What did your grandparents tell you about life during the Second World War?
>>1101753
Germans were relatively polite
Everybody listened to the BBC broadcast behind closed curtains
Nobody really knew what happened
Policemen were taken to camps, so great grandfather, who was a volunteer fireman, got enlisted as policeman. Grandma still has his lead-center-leather-covered baton.
When they were liberated, US soldiers gave the children gum and chocolate.
>>1101753
My grandmother, upon learning I was dating an American guy, revealed to me that she was sleeping with an American bomber pilot when she was 14 or 15.
>>1101812
L O N D O N
O
N
D
O
N
>>1101812
what a slut
>>1101812
Based.
>>1101812
fag
>>1101753
My grandfather was in a concentration camp. He was befriended by Russian POWs, tough motherfuckers who taught him to survive by eating his own lice.
Never forgave the Germans, hated them till the day he died
>>1101784
>Everybody listened to the BBC broadcast behind closed curtains
Where are your grandparents from? Why did they understand English?
>>1101824
> eating his own lice
This gives me wierd flashbacks to that webm of a brown-skinned girl being de-loused where the comb is almost fully white with lice.
That would have been a good meal at a concentration camp
>>1101832
Denmark
I think that it was actually a Danish-language broadcast from London.
Being caught listening to it would get you sent to concentration camp, so my grandma was forbidden to speak about it.
Her uncle was also in the resistance and hid weapons in the walls of his house.
He got caught and was sent to the Froslev camp where he got sick from typhus I believe, and had his leg cut off due to infection.
>>1101753
My grandfather was a paratrooper with the 101st. Barely 18 at the time, he was at D-Day, Market Garden and the Bulge. He died before I was born, but apparently he was known for neutralizing tanks by firing Thompson's into the slits for the driver, etc. Also, he had an advantage with the local population becuase Canadian French was his first language.
After the war he shot a polar bear as a civilian radar contractor in Greenland, where he was stationed at the same base as my other grandfather in the AF (joined at the end of WW2 but saw no action), maybe even meeting him!
My grandmother on the other side lived in Liverpool and was 3 when war began. When the Germans began bombing Liverpool, she was moved to the countryside. Luckily their apartment was never hit. After the war she met my grandfather.
>>1101753
Grandfather remembered having to get up and into the bunker all the time
Told of burning houses and people
Family went to the country to get away from the bombs
After the war little food
They played around with weapons and ammunition lying around
Greatgrandfather came back from russian pow camp some years later
Didn't talk about the war
Died shortly after
Nothing. One was a doctor and the other was a college professor.
>>1101877
You only have 2 grandparents?
Are you Austrian royalty?
>>1101847
One last story before I go to work:
My grandmother had a dog that was hit by a german troop car.
The soldiers were sorry and gave her 20 DKR, which was a HUGE sum of money at the time
Grandad #1 was enrolled in University taking physics & maths so he was exempt, but did go through some officer training through the Uni.
Grandad #2 was a mechanic for the RAF, never left UK afaik.
Nothing. They were busy farming llamas in Bolivia
One great uncle lost an arm.
The other one was some kind of ... Sergeant? during the Battle of the Bulge.
Both Murricans.
Sergeant(?) uncle told of his method for getting intelligence out of a captured German soldier. He took a pair of pliers to dude's moustache, and forcefully yanked it out in patches, to get him to talk. He was a real badass -- from Louisiana (New Orleans), and Brad Pitt's character in Inglorious Bastards reminded me of him a bit, with the confident, suave personality and Cajun suaveness.
Grandmas talked about rationing
Grandpas never saw action, they spent the war being shuttled around stateside military bases
I was a little kid when they talked to me about WWII so I kinda forgot about what they said
But they weren't traumatised by it or anything so I may ask them again. From what I recall they were teenagers at the time and were just shuttled around the place like every kid in the UK was
>>1101753
Nothing, never asked them.
Not the easiest topic here...
>>1101753
Germans and Italians were getting locked up right next to the japs, you couldn't get your hands on a chocolate bar, and Churchill was constantly over here begging for money
After losing independence and becoming a protectorate, my grandfather lost his small factory to the Nazis - he wasn't offered collaboration or anything, since it was too small.
Grandmother never talked about it, said that life back then was horrible - however, she couldn't study university (they were closed), so she worked at a pharmacy or so.
>>1101753
Philippines here.
>Maternal side
Gramma was like 5 years old when her small village was garrisoned by a Japanese Anti-Aircraft battery (her place was on a mountain). For the whole 3 years literally nothing happened, Japs just lived with the locals, celebrated Christmas with them (even if they understood 0 shit going on) and generally acted chill. Her only shitty memory was when an officer inspected the crew, found one of the privates dozing off, and beat him in front of the townsfolk half to death. Them murricans came and those guys withdrew.
Grandpa was the funniest: he hid with the Guerillas in the mountains despite being 10 at the time. Best whole 3 years of his life he says: just hunting, fishing, and eating fruits off trees with no school. Though there were times when scary shit happened like being woken up in the middle of the night told to pack up hurriedly because they were displacing camp.
