jollygreengiant
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| posted on 1/3/12 at 09:24 PM |
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My maternal grand father served with the 10th London Brigade Royal Horse Artillery during the first world war as a driver (I think, I never spoke to
him knowingly as he died when I was about 2 years old). He served on the Somme (I believe) and was eventually demobed towards the end of the war after
having spent a time convalessing after having survived being blown up and gassed ( a couple of times,so the story goes). He was cared for after the
war by my maternal grandmother, who later went on to start up (with others) a small company called Adhesive Tapes Ltd (yep - Sellotape by another
name). After my maternal grandmother died (I was about 18 months old then), my Grandfather then turned up one day at my parents house. No one knew
that he was alive as she had paid for his care and treatment at Banstead Hospital (just outside Croydon, now a secure prison I believe). He survived a
few more months then passed away himself.
My Father served in the RAF in the second world war as a fighter pilot, technically he was just in on the BoB, but as his squadron (609) became active
again on the south coast, a posting request came in and as he was 'the last in' he was 'volunteered' for the posting. So he
went back north from Detling to Liverpool (having only just come down from Lossiemouth) to be briefed about his posting.
26 men in the room (in Liverpool) rose when Laddie Lucas entered and said "Good Morning Gentlemen, take a look at the man on your left."
Pause, "Now take a look at the man on your right", pause, " In three months they will both be dead." It turned out the posting
was a six month posting to Malta.
Before the war my father had been with the Plaistow Swimming club and had the war NOT started then he would have been in the 'next'
olympic swimming team, he weighed a fit 11st 10lbs naked, when he came back from Malta (after being on the Island for a total of 9 months, having been
kept back for the Sicilly invasion), he weighed a massive 8st 10lbs in FULL uniform. It makes me wonder WHAT condition the general population of Malta
must have been in because my father was on the better diet out there, BECAUSE he was a fighter pilot.
My Uncle served in the Red Berret's as a medical orderly in the Med at about the same time as my father was in the Med.
Beware of the Goldfish in the tulip mines. The ONLY defence against them is smoking peanut butter sandwiches.
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hillbillyracer
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| posted on 1/3/12 at 10:03 PM |
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Dad's family were farmers & I've not heard anything of what they did so I suppose as farmers they did just that & wern't
directly involved. My maternal Grandfather was a teacher but signed up fr the RAF anyway, failed medicals for aircrew & got stationed in Ireland
guiding planes in etc. He met an Irish girl & she lives next door to us, my Gran! This means I owe my existance to Hitler I suppose!
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Benzine
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| posted on 2/3/12 at 08:54 AM |
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My Great grandfather (walter) and his brother served in WW1. I'm told my great grandfather was a machine gunner. Both were at the somme and both
lived until the end of the war. His brother caught the flu and was in a field hospital a few days after armistice day. A drunk captain set off a flare
and the whole thing burnt down, killing his brother. After his return, Walter wasn't sober for a year, then he didn't touch another drop
til he died (1970's i think) nor did he talk about the war.
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swanny
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| posted on 2/3/12 at 11:39 AM |
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Both of my granddads in protected professions, one on tfe railway and the other making aero engines for rolls Royce. Wife's maternal
grandparents were in Burma at outbreak of war, grandad regular soldier grandma quite a well to do Anglo Indian lady.big house servants, cooks etc.
When war came initially grandad posted overseas MIA for months till eventually grandma decided to get a job and joined up too. As she was posh joined
as an officer. Husband then reappeared.
Horrific tales of the grandma and the kids having to leave everything behind and escape the Japanese. Eventually picked up in a clearing by an allied
plane without even a bag to their name, lost everything but escaped alive.
Grandma had to learn to cook pretty quicky when they arrived in blighty having never needed to do it before!
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steve m
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| posted on 24/11/12 at 06:05 PM |
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Can i resurect this thread, as .... i dont know why, but our history, our parents, and grand parents, need remembering
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whitestu
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| posted on 24/11/12 at 08:35 PM |
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All my lot were down't pit so so active service!
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Furyous
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| posted on 24/11/12 at 10:31 PM |
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My dad's dad joined the RAF when he turned 18 in 1942. He was a rear-gunner in a Halifax. After achieving the near-impossible and completing a
tour of duty (30 flights) he was reassigned to paras before the end of the war. Rear gunners were the first ones to be shot when the plane was
attacked, so it was even more unusual for him to have survived.
He died when I was 1 year old and apparently he never once said anything about how many kills he had. He did share stories about other things that
happened. Like when he accidentally dropped the entire payload on the runway before take off. Dad later found a website which recounted the story from
someone else's perspective. It was an interesting read and gave some more details that dad didn't know about. He was also nearly court
marshalled for trying to get on the plane for a big mission (Possibly the Normandy landings) while he had food poisoning.
After the war he was positioned in Palestine as a para. I don't know much about what he did there.
My mum's side were all farmers so they tended the fields and joined Dad's Army. They have a story that I still don't entirely
believe. Apparently they had a German POW working for them who would cycle from the prison camp to their farm unescorted. He said he preferred living
in Britain because he didn't have to fight a war he didn't support and he could just get on with life.
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Xtreme Kermit
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| posted on 24/11/12 at 11:14 PM |
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Deepest respect to all who participated in these conflicts. Terrible times.
My maternal grandfather and grandmother worked at Cambridge Instruments designing and producing gizmos during WWII.
Great grandfather on my mums side was in the RFC (forerunner to the RAF) in WW1. Now that was a dodgy game.
And lastly of all, talking to the mother in law today while celebrating her 80th birthday, it seems that whilst he was at school in old Hatfield just
before the war the girls would carry out sewing practice by means of mending sheets etc up at Hatfield House. Whilst she was there His Lordship had
some guests from time to time, a couple of young girls. Yes mum in law was playing with Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret... 
