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| did your grandfather fight? |
| Yes , he fought and returned safely |
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74% |
[ 40 ] |
| Yes , he fought but didnt make it back |
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3% |
[ 2 ] |
| NO, he didn't fight |
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22% |
[ 12 ] |
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| Total Votes : 54 |
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bignate
Joined: 30 Apr 2003
Location: Hell's Ditch
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 Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2006 3:35 pm Post subject: |
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Yes, my grandfather served in WWII as a member of the RCAF anti-aircraft defence from 1942 til the end of the War.....
Here are some of the things he said in his diary...
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Monday March 2, 1942 - Pay day 4pounds waited 3 hours - went to show at night
Saturday March 7, 1942 - Spent day going through routine. Treated nicely. P/o Pearson in charge of special Sig. Nearly all Canadians good going. Everything spread out all over. Tired of walking. Huge place. Barracks not bad. Food good.
Sunday March 8, 1942 - First Day on Work. Having intersting day. Some Canadian Spitfires here. One Douglas Havoc cracked up at the end of the runway. Very muddy. but beautiful day.
Thursday March 26, 1942 - (on leave and meeting some friends in Dumfries, Scotland.....My Grandfather meets my Grandmother) Isobel had the day off.... she took me to all the interesting places. Robert Burns' home town. Up Nith River....Spent night at home talking with other couples. Had plenty to eat the whole time.
Friday, April 10, 1942 - Went to crash with P/o Pearson and Cpl. Legate. Very bad mess scattered over field... Burned terribly...not much left...
Tuesday, April 28. 1942 - Renewed flying acitivity. Many planes flying about, bits of excitment. A beautiful sunbath though weather is still a bit cool. A letter from Isobel.
Tuesday, May 12, 1942 - Five new Canadians arrive, two I already know....
Sunday. May 24, 1942 - No holiday for us, American officer with us getting familiar with equipment and procedures......
Monday, June 22 - Got paid and passed out in London. Me and some mates are on our way to Glasgow.....
Wednesday, June 24, 1942 - Went to Dumfries and was well welcomed. Isobel and myself went for walk at night..
Sunday July 19, 1942 - Changed entire flight plan over to other side... Busy day since it was our night duty.... Jerrys over during the day!
Friday July 24 - Still busy cleaning up since Jerries come every day...Inspections are coming today. 100 cigs recieved from the government.
Friday July 31 - R.A.F lad of 20 shot himself. Blew his head off. Bad show. Officers to blame. Went to Hertford in the afternoon. |
Very surreal..... and more of it later on.... |
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The Bobster
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2006 12:02 pm Post subject: |
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| Wangja wrote: |
| my father fought in WW2. |
I'll look at the other 5 pages of ths thread tomorrow or the next day ...
My Dad was aboard the USS Enterprise, flagship fo the American fleet, at the moment Pearl was being bombed by Tojo. When I was 11, I asked him why he was still alive, and he said, "Our ship was the one they wanted to hit most, but we were out on maneuvers at the time."
Again, as the 11-year-old-boy, I asked him what he did during the historic battle, and he told me, "I got under a table and waited until it was over." He was an electrician, a job he continued for the US gov at a submarine base in California until he died about 33 years years later. For Non-Combat Personnel (NCP), the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) was to keep out of the way until the fighting is over ...
As a normal American boy, I would have preferred to hear him say that he climbed a machine-gun turret and took as many shots at the enemy as he could on that day, that my father would be indistiguishable from Ben Affleck in the recent movie - I guess every boy wants that.
At a certain moment in my life, can't say when, I did come to realize that some men are trained to destroy, fight and maybe die, and such men are honorable and good because of the sacrifices they are asked to make... but others are trained to put the ship back to being a good place after the battle is over, and that such men are are also necessary and good.
And even at the age of 11, I understood that heroes often die, so possibly my father would never had had a chance to meet and impregnate my mother if the Hollywood version of that battle had ever been enacted in real history.
And I was grateful for the table my father stooped under, due to Navy regs. Still am. |
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skinhead
Joined: 11 Jun 2004
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| Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2006 4:33 pm Post subject: |
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| One was a sapper building bridges in New Guinea, came back thinner and drunker, but otherwise physically unscathed. The other was a Lance Corporal in the AIF in France in WW1. He got blasted across the torso by machine gun fire and got a desk job in England upon his recovery. The manor houses were used by the war office, and he shagged the lady of the manor. Got repatriated back to Australia and eventually became aide-de-camp to the Guv General in the thirties. He wrote poetry to that lady for years and years. He wrote his biography just before he died but his wife burnt it out of spite after he died. fucken old bitch. |
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Summer Wine
Joined: 20 Mar 2005
Location: Next to a River
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| Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2006 7:41 pm Post subject: |
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My Grandfather volunteered even though he didn't have to go (he was in a protected industry), just so another soldier who had already done his time wouldn't have to go.
He was in Egypt and Italy. I never met him as he came back wounded and his war wounds didn't support a long life it sems. Though read his diary, its pretty interesting reading but doesn't say too much. Though it does mention that his best mate got killed 2 weeks before the war ended and the platoon he was in suffered about 1/3rd casulties, losing all its officers, and most of its higher ranks. |
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Privateer
Joined: 31 Aug 2005
Location: Easy Street.
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| Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2006 12:32 am Post subject: |
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| The Bobster wrote: |
| Again, as the 11-year-old-boy, I asked him what he did during the historic battle, and he told me, "I got under a table and waited until it was over." He was an electrician, a job he continued for the US gov at a submarine base in California until he died about 33 years years later. For Non-Combat Personnel (NCP), the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) was to keep out of the way until the fighting is over .. |
They also serve... |
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jaganath69
Joined: 17 Jul 2003
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| Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2006 12:54 am Post subject: |
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| My paternal grandfather served in the war as a riding instructor for the King's Own 3rd Hussars in the British Army. He never saw active duty as he was stationed in India and then Egypt. My maternal grandfather was a policeman in Australia and was not allowed to serve as he was of German descent. |
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