I live in Pakistan at the time (just wanted to clarify)
My grandma lived in British India and told me that the elders used to tell the children that if they didn't sleep Hitler would come and get them. Not only this she also had an uncle in the army. He used to offer the prayer while wearing shoes(Muslims take off shoes while praying) and would speak in a British accent. She also remembered that the food was being rationed and that there were rumors floating around that Hitler used to live in a house with curtains made from human skin and had a whole facade of slaves
Grandma almost had her mom and one of her sisters killed during a bombing
>>1102032
>Paternal side
Papaside Grandpa had it the worst: he was 13 when the occupation of Angeles City, Pampanga, happened, which had a major US airbase nearby. The Japanese officers were harsh and discipline was instantaneous, including summary executions. Northern Luzon was the site of major guerilla activity so Japs were uppity with the locals. Everyone was subject to random searches, and even on the spot interrogations with the exception of my Grandad's family, as they were Chinese migrants and the officer in charge of patrolling his neighborhood was a veteran in China and could speak Chinese, making him necessary as an intermediary.
This did not spear my granduncle from being summarily shot though when reports of guerilla activity was found near his workplace. He survived and is currently in San Francisco living in retirement.
Anyway, Japs wanted to rebuild the airfield and rounded up local kids for slave labor, my grandfather included. They made him use the roller to flatten the gravel before concrete was poured on for days on end, with no pay nor compensation save for a meager soup bowl. Civilians on ration ate better.
Anyway the Americans came and bombed the airfield, and the Japs started hearing of the liberation landings and withdrew, but not before an American force heading with all speed to Manila caught up with the base' former defenders. They got slaughtered.
Then Grampa ended the war looting Japanese corpses for money (to him, worthless since it was in fucking Yen), knives, swords to sell to Americans at Clark Airbase for dollars or sacks of rice. There was also a reward for turning in Japanese weapons found in Nip corpses rotting in the jungle so these two he carried to the airbase for cash.
>>1101753
My grandma's neighbors harbored a downed German pilot in a Dublin suburb
One of my grandpas joined the US Air Force months before VJ Day
My paternal grand father was in the cinema when suddenly the movie stopped rolling to give the alert, Germany had invaded. He was in the army and his comrades hid their weapons under a heap of rocks. The weapons were taken, because one of his comrades collaborated with the Germans. So then he worked in a factory and sent German information on logistics to London. He fled and joined a partisan organization.
My maternal grandfather liked to stroll into the German camp, where he learned his first German sentence, so he could ask around for candy. The German chef was a generous man. There were minefields around the farm and his goats were endangered.
>>1101753
One Grandfather fought for the Italians ,
One fought for the British and my grandmothers looked after the herds while they were gone.
Grandpa fought in the Pacific Theater
He has a hatred and disgust for the Japanese and has never bought anything made by them since WW2
>>1101753
My grandparents were born either during the war or just after. I'm from one of those early birthing families. Grandma became a grandma at age 36 cause her first kid (which she had at 18) had her first kid at 19
>>1102109
I should mention my great-grandpa did live through the war in Czechoslovakia
She said how when the Germans marched through her village, she and her husband took their cow and ran off to the woods cause they didn't know what they would do (she was ethnically Hungarian btw)
When they returned to their house, one of their paintings was gone. She always blamed their neighbours who they didn't like, but knowing Germans it could have been the soldiers
I'm British. My grandmother was a kid, she didn't manage to get to the Anderson shelter (Air raid shelters in everyones back garden) one night during a bombing raid. It took a direct hit.
Fates a funny thing.
Oh and my Grandad on the otherside fought on D-Day but i never got to meet him despite him dying when i was 10, because him and my dad fell out before i was born. Sucks
>>1101753
>same thing on both sides of the family
>lots of bizare negotiations and unvritten acordances with the italians and germans
>lots of weird alliances and cooperation with partisans
>lots of scarcity
>lots of abuse and mistreatment, arrests, torture
>more people running for the hills
>partisan attacs
>loads of mass reprisals and summary executions
>more helping the partisans, fixing ammo and food and conections
>escaping in the night before they get you
>getting caught up in the fighting
>loads and loads of bloody fighting
>then in 1943 croat grandpa getting executed by partisans cause collaborating, of all fucking things
>shit going on, war over
>people trying to get back home from the war
>people saving people from this and that
>part of the family getting shit cause italian, getting sent on boats
>bad shit happening after 1945, public humiliations, loads of people running away, group killings, everithing taken
funny how were still here
>>1102001
>here...
?
>>1101753
My maternal Grandpa joined navy as Engineer, but received Radar Training. Never saw any combat, but mostly just did patrols in aftermath. He was later accused of racism by a German after a fire incident aboard the ship, but the charges were dropped because my grandpa is 1/4 German.
His cousin (or some relative of his) was a part of the Free Slovakian Air force, and flew against the Russians. However, with the collapse of Germany, he lived under Russian rule before escaping to France, working in a factory. He then met and fell in love with the manager's daughter, and then moved to Canada.
My maternal grandmother stayed home while her 4(?) brothers went overseas to fight. I can't find any information, though, I'll have to find the newspaper article when I go to their house next time.
My Paternal grandparents are dead.
>>1102001
german?
>>1101753
My grandpa was in the army, saw some action after d-day in France, a bomb landed about 15 feet from him but miraculously it was a dud. My grandma worked on a submarine base in Connecticut, after the war she continued to work in intelligence, breaking code and listening to enemy chatter.
My grandfather was in the royal Welch fusiliers during ww 1, served in salonika and mesopatamia. Joined in 1916, caught by the chorus girls from the music hall. The other was a domain and a rebel and worked in the chemical industry so did not serve.
My farther was conscripted in to the royal navy, served from the start. Had a long bad war, took gold to Canada, convoys, fall of Singapore, Indian ocean raid, maybe Normandy. He wouldn't talk about it I overheard stuff. Or when the ptsd shell shock or whatever it was, made him delirious. He would go on about picking bits of his friends of the deck, how he couldn't bury them but had to just dump them over the side.