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BangedupTiger
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| posted on 25/11/12 at 12:48 AM |
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My grandad was a tank driver, and a mechanic. He was on the first ship on the d-day landings.
Died a few years ago following the onset of dementia.
Edit: forgot to say, there is a 20ft poster of him in the national war museum, hanging out of a tank, his picture is also on a WW2 history book,
forget the name but got a copy at my mums.
A few great uncles were all in the commando's all posted to Burma, horrendous place to be. Came back in a bad way, never got over it.
[Edited on 25/11/12 by BangedupTiger]
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britishtrident
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| posted on 25/11/12 at 10:31 AM |
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The wife's dad was a salmon fisherman on the Tay and ended up in the RN as a PO ASDIC operator on corvettes and destroyers mainly on the
Russian convoys he had ships sink under him 3 times. but never ended up in the water. He was lucky not to be on Convoy PQ 17 but was on PQ
16 which was bad enough( 8 merchantmen lost out of 25).
A fellow P.O. on a couple of his ships was the artist H. R. " Tank " Wilson among her fathers papers my wife found a water
colour (painted on the back of an old ASDIC log page) of a convoy forming up in Loch Ewe and she is in contact with the artist's daughter
who was equally pleased that her fathers war art was treasured. After the war my father in lw went back to salmon netting on the silvery Tay.
The bravery of the 55,000 Arctic convoy veterans has never properly recognised by the the UK and (as with Bomber Command) no British campaign
medal has been issued. This contrasts with the attitude of the Russian Government and people who regard the convoy veterans as major heros and
have awarded The Medal of Ushakov which British citizens have not been t allowed to receive because it has been blocked by the UK Government.
It really is time the UK Government properly recognised the heroes of both the the 55,000 men of the Arctic Convoys and the similar
number who were in Bomber Command.
[Edited on 25/11/12 by britishtrident]
[I] “ What use our work, Bennet, if we cannot care for those we love? .”
― From BBC TV/Amazon's Ripper Street.
[/I]
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steve m
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| posted on 27/11/14 at 11:40 PM |
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Can i resurect this thread, as .... i dont know why, but our history, our parents, and grand parents, need remembering
Part two, not sure why, but rereading this thread, brings home what our parents, or more likely Grandparents did a good few years ago
Steve
Thats was probably spelt wrong, or had some grammer, that the "grammer police have to have a moan at
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fesycresy
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| posted on 28/11/14 at 08:48 AM |
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My grandfather had a medal off the Queen, not sure what he did for it, probably nothing exciting, but still, who knows?
Did anyone see the PQ17 documentary Clarkson did? I can't find a link to it, bugger.
Also the 'Greatest Raid'? - Clarkson - Greatest Raid
Found this too - War Stories
I hope its a quiet day in work, I'm sticking my headphones in now 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The sooner you fall behind, the more time you'll have to catch up.
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Irony
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| posted on 28/11/14 at 09:22 AM |
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Its amazing how many people in the UK have links to war.
My Grandad on my mothers side was in the Royal Logistics Corps during WW2 stationed out in Africa. He drove a water carrier. He didn't come
home for 6 years and we still have his letters. My Grandmother also received Telegrams saying he had been killed twice. He lived until 94! He also
told a story about finding a smart looking pair of boots on the side of the road only to find feet in them!
My Great Grandad was a machine gunner and was killed in the Somme. My parents and I found his grave in northern France thanks to the WarGrave
Commission. We were the first people to visit it.
My Grandad on my fathers side was in the Navy. He was a right Uncle Albert (only fools and horses) and he was sunk 3 or 4 times. The worst was when
he was torpedoed up somewhere off Scapper Flow. We don't know much about what happened and my brother is researching it.
My Grandmother used to tell stories of seeing V1 flying bombs coming over. The fear of hearing that droning noise and then it suddenly stopping, then
the short wait for the explosion. She called them Doodlebugs or something. A pleasant sounding name for something so nasty.
All very sobering thoughts though. I think we should remember these people. What they sacrificed us but more importantly as a lesson to us all.
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coozer
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| posted on 28/11/14 at 05:15 PM |
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Me n me brother used to ask the old man, our great grandfather, what he did during the war... 'Too old to be a soldier lad' he would say.
What we didn't realise was he meant he was too old at the start of the first world war!
He was born in 1879 started down the pit when he was 14 and retired when he was 68. I was 11 when he died in 1975 still in the colliery house he got
when he was 17!
He had 5 sons and two girl, one our granny, the men all worked at the pit, reserved occupation, the same one for their whole working lives, granny had
a hot meal on the table for each one coming in and going out to work whatever time it was. She had a hot dinner on the table for us every dinner time
for us all through school. She died in 2003 and I miss her dearly.
1972 V8 Jago
1980 Z750
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cs3tcr
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| posted on 28/11/14 at 06:34 PM |
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My maternal Grandad was a Chief Petty Officer with the RN, and was stationed in the Med, while my maternal Grandmother was a WRN and served in North
Africa. I never met my grandmother as she passed away before I was born. My Grandad never spoke of the war, and when asked didn't provide many
details.
My paternal Grandfather enlisted in the Canadian army, but never went to war. He was sent to the UK, then promptly returned to Canada. No idea why.
My maternal great Grandfather initially signed up for the Royal Field Artillery (WW1), deserted, joined the RNVR, was sent to Crystal Palace, caught
and sent back to the RFA. Unfortunately, the only record i could find on him is the RNVR enlistment card that shows him being sent back to the RFA.
A maternal distant uncle, who actually boarded with my great grandfather in Glasgow, left Scotland bound for Australia and enlisted with the
Australians when WW1 broke out. He was sent to Ypres where he met his end.
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