Posts
2270
Joined
8/31/2010
Location
GB
Edited Date/Time
5/15/2016 10:16am
Just finished reading this book, absolutely fantastic. It's all first hand accounts of the war from the beginning to the end. From Dunkirk, the battle of the Atlantic to Normandy.
It's mostly first hand accounts from British and commonwealth servicemen and women as it's made from recordings from the Imperial war museum in London, but it's a great read. They really were an amazing generation.
There's a whole series of them which are good reads, forgotten voices of the Holocaust is the most depressing book i've ever read but it is also an excellent read.
http://www.forgottenvoices.co.uk/second_world_war.html
It's mostly first hand accounts from British and commonwealth servicemen and women as it's made from recordings from the Imperial war museum in London, but it's a great read. They really were an amazing generation.
There's a whole series of them which are good reads, forgotten voices of the Holocaust is the most depressing book i've ever read but it is also an excellent read.
http://www.forgottenvoices.co.uk/second_world_war.html
"On the 23rd the Germans must have got nearer, because this is where the mortars really took hold of the situation. The mortars came over thick and fast. Nearby there was vickers pom-pom on blocks of wood, manned by three gunners. A mortar bomb hit it and the three blokes were just shattered. I ran over to them, and I looked at one poor fellow - his face - his eyes staring up at at me . And I thought "Well I can't do anything for him." I ran back again, and there was this chap, dragging himself on his elbows. He was sobbing and there were two lines in the sand from his legs - but there were no feet on the end of his legs. I thought. " God, what a terrible thing to happen to anybody!" I looked away because there were explosions all around us. Then I saw this rifleman running in front of me. One minute he was there - there was a terrific explosion - next minute he was in bits.
I live on a hill that looks across towards Coventry, one of the worst city's hit by German bombing raids, there are still holes in the fields near my house where German bombs fell.... The farmers have not back filled, they work around them.....
My great grandma was born in what's left of the work house that's next to the University, she was in her 20s when Coventry was bombed into dust, she was the toughest person I've ever known. Nothing at all bothered her, tough as nails.
And yeah, I used to lived with two Germans and they were great people, it was so stupid.
The Shop
Free shipping: VITALMX
Luxon 4-Post Bar Mounts
$189.95 - $239.95
He was at the Battle of the Bulge, where he earned a Purple Heart.
He doesn't like to talk about it.
He's 95 and and still kickin' it pretty good.
My grandfather flew bombers in WW2 and one of his missions was bombing a Mercedes Benz factory- probably building tanks or planes there..
He passed away 8 years ago and I really regret not talking to him more about his experiences..
My wife's grandfather was a dive bomber in the Pacific campaign. I'm a nut over WWII stuff, so I tried to talk to him once about some of the battles he was in when I first met him (I later found out he was part of Midway and the Marianas Turkey Shoot). It didn't take long to figure out this was no game to him. I once read a book written by his squadron leader that had a story about him. They had gone on a bombing run on a Japanese ship convoy, and his bomb didn't detach during his run so he had to fly back to the carrier with it still attached to the plane.
They did some maneuvers to try to get it to release while circling the carrier, but it wouldn't drop. They assessed the situation finally came to the conclusion that it would survive the landing. As soon as the plane touched down, the bomb released and skipped down the deck where it exploded and killed three crew members. I don't think that's something you could ever get over, especially considering that all of those guys were so close.
My father in law has shared some war stories with them, but not us civilians.
On a side note the night we stayed at the Mohne dam was the night of the football World Cup final when Germany won.... It was on TV in the pub we were in. When it ended every body went.... Yeah we won.... Then went home to bed, work in the morning etc.... It would have been a riot in England, made us laugh, we had parked our camper well out of harms way incase they won and we had no need too.
On an unrelated..., my grandmother(turning 91 this year), was 15 when the commies invaded Finland(a peaceful, democratic country) a few months after Germany invaded Poland. My grandfather(died in '92) was a Finnish coastal artillery rifleman during the continuation war and had some sad and amazing stories of fighting for the small islands in the gulf of Finland. While the Fins handed those retarded scum their asses for the most part, Grandma's family's farm of generations near Viipuri(now Vyborg) was ceded in a peace deal. She absolutely effing hates Russians to this day lol. She also still works her butt off around the yard too. Amazing...
he never really talked about the war, thats the only day i can remember him ever mentioning it,
I have taken my niece and nephew up to see that plane as its still on display, to keep remembering the sacrifices that generation made so we could be free,
"The Poles were grateful to the British. Polish author Antoni Slonimski later wrote: “England made us feel the strength and righteousness of our common cause. We shall not forget the ideals and honesty by which this great nation is guided.” Unfortunately, in the postwar partitioning of Europe, those ideals did not extend to a free Poland independent of Soviet influence. Britain and the other Allies yielded to Josef Stalin, and the contributions of the Polish pilots were all but forgotten. Polish airmen were not even permitted to march in the London victory parade after the war ended."
http://www.historynet.com/the-forgotten-few-polish-airmen-fought-during…
A lot of people are still unaware of the contribution of the Polish. 303 polish squadron had more "kills" than any other squadron, they should have been treated as the heroes they were and the Soviets told to fuck off.
Also, a lot of people don't realise just how many Kiwis, Canadians and Poles there were. Without the contribution of New Zealand especially the whole battle might have gone the other way, the pilots of fighter command were held together by Keith parks who was a kiwi and the second largest amount of pilots came from New Zealand with the most being from Poland. Which is pretty staggering, considering that NZ is the other side of the world and has a tiny population.
If any one man won the Battle of Britain, he did. I do not believe it is realised how much that one man, with his leadership, his calm judgment and his skill, did to save, not only this country, but the world.
— Lord Tedder, Chief of the Royal Air Force, February 1947 about Keith Park.
When I was in Auckland in January I went to the war museum, there was a spitfire and a whole display on the Battle of Britain, it was good to see that it hasn't been forgotten.
I have always been interested in war history, and especially ww2. Growing up as the Cold war ended, it is still crazy to remember how focused on the Western contribution our WW2 classes were. The Russians were hardly mentioned, except for Stalingrad and the battle for Moscow. It wasn't until I got older I learned that 80% of all German losses were to Russia, and that for example the battle of Kursk was 4-5 times larger than D-day. It is sad when great contributions are not recognized regardless of origin
What happened in the east was the decisive factor in victory over Germany without a doubt. I find the eastern front to be the most interesting part of the whole war, Barbarossa, Stalingrad, Leningrad, Kursk, the Rzhev meat grinder, the battle of Budapest ect.
But you are right, depending on where you live, depends on what version of the war you get taught.
The world isn't a peaceful and pretty place. Some of these millennials need not forget that....the world isn't America.
Anytime I see a ww2 vet with a hat on...dragging his oxygen canister I try to thank them. Or buy them a meal. Or buy some things out of their shopping cart. It makes their day and they always refuse at first but I insist. We should all do that.
Some of us old farts shouldn't forget that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have been fought by mostly millennials.
Pit Row
I must have somehow missed that.
That's definitely a different topic all together.
No need to start a pissing match.
These were my favorites. September Hope is about Market Garden and it's pretty remarkable.
I went to his 97th birthday party last night.
Post a reply to: Forgotten voices - WW2 History.