ww2 book... anyone with first hand survivor stories?!

holdmyhand?

I am the grandaughter of a ww2 survivor and find it all so amazing and interesting, I have always been so proud of my heritage, as I know not alot of people in Ireland are as lucky.
So my granny passed away just last year (aged 85!!) without having physically written down all her stories and memories, so me and a few of my cousins are trying to put together a book of some stories and memories. we mostly see the parts of ww2 that movies want us to see and its rare most people get a personal in sight into it... so if anyone has something they would like to contribute your more then welcome.
all proceeds will be given to st. francis hospice.

thanks

Morlar

Not to be pedantic but I think the correct terminology would be 'WWII Veteran' rather than 'WWII survivor'. It might be worthwhile posting this in the polish forum too as they may have more anecdotal experience and stories to tell than most Irish people. Just a thought!

leincar

My Father passed away a couple of years ago and myself and my brother have all his stories on tape. He was a U.S. veteran( From Rathfarnham Village) and landed on Utah beach on D-Day. He went right through the campaign with just a few scratches. At present we are putting it together to make a book out of it. Its quite hard listening to tape and being unable to ask questions about it but it will get done in the fullness of time.

Because he landed on Utah he had it quite easy and would talk openly about Normandy but he never talked about the Bulge or the push over the Rhine so when we heard it all on tape it was quite emotional.

I wonder how you are going about writing it unless you have taped conversations or diaries. The best of luck with it.

Morlar

leincar wrote: »

My Father passed away a couple of years ago and myself and my brother have all his stories on tape. He was a U.S. veteran( From Rathfarnham Village) and landed on Utah beach on D-Day. He went right through the campaign with just a few scratches. At present we are putting it together to make a book out of it. Its quite hard listening to tape and being unable to ask questions about it but it will get done in the fullness of time.

Because he landed on Utah he had it quite easy and would talk openly about Normandy but he never talked about the Bulge or the push over the Rhine so when we heard it all on tape it was quite emotional.

There are a lot of amateur but knowledgeable historians out there who may be able to help with that if necessary.

I post sometimes on a forum called Wehrmacht-awards forum and some of the people who post there have an incredible level of knowledge and impressive amount of research materials at their disposal. Dont let the title fool you - a lot of the posters are americans and many have family connections or collect american/british militaria.

I have often seen them plot the history of a given unit through all sorts of movements and consolidations so if you hit any grey areas on your fathers history or the course of his travels you might also be able to get some assistance on there. Perhaps even some veterans organisations might have more information too.

It sounds very interesting though and its always great to hear those stories first hand so you are very privileged. It might also be interesting to do something with the original tapes, I am sure some radio broadcasters may be able to make a program out of them ? Even if it was to put them to WWII Stock footage and have them on youtube it might help to bring history alive and bring your fathers stories to a wider audience. Just a thought. Anyway best of luck with the project.

leincar

Thanks for that. I never heard of that forum.