took control of the city and started vexing the civilian population. Tired of 3 years of war, hungry, with the menace of typhus, with the news of the Allies advancing towards the city, the people started an uprising. It lasted 4 days. The germans were forced to leave the city. It was the first major italian city to free itself from the Nazi occupation after the surrender. __________________

10-11-06, 11:52 AM	#17
Polak Grey Wolf Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Poland/Sweden Posts: 808 Downloads: 1 Uploads: 0	Ustka, Poland. Before the war and during the war the town belonged to the Germans and was called Stolpmünde. The town saw some combat during the German retreat, a small tank battle on the outskirts of the town and some small arms fire. I also know that American POW's worked in the town. The town was frequently visited by uboots. __________________

10-11-06, 01:57 PM	#19
Dan D Grey Wolf Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: 9th Flotilla Posts: 839 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Bochum, Germany. Bochum as part of the Ruhrgebiet, once called the "weaponery of the Reich", was hit hard by air raids. The historic townscape does no longer exist. If you want to see some of the old stuff, you have to go underground. Some of the old housing facades, stones and putti have been built into the modern underground stations to give an idea what Bochum once looked like, a new town center built on the ruins of the old one. The attempts to defend the Ruhrgebiet against advancing Allied forces at the end of the war were desperate. A story told by the Bochum author Frank Goosens exemplifies this. His uncle Heinz as a soldier at the Eastern front had suffered such a heavy injury to the head that he was completely "beyond good and evil" (insane). Nevertheless, in an effort to defend the Ruhrgebiet, a gun was handed out even to him. With his rifle he caused some casualties: he killed a German Shepherd dog and shot the block warden in the leg. During his captivity as an American POW in Bavaria he somehow got used to the phrase: "Strike, Bossa Nova, Strike" which he as the village idiot and target of mockery by neighbour kids constantly repeated on every occasion until the day he died, as Goosens reports. __________________ Last edited by Dan D; 10-11-06 at 02:22 PM.

10-11-06, 03:53 PM	#20
lesrae Grey Wolf Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Somerset, UK. Posts: 932 Downloads: 31 Uploads: 0	Bath, Somerset. England. Bath was bombed by the Luftwaffe over 3 days (25 - 27 April 1942) which has become known locally as the 'Bath Blitz'. Some 19,000 buildings were damaged and over 400 people killed. It's commonly said that these bombings were in retaliation for the Allied bombings of Lübeck and Rostock which were both beautiful Heritage cities - Canterbury, Exeter, Norwich & York were also bombed in a series of raids nicknamed the 'Baedecker Raids' after a tourist guide by Karl Baedecker. I've never read much about this, just heard vague stories (I moved to the Bath area 15 years ago) however nosing around for some detail I found this site: http://www.bathblitz.org/ - which is now bookmarked. __________________ DOLPHIN 38

10-11-06, 04:10 PM	#21
Happy Times Ocean Warrior Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Finland Posts: 2,950 Downloads: 10 Uploads: 0	I was born and lived in Helsinki half my life so i chose it. Helsinki is the capital of Finland so it was heavily bombed during the war, it was also the most heavily defended target by Finnish AA-units. It had important industry, military and goverment buildings to protect. From the first day of Winter War, Nov 30 1939 to the end of Continunation War, September 19, 1944, Helsinki was bombed over 50 times. In February 1944 Soviet bomber command got an order to destroy Helsinki. In three days over 700 planes dropped some 20.000 bombs, scale comparable to Dresden. Do to the effective AA tactics, only 799 bombs hit populated areas of the city. Casualties during the whole war were "only" 350 dead and 1000 wounded. Some 500 buildings were destroyed or damaged. __________________

10-11-06, 12:55 PM	#18
Bertgang Sparky Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Italy Posts: 158 Downloads: 1 Uploads: 0	Rome, Italy. My town saw the rise and fall of Mussolini, as minister of the king, and countless fascist meetings under his famous balcony in Venice square. It was bombed by allied several times, mainly because of railway connections; lot of civilians lost their lives, or at least their home, that way. The town was under german rule since september 1943 to the arrival of allied troops. It was the worst period for jews (even if oppressed by fascism since years before). Some engagement between royal army, later partisans, and german troops, several casualties without relevant militar outcome; a memorial remembers that. During wartime civilians were allowed to work public parks as vegetable gardens.