My mother about how a ship was sunk in Liverpool docks and corned beef tins floated down the river and all the locals grabbed them. Or wallpaper not being available used circus posters turned round pasted to the wall. It didn't work the print showed through so she had lions and tigers all over the walls.
Both grandad and dad fought it Iraq, ww 1 and ww 2.
>>1102505
jesus how old are you
>>1101753
granddad told me about how the japs were a bunch of generally quite racist and often ignorant folk, though some of the officers were quite alright. grandma didn't have much to say, since her family was rich and could bribe the japs to leave them alone. both mom and dad's parents survived sino-jap war, wwii, korea, mao, the great leap forward, and pollution
>>1102505
The spelling check changed fenian to domain. There where a surprising number of English supporters of home rule for Ireland. Before the first war. Granny was too she named two of her grandsons after two members of the denial brotherhood who got shot. I always found it a bit embarrassing, being both protestant and English. But in her time religion didn't matter.
>>1102510
>jesus how old are you
2016 of course.
That Germans were polite and respectful although they tended to let Ukrianian gangs do their dirty work and have free reign.
Also it was pretty hard and she had to spend time with her mother hiding in the woods so that she wouldnt get raped by Russians.
Grandfather was a slave labourer in Hamburg.
>>1101812
Your grandmother is a whore.
my grandfather was a pilot but he wouldn't talk about any of it with my mom or her brothers. he would just say "we did what we did, and we did it for you."
>>1101753
>butter could be churned only secretly
>they were beaten very hard by principal because they deflate tires of some some nazi officials (they were in teens during the war)
>soviet soldiers wore on arms dozens of stolen/liberated watches
Grandfather told me when the germans came in Romania they were polite and respected the people in the villages, so they where fine. A lot of ammo and weapons were left on the roads. Then the russians came and took (steal) from the people thier food , horses, threaten the locals and destroying the houses for no reason.
>>1102822
pilot for whom?
>>1103144
America
>>1101753
Great grandfather said that the only German soldier who was stationed in the village was in his house and paid for his food and stay.
Then the commies came, ate our livestock and gave us lice.
Well, this is all since another great grandfather was murdered by the communists in a bamboo court in 1945.
My granddad was a soviet engineer during WWII.
All I knew about him is that he participated only during last years of war and got a concussion.
Only when he died I learned that he has crossed the river of Oder and helped constructing a bridge for the infantry across the river through a destroyed railway bridge. He got an order of the Red Star for this.
And that he managed to survive under sniper fire once.
He never talked about the war because it was a terrible experience for him.
My grandfather was on HMS Rodney during the latter stages of WWII.
He never really talked about it until recently when he hit his 90th birthday and is due to get a medal from the French.
He always says about how he felt bad for the French civilians during the D-Day landings and how they never get mentioned. His boat shelled the living shit out of a French town when the allied attack got stuck there.
He also likes to joke about how the HMS Rodney was the slowest boat in the fleet and how the lads used to say it was too slow to sink.
Pole here.
- Italian soldiers, despite being axis, were some of the best guys around. They saved a from the Germans in front of my grandpa one time.
>>1103521
Another story.
One time Germans came for my great-grandfather and my grandpa was a kid. He started crying and begging the German officers and they let him stay.
Great uncle (dad's side) was on the USS Ticonderoga during WW2 in the South China Sea. Watched kamikazes turn a ship in front into a smoldering wreck.
Grandfather (mom's side) flew P-47 missions over Europe once or twice. Spent most of the time in stateside bases.
Not my grandparent but my maternal grandma's older brother.
My Gramma was born in 1946, but her oldest brother, Jack, would have been 21 by then. He was a US Marine. I don't know much about him except that he died climbing a hill in Iwo Jima. Just suddenly got fatally shot in the back. If I remember correctly, his squad hauled him the rest of the way up the hill as he was dying.
His mother, Maxine, was greatly beloved by the family, but at the onset of Alzheimer's in the 80's, she began to often think it was still the 40's and be extremely hateful towards Asians for killing her son. Often got pissed at my Ma for bringing her Chinese friend to their house. It's especially strange behavior considering she was the second generation of women on my Ma's side to be devout Nichiren Buddhist, which is Japanese.
>>1103521
They saved a what ?
What a lucky child.
Asian fag here
Great grandfather was a photographer turned guerrilla in the Philippines. He operated mortars and was particularly scared of Nip search parties looking for them in the jungle.
>Great grandfather was an Australian soldier over in Egypt, telling me how his platoon were constantly taking fire from Italians/Krauts. He said the local """Egyptians""" would also be up trying to steal food, break and vandalize his shit all the time.
other great grandfather was a German soldier over in France. He didn't speak much but my mother said he used to talk about how him and his comrades used to play with the orphans and buy them chocolates while learning French from them
>>1101753
My Great-Grandfather was an SS Officer in Poland. We don't talk about him much.
>>1103972
Why not? Surely it would be an honour to have such a great man in your family.
Americlap here
My great-grandfather on my mom's side was a citizen steel worker working in the pacific theater, he used to be a muhreen and was kept alive by the Japanese because of his steel working background. He was a POW for a good deal of the war. We still have hist medals and some of his paperwork from after the war. Grandpa on my dad's side was a marine(I think) in the pacific theater and had the job of clearing out caves with a flamethrower. He also helped guard the enola gay or some shit like that
My grandmother lived in France, while hiding in her kitchen with her family to avoid fighting a german soldier busted his way into the house. He put his finger up to his lips and waited out the bombs. He then ran out the door without a word.
I can't imagine how scared she must have been.
