Hi. My name is Sal, my forum member name is mamerle. I was born during ww2 in the UK, but have spent most of my life in various parts of Africa. My father was in the RAF for the duration of the war, and my mother, who had obtained her pilots license in 1938, flew for a short time with the ATA but resigned (under protest) when she became pregnant. At the end of the war my father was seconded to the army for a year and we all moved to Egypt. I'm really here to see if I can find out the answers to a few questions and to fill in some information I am recording on my family tree. My hobbies generally have nothing to do with WW2 although I do enjoy visiting historic sites and WW2 memorabilia and wartime stories of individuals - I read a lot. I have a very strong sense of history and am stunned by the way I threw out photographs and memorabilia from my grandfather's house back in the 60s. How I wish I could have it all back . . . . OK - off to the Information Request Centre .
Don't worry we'll break her of the habit shortly. Welcome aboard by the way. For information on individuals the Information Request sub forum is one of the best. Those sort of questions will get answered just about anywhere but that sub forum seems to get quicker responses. There may also be some of the info you are looking for in responses there to the questions of others. Good luck in your searches. You've come to one of the best places for that sort of thing you can find by the way. We have several posters who are very well informed and helpful on these issues. Most also frequent WW2 talk but PLS share what you learn.
Since you are new. Otto (who owns these boards) is making a huge effort to save as much information as he can in regards to WWII and these boards. Part of that effort has been to adopt boards that were abandoned, defunct, or about to be so. One of the first was WW2 talk. It's been kept a bit apart because of the desires of many of those on the board and it's rather distinct culture. Most (all?) the rest have been simply tacked on to this board. Now as he gets time Otto has been reorganizing things into a more logical format but he's not getting paid for this and has a lot of irons in the fire. (Opana as you can see by his sig was one of the prime movers behind Hyperwar a vast collection of primary and secondary documents on WWII he passed that on to Otto as well). The point of all this is that things may seem a bit confuse around here but like I said the admins (and most of the rest of us) are quite friendly so don't be afraid to ask. Indeed if you have a question someone else probably has the same one or very close to it.
Thanks for the welcome Gordon. Iwd, I appreciate the explanation and the reassurance. I have already had a couple of replies to my first question so I'm happy.
Glad to have you aboard, Sal. Have you posted your queries on our sister site ww2talk? They have a more continental bent.
@ OpanaPointer - Don't worry, I'm patient with both the sane and the crazy and I can tell the difference. . . . ! @CAC - Thanks CAC. Love that pic - I guess the 'roo was the mascot - hope he survived . . . . It seems a bit crazy to enjoy photos of a war, but I find it fascinating to see how people coped and lived under such stressful times. When my folks moved to Egypt I was barely three years old, but I remember a surprising amount, probably because it was all so different. We were with the army in Ismalia - no pyramids that I saw there sadly. @Lou - I haven't yet had a moment to go to WW2talk but thanks for the pointer. My interest is mainly with the British forces and, in particular, the RAF and ATA at the moment, but I will definitely go and have a look.