10-11-06, 06:45 PM	#22
Hylander_1314 Sea Lord Join Date: May 2006 Location: 5 Miles Inland West Of Lake Huron Posts: 1,936 Downloads: 139 Uploads: 0	Lots of armaments building in WWII Detroit. __________________ A legislative act contrary to the Constitution is not law. -John Marshall Chief Justice of the Supreme Court ---------------------

10-11-06, 06:56 PM	#23
STEED Lucky Jack Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Down Town UK Posts: 27,695 Downloads: 89 Uploads: 48	I just rechecked and it's true at that time my city was a town and not one bomb hit it any way in the surrounding areas we had aircraft factories Handley Page and de Havilland. I suspect they built aircraft in WW2 but I need to check up on those facts. __________________ Dr Who rest in peace 1963-2017. To borrow Davros saying...I NAME YOU CHIBNALL THE DESTROYER OF DR WHO YOU KILLED IT!

10-11-06, 07:23 PM	#24
Bort Grey Wolf Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Studying in Atlanta Posts: 919 Downloads: 61 Uploads: 0	All sorts of stuff was going on in and around Chicago during the war, despite the fact that the shores of Lake Michigan were far from the front lines...Probably most importantly, Chicago was one of the major sites of the Manhattan Project, and on December 2, 1942 the worlds first nuclear reaction took place under the bleachers at the University of Chicago's football stadium (it isn't there anymore, in spite of its historic importance). At Navy Pier on the lakefront, two small aircraft carriers which were converted from paddle wheel passenger ships, the USS Wolverine and USS Sable, were used for training new Naval Aviators who were based at NAS Glenview (which was closed in 1993). NTC Great Lakes was the boot camp site for much of the Navy's enlisted sailors and today is the only Boot Camp for the entire Navy. Subs built at Manitowoc on Lake Michigan passed through the Chicago River on their way south down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico, and eventually the war. Just a ways southwest of Chicago in the Illinois River there was a shipyard at Seneca IL that cranked out LSTs. In short, Chicago was a busy place during the war! __________________ GT Aerospace

10-11-06, 07:40 PM	#25
PeriscopeDepth Sea Lord Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Pacific NW Posts: 1,894 Downloads: 6 Uploads: 0	Aeroplanes were made. Lots of them. PD

10-11-06, 09:08 PM	#26
Ishmael Seasoned Skipper Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Morro Bay, Ca. Posts: 659 Downloads: 79 Uploads: 0	I was born in Ventura, Ca. where the closest action was Japanese subs killing some sheep about 50 miles north near the Point Molate oil depot. I lived most of my life in Benicia, Ca., home of the Benicia Arsenal. It was the main US Army ammunition depot for the Pacific War. It is located directly across the Suisun Bay from the Port Chicago Naval Weapons Station, site of a disastrous explosion and fire on 17 July, 1944 that killed 320 people. My father was using the toilet on a ship in San Francisco at the exact moment of the explosion. The concussive force of the blast knocked him off the toilet even though the ship and SF were some 50 miles away. They found wreckage from the blast as far away as San Jose. Here's a link to the history. http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq80-1.htm During the war, there was a POW camp for, primarily, Italian prisoners. Sprinkled among them were a few German POWs. Benicia also has the oldest volunteer fire dept in California. They still possessed the original hand-pump engine manufactured in Germany in the 1860's. It turned out that one of the German POW's grandfather had worked at the factory that built the engine and he saw it one day during a work detail. He went to the commandant and the city fathers at the time and obtained permission to restore the old fire engine. He completed this work, fully restoring the engine. As a result of his work, the Benicia Fire Dept holds an annual Firemen's Muster in October that draws fire departments from all over the nation with their antique equipment. They have a 3-day long competition of firefighting skills utilizing the old equipment.

10-12-06, 06:58 AM	#27
Pants Grey Wolf Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Somewhere in the Atlantic Posts: 849 Downloads: 25 Uploads: 0	I live in Staffordshire and we got bombed a lot. World War Two, Stoke-on-Trent was a strategic high priority target. The main targets were the Michelin factory, the railway goods yard, the British Aluminium Works and Radway Green munitions factory at Radway Green. Plus we had an RAF base close to where i live so they made a dummy airbase further away to take the attention away from the real one..due to the constant bombing. __________________ Ex GWX Dev Team member and proud GWX user

10-12-06, 07:38 AM	#28
Dowly Lucky Jack Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Finland Posts: 25,052 Downloads: 32 Uploads: 0	Keep them coming, mates! I´ve learned alot from the thread already!

10-12-06, 07:39 AM	#29
Godalmighty83 Sonar Guy Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 398 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	got completely levelled, thousands died. __________________ Were there monkeys? Some terrifying space monkeys maybe got loose?