My Great Great Grandfather died in Pearl Harbor. He was playing tennis with his buds and sprinted back to the base when the attack began. He died in the defense.
Old guy here (54).
My grandparents (dad's parents) served in WWI and WW2. They met at a Canadian Army hospital in England in 1918. Gran was a Red Cross nurse, Granddad was a medical orderly in the Canadian Army Medical Corps.
WW2, they lived just outside London, and were air-raid wardens during the Blitz.
I have a piece of a shot-down Zeppelin (LZ-31) that Granddad picked up in 1916, and also a fragment of a JU-88 that crashed in Watford in 1941.
Just today, my mum was remarking on how the scenes of the fires in Fort MacMurray made her think of the fires she saw in her home town in Scotland. She would have been 12 or so; she remembers thinking "this is what hell must look like".
>>1104122
Just remembered a story about my Scottish grandmother during WW2. She would buy black market sugar in town, then hike into the countryside to trade it for eggs. She used a big red leather bag she sewed herself. My grandfather referred to her appearance with the bag as "Mrs. Stalin."
>>1101753
My grandpa was a US merchant marine and captain of a cargo ship. He fugged hundreds of slant-eyed sluts in the pacific, and continued working for the navy after the war.
>>1103578
Got a similar story. Grandma's brother died on Iwo Jima from a Japanese machine-gun burst.
My great-grandfather fought for the KNIL, he was captured and worked on the Burma Railroad, his Family, including my grandmother were placed in concentration camps.
>>1101812
USA
USA
USA
>>1101753
My grandmother's first husband died in the battle of the bulge when she was in college, and she remarried and had my mother with her new husband.
>>1102892
Can confirm, Germans slept in their sleeping bags on the floor, ate their own rations asked politely for some hot water for a bath then left when they had to go.
Russians kicked them out to sleep in the bed, took whatever food they had left, took any valuables they found, broke a antique pendulum watch and searched the attic for any women that might have hid there.
Fucking Russians, not even once.
>>1101753
Mother's side both were born after it, the only family member who told me anything about ww2 was my granpa who was like 6 at the time, basically the things she told me
>she remembers hiding in a forest bunker when either the germans or the ruskies were marching
>partisans were kinda dicks, stole food and shit, but germans were worse often beating people
>the village woodsman was brutally killed by partisans for snitching on jews, his kid who was very little adopted by someone from a nearby village
t. what is now north-eastern Poland
Britbong here. Grandparent were just too young to fight in WWII, but a couple were evacuees in the Blitz. Great-grandfather was pretty based though:
>born 1900, poor family, two brothers
>1913, father dies, mother can't afford to look after all of them
>joins navy
>WWI happens
>fights at Jutland at the age of 15
>stays in navy, becomes chief petty officer
>offered commission, but can't afford officer's mess and to look after family
>starts think about retirement around 1935
>realises there's no point, as he'll just be called up again
>sinks French fleet at Mers-el-Kebir
>blows up subs in the Atlantic
>tries to bring home a bunch of oranges, but it takes so long they all go mouldy
>>1101880
Underrated
Two of my great grandads had a grand old time in the Navy. My grandad was too young in WW2 and was a kid, so used to go to the hills with his friends and watch Liverpool get bombed in the blitz.
German here
>2 paternal great grandfathers died in Russia
>paternal grand parents survived allied mass bombings as little kids
>some maternal great uncles also fell in russia
>one maternal great grand ma was shot by American soldiers by accident
>one paternal great grand ma told me about the progroms of the Jews with out any empathy
My grandpa was supposed to roll under tanks with a bomb strapped to himself, but it was defective and he was captured by Russians for a few years before going back home to Okinawa. he died when I was three so this is all secondhand from my mom, so I have no idea about specific dates, locations, or if this shit even happened.
My grandma was raped by a GI during "liberation" of France. That's all I know about WW2, she never wanted to speak about it much.
>it sucked when you needed gas for a road trip because it was rationed
>luckily there was usually some black guy at the local gas station who would sell the ration tickets for food or cigarettes
>never asked where he got them or how
>took road trip around the US and partied
>never had to think about the war and didn't really effect me
I miss you grandpa
>>1101753
>Not a lot to eat.
>When the bombs came it was scary as fuck.
>Great-grand parents would tell my grandfather not to be scared: when your time comes it comes
>Germans took my Grandpa's bike as they retreated for the advancing allies
>He and his brother went to loot the local synagogue (transformed to a german HQ) for toilet paper
My Grandfather fraught for Greece in both the ww2 and the civil war.
My other Grandfather was around 13 at the time so he didnt fight for Canada. Although my Great Uncle was a fighter Ace for the Canadians Rayne "Joe" Schultz with 8 confirmed kills
My grandfather married my grandmother too escape labour work in Germany, they took poles across the borders for slave work but only the single ones.
>Dutch
My grandfather was a farmer near the city of The Hague. He was about 12 when the war started. He's still alive, but suffering from dementia, so he always tells the same stories.
- The germans took command of his neighbor house and made it their HQ for his village. One time he saw a german rifle lying around so he took it and showed it to his father, who got pissed mad ofcourse, so he threw it into a field and whent looking for it with the german soldier, who was panicking cause losing your rifle ment being sent to russia. So when he found the rifle the soldier was very happy ofcourse.
- the day the canadians marched into town and the german and canadian soldiers just started to hug each other.
- illegal listening to bbc radio.
- after the war german soldiers who returned to apologize to the villagers.
My other grandfather was taken prisoner and was forced to work in a factor. The factory got bombed and he and some other guys managed to escape and whent into hiding.
