Relatives in the war?

ejmaztec

My late father's younger brother never even made it out of the UK. He was killed by a shell in a training excercise, due to someone not using the correct elevation. Nothing like a bit of friendly fire!

Mahatma coat

Interestin to see so many people whose familys were on both sides of the conflict.

Our family history is a bit shaky on my Fatheres side, I know that one of his Uncles died in the Boer War fightin the British, then it is known that some of them went to Spain, however The emergency was never discussed, and if it ever came up in conversation in my Great Grannys place a deathly silence would befall the place.


things are a bit clearer on my Mothers side, 2 Uncles in the Irish army and 2 more who joined the Merchant Navy, they tell stories alright.

tc20

Hi all,
just came across this forum (i'm usually in the motors section) and thought i'd add my own piece of history..

My Dad joined the Irish Air Corps at the outbreak of 'The Emergency' and was based at Baldonnel altho he got around the country to various crash sites of both allied and German aircraft, a US Liberator being among them. He flew mainly in Avro Lysanders (he was navigator). Like a lot of Air Corps men, he joined Aer Lingus straight after the war, and worked there til the early 80s.

My mother came from England and three of her brothers saw active service -
Wally joined the Navy in the mid 30s and ended up on board the Achilles, famous for its role in the Battle of the River Plate. He retired to NZ after the war, and i visited him twice out there. He didnt talk too much about the war (very few of the ships crew actually saw the engagement - they were below decks or at their stations). I do remember him telling me a funny story about when he was home on leave, and bearing in mind that at the time goods like butter, tea etc were strictly rationed, as he came down the gangplank with his kitbag over his shoulder (stuffed with contraband) a policeman approached him. Wally feared it would be confiscated, and was ready to chuck it in the water, but needn't have feared. The copper just struck up a conversation with him and asked could he give him a hand. Wally asked would he mind carrying his bag for him. The policeman duly obliged and Wally was out of the docks scott free

Dick served in Burma with the Chindits, i was only a toddler when he died so i dont know too much of what he got up to.

Uncle Tom served with British Infantry and was involved in the Allied landings in Italy. He passed away when i was barely in my teens, so again i didnt really get an opportunity to talk to him much.

Phsyche

My grandfather spent the war inside a tank. He liked talking about his army buddies but not about the war and what they had to do.
My grandmother spent the war being a maid for a German officer.
When the German troops came into her village, they rounded up all the men and shot them on the spot in front of their families. Then they went on and left just one officer and a couple of his henchmen in the village to keep an eye out for the partisans in the forests.

The patisans came during some nights and took any livestock they found. When the women in the village begged them to leave some to feed the children, they ignored them and actually got violent.

When the Germans found out, they actually gave back the livestock they kept for themselves to the women and children and the officer sent in a couple of the lads to help out with the work on the farms.

My grandma said they were not much older than her brother, just teenagers and looked like they didn't want to be there.

She only revealed this about 10 years ago. Was too scared to speak of it sooner. If she said anything good about the Germans before, she would have been named a traitor:mad:.
She was crying telling me this and kept saying: What can they do to me now? I'm too old now.

robinph

Still haven't got a whole lot out of my grandfather but the furthest he ever went away from London was to what I think was a training camp in Wales where he'd be teaching how to do basic in the field repairs to whatever vehicles they were about to be sent over with.

My mum just tried to apply for a war pension there a couple of years ago as when she was 1(?) she was left in a pram in the back garden during an air raid over London whilst my gran and my aunt went down into the shelter. A bomb then went and landed in the kitchen at the back of their house, my mum only relatively recently put that incident and her hearing always having been rubbish in one ear together though. The pension was denied though due to the records of that raid only mention a bomb landing on the next street over but only a few tens of meters away. 60 years worth of back dated war injury pension would have been a nice windfall though, but I guess decent record keeping wasn't high on the priority list.

Tony EH

Dave! wrote: »

Hey folks,

Just wondering if any of ye have relatives, fathers, grandfathers, etc., that fought in the war, on either side?

Who did they fight with, where, and do they talk about it much?

I'd love to have any relatives who could regale me with war stories, but alas

My Dad was in the Royal Engineers, he was based in Aldershot I think at Camp Borden, with the Canadians. He transfered to the RAF in 1945 and was then based at Subury. He wasn't shipped overseas though, his unit was involved in building bailey bridges and repairing aerodromes, etc.

My mum was evacuated from Guernsey in 1940, they met shortly after the war ended. Her father served in the Merchant Navy, on the North Atlantic runs.

My Grandad on my dads side served in the Fusiliers in the First World War, I believe he was at Galipolli and then later shipped off to Palistine. Both his brothers were killed in Europe. Charles was in the Connaught Rangers and died at La Bassée in 1915 and John was in the King's Liverpool reg. and he went on the Somme in 1916.


Tony

garrincha62

Great Grandfather fought with the Royal Irish Fusiliers at Guillemont & Guinchy on the Somme. Awarded a medal for bravery and we still have his cutouts from the Belfast telegraph.
His son, fought on D-Day but got wounded in Belguim and was sent home.

Other side staunch republicans. Takes allsorts

Hagar

My Grandfather died in Dachau, tragically fell from his machine gun tower.







* 1 week ban, see you all next Tuesday

Morlar

Hagar wrote: »

My Grandfather died in Dachau, tragically fell from his machine gun tower.







* 1 week ban, see you all next Tuesday

Pretty sure everyone who didnt get a chuckle out of that will see you next tuesday.

FiSe

Hagar wrote: »

My Grandfather died in Dachau, tragically fell from his machine gun tower.







* 1 week ban, see you all next Tuesday

Nice way to say: 'I'm off to Spain' :rolleyes: