HITLER Tried To Get My Dad... - Page 3

Eichhörnchen · 11-09-15, 11:21 AM

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

swamprat69er · 11-09-15, 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eichhörnchen

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 · 11-09-15, 12:19 PM

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 · 01-19-16, 02:44 AM

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.

Probably early 1945, somewhere in Europe. Dad is on the left

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

Old photo showing the "Flash" and a RWF cap badge

Eichhörnchen · 05-22-16, 01:34 PM

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).

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 · 05-22-16, 02:59 PM

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.

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.

Eichhörnchen · 05-28-16, 03:29 AM

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 · 05-28-16, 05:24 AM

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.

Catfish · 05-28-16, 06:44 AM

"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 · 05-28-16, 06:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Catfish

"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

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

Jimbuna · 05-28-16, 06:55 AM

^ Good post Catfish....fair and balanced

Eichhörnchen · 06-06-17, 03:58 PM

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 · 06-06-17, 07:38 PM

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

Eichhörnchen · 06-07-17, 12:19 AM

Thanks, August. Honour their memory.

Catfish · 06-07-17, 01:39 AM

Yes, let us remember them.

11-09-15, 11:21 AM	#31
Eichhörnchen Starte das Auto Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: The Fens Posts: 15,745 Downloads: 5 Uploads: 0	Poor old Dad! He had a bit of a bumpy time of it, didn't he? I always thought the avatar was you. __________________

11-09-15, 12:19 PM	#33
AVGWarhawk Lucky Jack Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: In a 1954 Buick. Posts: 27,343 Downloads: 90 Uploads: 0	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. __________________ “You're painfully alive in a drugged and dying culture.” ― Richard Yates, Revolutionary Road

01-19-16, 02:44 AM	#34
Eichhörnchen Starte das Auto Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: The Fens Posts: 15,745 Downloads: 5 Uploads: 0	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. Probably early 1945, somewhere in Europe. Dad is on the left https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal Welch Fusiliers Old photo showing the "Flash" and a RWF cap badge __________________ Last edited by Eichhörnchen; 01-20-16 at 03:56 AM.

05-22-16, 01:34 PM	#35
Eichhörnchen Starte das Auto Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: The Fens Posts: 15,745 Downloads: 5 Uploads: 0	Hitler tried to get my mum, too: 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). 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. __________________

05-28-16, 03:29 AM	#37
Eichhörnchen Starte das Auto Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: The Fens Posts: 15,745 Downloads: 5 Uploads: 0	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. __________________

05-22-16, 02:59 PM	#36
Oberon Lucky Jack Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 25,976 Downloads: 61 Uploads: 20	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. 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.

05-28-16, 05:24 AM	#38
Oberon Lucky Jack Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 25,976 Downloads: 61 Uploads: 20	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.

05-28-16, 06:44 AM	#39
Catfish Dipped Squirrel Operative Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: ..where the ocean meets the sky Posts: 16,897 Downloads: 38 Uploads: 0	"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. __________________ >^..^<*)))>{ All generalizations are wrong.

05-28-16, 06:55 AM	#41
Jimbuna Chief of the Boat Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: 250 metres below the surface Posts: 181,165 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 13	^ Good post Catfish....fair and balanced __________________ Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something. Oh my God, not again!! GWX3.0 Download Page - Donation/instant access to GWX (Help SubSim)

06-06-17, 03:58 PM	#42
Eichhörnchen Starte das Auto Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: The Fens Posts: 15,745 Downloads: 5 Uploads: 0	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. __________________ Last edited by Eichhörnchen; 06-06-17 at 04:09 PM.

06-06-17, 07:38 PM	#43
August Wayfaring Stranger Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 22,667 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	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 __________________ Flanked by life and the funeral pyre. Putting on a show for you to see.

06-07-17, 12:19 AM	#44
Eichhörnchen Starte das Auto Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: The Fens Posts: 15,745 Downloads: 5 Uploads: 0	Thanks, August. Honour their memory. __________________

06-07-17, 01:39 AM	#45
Catfish Dipped Squirrel Operative Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: ..where the ocean meets the sky Posts: 16,897 Downloads: 38 Uploads: 0	Yes, let us remember them. __________________ >^..^<*)))>{ All generalizations are wrong.