My grandmother survived the bombing of the Bezuidenhout, The Hague at the end of the war. English bombers thought they where bombing V2 installations, but instead hit a neighborhood.
Other grandma never told any stories
Grandpa
>http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/asianet/130409/awe-inspiring-world-war-ii-anecdote
Other Grandpa
>Be Okinawan civilian, 10 yrs old
>Americans invade
>Head north to escape
>Lead family, father IJA and not home
>Captured by Americans
>Everyone survived (I think)
>Great Grandma lives to over 100
>>1105370
Forgot to put in, IJA great grandpa died. We still have his ashes at the family tomb, luckily.
>if it wasnt cold and wet it was warm and fucking shit
>killed like a dude or six
>go back to ireland
And then ofc he did all these things too but suppose they off topic
>divorce his wife
>go back to Germany, Cologne or some shit
>get a second kid
>my aunt is german, mom full irish kek
>living swell life until death
>>1101753
Never trust to a jew
The only war-relevant thing my grandfather ever did was spend a day or two digging a trench for the defense of western Germany when he was 16.
His father was part of the supply troops, first in Norway and later on the eastern front. The only action he ever saw was a shootout with some partisans in a cellar, where he shot and killed someone. Didn't enjoy it, from what I heard. I don't know what happened inbetween, but sometime later he got picked up by Americans and shaved people for food in the camp (he was a barber).
Finn here
My grandfather was a kid in school and their class teacher died in the bombings of his town
My other grandpa fought but I have no idea where or what sort of thing he did since he died in the 1960s
Grandma fled to Madagascar
Grandpa supposedly fought for the FFL somewhere in Africa
Other grandpa was manning an artillery piece in the Philippines but never saw fighting
Never got to talk to any of them sadly
>>1101812
Whore traitor.
Both Grandparents fought in the race war between Aryans and Anglos aka WW2 and both killed at least 20 Anglos from what I have heard about them. Both also died in the Rheinwiesenlagern, murdered by filthy Anglo cowards.
>>1101880
Kekked.
>>1101753
First granddad was an officer in the red army. Engineer-sapper, participated in the victory parade. He didn't want to talk about the war. Did not participate in Berlin.
Male children who lived under German occupation were considered ideologically compromised by fascism. Second granddad was sent to die in the coal mines. Escaped, was eventually located at the end of the war. Had a good lawyer, was sent to die on a ship transporting hazardous materials out of Europe. One of three who failed to meet expectations.
First grandma - German occupation. Was fired on once. Remembers Germans killing villagers after partisans killed a soldier.
Second - transported to work on a farm in Kazakhstan. Nearby bomb failed to detonate while boarding train. Had a wonderful host family, but chose to return to Ukraine as an orphan.
>>1103588
Oops. They saved some Polish workers.
Most I know has been passed on by my dad. My grandfather was conscripted in 1940 into the tank regiment. There are lots of little stories my dad has written down so as not to forget.
Memorable ones include the French Canadians in the unit who no one could stand because they were undisciplined drunks, they'd drink brake fluid from the vehicles when they couldn't get booze.
In Italy the tanks passed an old man riding an antique carved cart. The tanks in front put a track in a ditch to pass, but a French Canadian crew drove straight on through his cart killing his mule and sending the men diving for his life. Another time one lost control of a tank while making a turn and gear change and went off the road into a house demolishing the front while the owner was in the bath.
They were given huge tins of fig jam and ordered to eat, a french canadian lost his shit and threw his tim away making a huge fuss. He was sent to a glasshouse for a few months where among other things he was made to build a wall around the camp at the same speed another team were disassembling the other end. The short section of wall went around and around the camp over the weeks. When he came back he didn't argue with anyone again.
>>1105650
In my grandfather's unit was a man called Ted Betchly, he later stole the football world cup in 1966. During the war he 'acquired' an officers shaving kit for my grandfather, we still have the brush.
In the desert they found some Italians whose bodies has baked dry in the heat, their heads had shrunk and Ted Betchly attached them to his truck but was later told to remove them as human trophies would likely get them all executed if captured.
The closest grandpa came to bring killed was when the Fleet Air Arm repeated strafed their convoy and they hid under the trucks.
He also recalls being held up for a day in Italy by a vehicle described that may have been an Elephant. It was hiding around a corner at the top of a hill on one side of a valley, emerging just to fire upon vehicles trying to get up. A team took a 17pndr Peasant gun up the other side and fired across the valley to knock it out.
That's all I've got for now.
>>1101753
My grandparents were born after the war.
Grandpa was a paratrooper. Told me German women were all gorgeous and that their beer was even better.
Being germans in South Brazil, my family encountered a lot of trouble by discrimination. Radios were confiscated and never returned, even cars. Friends went missing to never be seen again. Luckly all my family lost was a radio and a small amount of money.
>>1101753
My grandpa graduated West Point Naval Academy in 1947, he had the option to continue in the Navy track or join the newly created Air Force. He chose the USAF and was stationed in Japan during the occupation. There he married some other officer's daughter and eventually moved to California and became an educator.
>>1101753
He was captured by the nazis when he was 14, they put him on a truck with other people who were going to be shot shortly after. He jumped off the truck and managed to escape
Maternal side
Nana was a civilian in Italy and talk about how the facist and german would come and steal everything they could, the ame rican didn't take amy thing, which suprised her. She also talkyd about losing a brother and sister in an artillery strike. Grand uncle was shanghaied into the Italian army, served in Yugoslavia and hated every day and would curse musolini till the day he died.
