Reply With QuoteAaaahhh yes i almost forgot , apparently i had a very distant reletive something like a great great great great great great great Uncle who wasan ANZAC & was KIA in Gallipoli in 1915.
My great great uncle was a rear admiral in the royal navy in the 1870s. his son was in the navy during ww2 and was shot down the back wilst trying to shoot down a stuka with a .38. Another one of my Uncles was killed in the HMS Hood when it was sunk by the bismark.
One grandfarther serverd as a pilot in the RAF 1939-1944 in Europe, africa and was eventualy shot down in in india in 1944. The other grandfather joined The Royal Norfok Regiment in 1938 and at the outbreak off WW2 joined No4 commando. Served in Norway during reece and raids,he then fought with No4 under the famous lord lovat at the dieppe tradgedy and some how survived. He then Served inthe mediterainian during 1943.
His next major operation was on june 6 1944. He was later wounded in the back of the head by shrapnel on the 8th of August while assualting a german strong point in a farm house on the outskirts of the city. Aparently the germans in the farm house put out the white flag so there wounded could be removed and taken into britsh care, they then continued the fight to the last man. After the was he worked in the MoD for the rest of his carrer. My farther emigrated to Australia in 1967 just in time for the veitnam war ( bad timing) and server with 3rd battalion RAR (paras).
I just got back from Russia, my father showed me my grand-grandfathers military discharge papers from 1915. My grand-grandfather was an infantry private in Russo-Japanese war of 1905. He was wounded in December of 1914 in WWI, his left arm was amputeted and he was discharged in 1915.
I'm still trying to disipher the name of his regiment and place where he was wounded.
My Great Great Aunt (mom's side) was a Col. in Pancho Villa's Northern Army. She help set up auxiliary forces and intelligence networks in Sinaloa, Sonora, and Baja California.
My Great Uncle (dad's side) an Italian defector, fought with Tito's Partizans, his brother was in Mussolini's Army's in Sardinia shooting AA at British and American aircraft. My dad was in the Argentine Army during one of the many coups attempts in the late 50's during which he went AWOL.
Paternal Grandpa: When the Spanish Civil War began he was in Barcelona ( Republican Zone)doing his military service, he passed the enemy lines and joined the National side, he served the whole war with an artillery regiment in most of battles. After the war he joined Blue Division( 250th Division) and fougth comunism in Russia also with an artillery regiment, his brother served in an infantry regiment.
Maternal Grandpa: he is General now retired, infantry.
Maternal Grandpa's Bother: he joined Paratroopers cuz he wasnt accepted in mountain rangers, he fought in Ifni and was killed in Netol Operation.
Maternal Grandma's father: Served fought in Morocco and took part in Alhucemas Landings.
Maternal Grandpa's father: He joined made his military service and joined then as a soldier, he became an NCO, and then a CO.When the civil war started he was in Alicante(Republican side) he was mobilised and was injured in action, he faked dead and then joined the national side at night( the told his wife he was a KIA), he joined the national army. Took part in many battles, he was killed after a 3 day attack(practically non-stop) and his wife received another KIA letter.
My father's older brother, Nassos, while in Lamia (Central Greece) doing his military service in 1955, he stepped on a land mine and lost his two legs. His colleagues tried to keep him alive (he lost a lot of blood) in order to be sent to Athens (back then only Athens had good hospitals). He didn't survive.
My father was forced to do at the same time his brother's job and night school. He got a permission from the Greek Army not to serve, since he lost a relative of him.
My parents named me after him.
Since we are from that part of the country that only knows 1 job. Joining the army. My great grand father was a company sargent in 1 Punjab (this regement is about 500years old and is still active as part of the Pakistan Army) of the royal indian army. This was back when Pakistan and India were one country. His cousin fought in the Iraq during WW1. He himself faught in WW2 in the north african campaign and later in Italy. Thankfully he survived and came back to raise my grandfather who again joined the army as a gunner in the 59 field arty reg. He faught in every war that pakistan was in from independence in 1942 till 82 (3 in all). Then came my dad who joined 21 punjab a light antitank battlion. He served in sachin at 18000feet, the highest battlefield in the world. Months alone in a single post with no electricity and 12 men in two rooms. he then got posted to germany where he was attached to the bundeswehr and later the US army at fort McNair, DC. as for me i cant decide to join or not to join.