Grand pa was in the u.s.army in the philopines. He escaped the death March and and was late red liberated. He didn't talk about the war other than to hate the Japanese and say that the philo Pinos are a kind wonderful brave people.
Paternal side.
Grand dad was quatermaster in nyc. He drank and danced all war long
Step grand dad was a badass and fought from north Africa to southern germany and needs a medical pass to go through metal detector due to scraphnel
>>1105543
Cry some more, hans
>>1101753
both gramps and my great uncles said very little. 2 gramps and 6 great-uncles went. 2 from one side and 4 from the other. I got a few stories out them but as for life during the war I would have to go to my Grandmas.
English grandma lived in Bristol during the war and was bombed quite a bit. She was in some sort of civilian brigade that would go out after the bombs and rescue/firefight/givemedicalaid. at 16 or 17. she has a great story of being on the outskirts of town at night and the explosions and hearing the roar of planes and fire. it was terrifying and exciting to her. she said England was a pretty bleak place during the war so she found a handsome GI and came to America. She complained her whole life that Americans are ignorant of the world and that nothing will grow in this "goddamned American dirt". apparently her garden in England was something she missed.
American grandma talked about all the stereo-typical stuff. She collected scrap-metal with other kids for the war effort. Her and her mom would skip lunch or something to save a dime so they could save fucking dimes to buy a war bond. I guess it makes more sense when every male in town, let alone the family, over there fighting. on the rare occasions that she got to go to the movies she said they would play the war reels. people would go just to see the war reels.
Even though my American grandma came from a much poorer and less educated family, she was better off than English grandma simply because of the war. American grandma talked about her mom making "funny" biscuits without lard or something while my English grandma talked about waiting for the Salvation Army to come with some food so they could eat.
That reminds me of one more thing. English grandma always hated the Red Cross. she said they were all cowards who showed up to pass out candy and take photos. she said the Salvation Army and the religious groups were the people who would risk their lives.
>>1105888
did momma and aunts get gang raped by invading armies?
>>1105347
my Tata was just a boy when the war ended. He said he walked outside and there were bells and sirens going off everywhere letting everyone know the war was over
>>1106219
grammar is fucked up but I slammed it out in one go.
I wanted to add. I know almost nothing about my English grandma's family and what they did during the war. That is a void of information that really pains me to think about. I know her father, my great grandfather, was an officer in the Royal Navy so he probably did or saw great things. He was stationed in India before the war and grandma had a few cool things from there.
I like this thread. so many cool stories from Europe.
>>1101753
They're dead so no clue
>>1101753
To put it shortly, after a long year of tail gunning for a bomber (which is a big deal considering that's the part of the plane that gets shot at the most and the plane itself is so shit it could blow up before it even takes off, as you watch a world above choked with flames and constant death in a rickety tin can), sneaking past Wehrmacht patrols, and running off with a motorcycle from a former German baron/count from a castle, he became an adrenaline junkie.
My grandfather was born after WW2. My great grandfather was a US Paratrooper in Europe.
Hey guys, need some help finding interesting documentries on WW1, WW2, Vietnam and the war on Baghdad.
My Nan lived in Wales during the time.
She was quite young so has only a few memories of what it was like, they were obviously pretty isolated from the war at large though.
A German pilot apparently came down on the hillside near her village after getting lost. The guy survived apparently but no one knew where he went.
She also remembers how she and her family would join queues for food without even knowing what they were getting because if people were queuing up it meant it was something good like bananas.
Both she and my Grandad were in West Berlin post war because my Grandad was in the army,
Finnish here, I was young and stupid when my grandfather died so he never told me much about life during WW2. I actually learned two days ago that the fight where he got injured (grenade sharpnels, two which were never removed) was Tali-Ihantala, second day of the fight. I also learned that he really didn't want to talk about the war that much, as it was "totally shit".
>>1101753
Grandfather fought in Yugoslavia, but it was a pretty chill engagement. He learned how to speak serbian and broed up with the locals. My town was occupied by Nazi troops in 1943, but luckily the Americans soon came and liberated the place. My grandmother used to hide her younger daughters and give Germans wine to get them drunk and keep them chill. Before Yugoslavia my grandfather fought in Africa, at some point his company was somehow incorporated in the Afrika Korps of Rommel. Then they wanted him to go to Russia, but he escaped and went back to Italy, where he got my grandmother out of the Abbey she went in (She wanted to become a nun at that point, since she expected her bethroded to be dead like most other italians who went to Russia)
Grandma was at Auschwitz, so was her husband but never met the man
She escaped health assessments she wouldn't have passed by hiding in the bathroom.
My granddad fought on Crete, was wounded in battle and taken prisoner where they amputated his arm because of gangrene.
In the camp he had to trade his wedding ring away for a bit of old bread.
>>1110375
Here's the rest of the paper if anyone wants to read it. I thought it was a cool piece from the time.
Grandparents were farmers.
Had loads of people visiting during the 'hunger winter'.
Hid jews, made them work hard to earn their stay.
Germans were never polite, always angry. Started demanding food during last year, but great-grandfather somehow made them go away every time.
Was largely as usual, except the kids that still went to school had to duck under desks.
There was some Polish/American division that gave them candy and food when they got liberated.
>>1102040
>facade
that word does not mean "a lot of," it means "a front or covering that hides what is beneath," either in the sense of a decoration (architectural, etc) or figuratively, like an illusion or pretense.
but interesting story, though.
>>1101753
My great grandpa fought during WW1 with his brother(who lost his sight from shrapnel), but when he was supposed to be drafted during WW2 he said fuck it and limited himself to telling partisans where to find Germans to shoot, beat them up if they stole something from anybody related to him and then beating up Russians who came to rape his wife.
They wanted to execute him but some officer was so impressed that a man in his 40's can wrestle a squad of 20-something year old soldiers and win that he told them to leave him alone. He accidentally saved whole village from getting influx of rapekids by doing it.
My grandpa was 12 when the war started, after the war he discovered his talent for management and was moved from state farm to another state farm to state factory to another state farm(pulled them up from near bankruptcy and then they moved him elsewhere) so one of the most common memories my father had from his younger days was moving in and moving out every 1-2 years.
american here
Maternal grandma was a Rosie the Riveter in Detroit, riveted airplane wings, some kind of fighter. Sometimes she would point it out when she saw it in a movie on tv. "I riveted those wings!"
She and her her husband married just after he enlisted, so he was assigned to supply chain and mainly stationed in the US, made sergeant. Later he shipped out to Pacific. Was on Okinawa for a while, but the interesting part was on some tiny island. It was inhabited by some tribal people who had no idea what the hell was going on. The army kicked them off the shore and set up their supply-chain camp. The natives were like "fuck that" but had no guns so they would sneak-attack the barracks at night. They'd wake up the next day and GI Joe would have a slit throat. Everyone was noided as fuck, sleeping with weapons under their pillows. One night, grandpa woke up to a guy shouting "I got one, I got one!" A GI had stabbed and killed what he thought was a native; turns out it was another GI that got up to piss. Caught a friendly knife because he had to pee.
The natives used a lot of caves for unknown reason, everyone scarred to go in thinking they were native forts. Grandpa sneaks into one to reconnoiter. Ancestor-worship catacomb with skulls on display. Skulls have full denture grill things of solid gold. Grandpa swipes one, says nothing but his stash spot got rolled before he shipped out. A convenient ending to the story, but my grandpa wasn't the insecure type who needed to tell lies to impress people, so I think it was true.
>>1101753
I haven't asked my grandparents, however I've talked to some vets and interviewed them about their experiences in the war.
My Grandpa was in the Seabees, he rolled with bomb disposal guys in the pacific. Used to tell me how the Jap prisoners were a pain in the ass and would beg for shit all the time so they would butt them in the mouth with their rifles if they didnt shut up
>>1105225
>Germans stole grandpa's bike.
Let me guess, Dutch ?
>>1101753
That they were being chased around the sugarcane plantation by Japs. She said that they fucked anything that looked like female, even a faggot with a wig. She was around 4.
>American
My mothers side immigrated from Poland in the 1900s and had a huge family of 17 children. All the males that could joined up, though most were state side with the Coast Guard or Army and such. The girls did a lot for the war effort too.
My great-grandfather fought in Okinawa and in the Phillipines. He worked his way up to be a Major or something through battlefield commisions and had to crawl 3 miles back to friendly lines after he was shot up in the leg.
His brother was dishonorably discharged or was honorably discharged shortly after the invasion of Italy. We think the invasion either fucked him up mentally (because he was a crazy guy and suicidal alcoholic) or he was already fucked up and declared unfit for service. His other brother was an MP stateside who arrested a US Army Major for fucking a horse.
My great-uncle was a part of one of the first bomber crews to complete 26 air missions and as a result won the DSO or Air Force equivalent.
My other great grandfather was a radio operator on the USS Alchiba which was declared sunk 3 different times.
My great-grandmother on my fathers side was an army nurse, as were some of her sisters.
One of my "cousins" as my grandmother called him was in the Battle of the Bulge.
I come from a military family.
>>1101753
Great Grandma lived in a small village near Hong Kong in the war. Every now and then the Japanese would march into the village, raid, steal and murder for a few days while everyone ran into the surrounding area to hide. She said she hid in a tree and was so hungry she ended up eating grass.
Grandparents on the other side were evacuated when the Germans started bombing blighty. Some years after the war my gran had a German foreign exchange student round and her dad showed him the bomb damage of a neighbours house and angrily blamed him for it.
Grandma told me that when russians came to the village they stole radio and bicey never seeen such a thing. Sounds like bullshit but asked few people from the area and they told me simillar stories.
Fucking amazonian tribes tier education is still a thing in russia apperently
>>1112512
Bicycles***
My father's mother was part of the civilian exodus in 1940 after the german offensive in the Ardennes. On the road they were attacked by a german plane which started to fire on the column. People left the road to find cover but she stayed there because she was scared and protected herself under a pillow. Lucky one. Also she saw bodies down the road and it made her feel strange but she was a child so it wasnt more than that.
Her older sister who was pregnant gave birth with a german doctor in a field hospital. They lived in the countryside so germans came to take animals and food but they still had enough to feed themselves.
Apparently one time her father hid a black soldier in a windmill but never found him when he came back. I hope the guy fled rather than being denounced by my great grandfather. Poles immigrants dont like blacks I guess so...
My American grandma died before I could ever talk to her and her husband, a benevolent Cantonese man, is still alive but I never asked him anything because based on what my mom has alluded to, he had a pretty rough time in 1930s Guangdong. The japs raided his village, he spent his later teen years running around China working for his uncles import business before moving to America at 17 to avoid an arranged marriage.
My Sicilian grandparents hid in a cave by the sea until the bombing relented
>>1113653
Oh yeah, also my great uncle's dad, another Sicilian, fought for Sicily in northern Africa, which battle I have no idea
My grandpa was some kind of electro engineer. I found his old helmet with 2 lightning symbols.