My grandfather was 16 during the second world war, he didn't serve or anything like this. But he told me that he walked from the "Bodensee" to "Stuttgart" (where he lived before the war) with his younger brother to check if their house was still standing, that's a quite long distance if you are walking. He saw arms and other human "stuff" hanging in the trees after american or british bombs hit Stuttgart and visited the bombed church where he used to go to on sundays.
My Grandma was very young too, she only told me one time about ww2, she was walking with her family and some friends from their field and they saw a small plane flying torwards them, they thought it is burning because they saw smoke but it was smoke of the machineguns of the plane ... some seconds later the plane (it was flying very deep) started opening fire on them but didn't hit.
The father of my Grandfather worked for "Heinkel" and built planes until one of those planes hit the roof of the fctory after a test-fly.
Sorry for bad English
WWII - bombing of hamburg. this is not a relitave, but the friends of the family growing up once told me as a little girl she was huddled on a bridge during th ebombing of hamburg, and she remembers a soldier standing on the bridge shooting people who were trying to put themselves out by jumping and swimming in the river. he was weaping during the shootings, adn when he ran out of ammo (aparently) he trew his weapon into the water and jumped in himself. Odd story and defintily shocking to her bing a little girl.
WWII - itally and europe. my dad's uncle was with the black watch. he was lucky to survive the war, he had many disturbing stories, but he was so disturbed by them he drank himself to death on the west side of vancouver slums.
Custers last stand - my mothers side. her family was sioux. and after a few years of being slaughtered by the US army, they decided to move their whole tribe into canada. custers crew were ordered by congress to stop it, it aparently did not go as they planned. sittin gbull made it into alberta. a little while later congress pardoned sitting bull and the sioux nation, and told them they could come back into the states. much of the sioux people did not believe the US government, and stayed in canada. my mom's relitaves being some of them, styaed in canada. the rest were alllowed into the usa, then rounded up into a stockade and all shot.
Heres a sad story about the father of my grandmother:
He was born in 1900, so he was to old to serve in the regular army. To the end of war (ca. 1943-44) an other man should get drafted into the SS, but he bribed the local commander or sth like that (my grandmother couldnt remember quite correctly about this detail), so the other man didnt have to go fighting, but my great-grandfather had now go to fighting for him. So he had been fighting against partisans in Austria. My grandmother told me that he told her about cruel stories about what there happened. (partisans were destroying whole red cross busses with handgrenades, nailing tongues on the table etc.). I actually dont know why but then he refused to fight on, and then the SS just executed him (ca. June 1944).
In the 80s (I believe it was in the 80s), my grandmother met the guy for whom my great-grandfather fought and died on a funeral. He told her the whole story how he got around the military service.
After 2-3 days of the meeting he died, i guess that he thought that he was now redeemed of his guilt and could die more pacified..
your family photos of ww2
I am interested to see personal photos from all nationallities of there fathers, grandfathers and great grandfathers in ww2. You know the type I mean where they are with friends in a trench sharing a brew or relaxing between battles, or posing for the family. No dead bodies please
be proud
My Great Grand daddy was with the Royal British Indian Army. Faught in North Afrika and Italy. Will post a pic when I get home.
My mother's father enlisted at the age of 18 into the airforce in 1941. He was a Tailgunner on a B-24 "The Naughty Nan." He flew over North Africa, Italy, France, and Germany. He had to bail out a total of 4 times, twice in the ocean. Quite a hero in my eyes.
My father's father was drafted into the German Wehrmacht 15th Infantry Division. Where he fought in France in 1940, then consistently switched fronts from west to east until he was again fighting in France against Allied forces in 1944. I think he told me he was captured in the siege of Aachen. Also an interesting story.
I definetly have a few pics of these guys, when I find them I'll post em.
Last edited by Steelhead; 10-05-2006 at 06:36 AM. Reason: Forgot to say something
would be nice to see them togetherOriginally Posted by Steelhead
Interesting read.
I dug tghis up from google.
4 lucky crewmen from "Naughty Nan" who flew their last mission on this day. Going home are: 1/Lt William Davenport, 1/Lt Haywood Nichols, 1/Lt James Pickett, and 2/Lt Mark Jacoby. Lt Davenport would later serve as President of the 446th Bomb Group Association and now serves as the group's official historian
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