:DDDDD
Grandpa was a pilot captured by german soldiers, forced to work in the fields, freed by english soldiers who capturd him again and jailed him 30km from home.
Grandma grew up during the 20 years of Fascism rule in Italy, told us the stories of her school indoctrination and nothing more. Both lived in a really small ""town"" in the south of Italy, since their highest aspiration was making kids and working in the fields I guess they never experienced the bad side of fascism.
>>1101753
>daddy's side
Born 1930, by the time he was the age to do anything the war was already over.
>mommy's side
Military police, served a few months then armistice, so jailed at first then thrown in a foiba. Got fished out of it after two days of lying with a broken leg among dead bodies by his gf's family (only time being a womanizer helped him instead of putting him in trouble). He then hid in their farm until the leg healed and smuggled himself back home by hiding on a fisherman boat that brought him all the way across the adriatic. They kept in contact their whole life, even tho they married other people. I do wonder why they didn't actually marry, that girl couldn't possibly have been any more of a bitch than grandma. Then again grandma was a looker an grandpa always thought with his dick before his brain.
Grandfather joined 1939
First battle against ffl syria sent pic of snow on trucks in the mountains.
Tobruk, during retreat spoke to german prisoner who believed war was about stopping british expansionism, he was told the same about the germans.
Returned on the queen mary, pinched everything not nailed down.
New guinea, kokoda track air force pillaging supplies for front line villages under seige. Ordered to take charge of army supplies & make sure they reach distination also told planes come back empty no exceptions. Green releif troops hesitant when bullets shoot best mate sitting next to them, they get thrown out. This was the start of the army air loaders.
Port moresby air field battle of coral sea, planes reuturn with exhausted pilots, heavy damage land with gear up.
Huon peninsula, main objective is lae air field. Japanese fight for every piece of ground, field taken every bit of jap equipment, guns, plane parts pushed in to the jungle to land supplies, turn in to allied base for attack on borneo, last pic taken.
Was in port moresby when pt crew hit & sank new sunderland in harbour, air force still paid for it.
My grandparents had Italian "prisoners" of war doing farm work
>>1114700
Other grandfather dock worker & exempt from enlistment.
Said there was plenty of work & things were good except for the rationing.
Grandma was born in germany but schooled in oz, family lived in a german village & worked the regional sawmill out of the cities so no internment.
My gf granparents are italian & their situation was similar, worked in a war material industry, village nearby & no interment
I know no one is replying to all your posts but i read them all
Makes the wars seem a little more human and thats what i love most about these stories
Grandpa told me a story once. He was a kid during the war, and germany was occupying the netherlands. He was riding around on his scooter, when a plane passed over and dropped a package. Inside was a powder. Everyone thought that it was poison from the germans (they didnt like germans very much). A guy apparently tasted it, and it turned out to be some kind of egg powder dropped by the allies. Meat the town had some food, which my grandpa collected using a pan he'd picked up at home.
Just a glimpse into everyday life there. Story might be changed a bit to entertain a 12 year old, but ive never known my grandpa to be a lying man.
Grandpa got drafted last year of the war and landed in Europe on VE day.
After that, he went to Japan as an MP and some Japanese kid taught him rudimentary Japanese which he taught me when I was little, but I can't really remember it.
>>1102654
TWINGO
W
I
N
G
O
My grandfather was a 12 year old messenger for his father for a short time and once he was caught so he ate the letter and his father had to beat him in order to pretend that he didn't know anything about that.
My grandfather wasn't allowed by his mother to fight (his friend was and that friend was killed), so he didn't do much, although he did ground pepper and he sold it to the Italians.
Near the end of the war his father shot himself in the head and he had to become the breadwinner at the age of 14. Pretty tough stuff.
>>1101812
Lol
>>1101753
Drunk neighbor was a bombardier on B-17's during WWII, flew 193 missions. Had a box full of medals and ribbons going all the way up to the Silver Cross. Several Silver Crosses, in fact. And many DSCs too.
Said the entire box plus a buck would get him a cup of coffee.
Romanian here.
My grandfather (father's side) was 6 years old by 1945. He told me he used to run around the plains of Moldavia where war planes were crashing around. He collected things around the abandoned trenches. He told me the germans were nice guys, shaved and well mannered. He also told me the russians got drunk every night, each time one of them sticking their knife into the barrel of wine and starting to drink until he fell uncounscious. He had a poor opinion on russians.
My great grandfather (mother's side) is rumored by my relatives to have been a member of the Iron Guard, but it is uncertain. What is certain is that he definately was a sympathizer and he had quite a few plots of land, all which have been taken by the communists after the war.
>>1102129
croat here. Story is much the same. My grandfather's whole family that were partisans were all killed yet some of his relatives were executed as fascist collaborators even though they were not! His mother and sisters died in jasanova camp.
From Argentina.
My great grandfather (Spanish) escaped from Spain within 1917. My grandfather told me that his father was really scared about Mussolini and that they thought there could be another "Great War" as they called WWI at the moment.
My grandfathers current wife said her brothers were in WWII, one locked himself in a barn for 40 years after he came back and died of a stroke. The other was killed in combat, both served in Germany.
My grandfather and his brothers/cousins were told by their grandfather, who served in the Franco-Prussian war that if they entered the military he was going to disown them, he did not like war. That was on my moms side though, I don't know much about my dads' family.
From Bosnia. Greatgrandpa was a smuggler back in the day, so he bribed off both the germans and the partisans so he wouldnt get mobilized or bothered too much. Greatgrandma says the ustashas burned their house and slaughtered her parents and brothers, but she managed to flee somehow.
