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Grandparent's Tales of the War

Discussion in 'WWII General' started by Piron, Feb 6, 2008.

  1. EinWahreSmannSbild

    EinWahreSmannSbild recruit

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    my grandfather(name: gyula) is from hungary shortly before the war the czechs attacked hungary and he was at the border and they came with no warning he was lying with a friend beside a road in a kind of canal. he saw explosions and heard shootings suddenly two men appeared in front of him and shooted he started firing back and they fell down. he looked to his friend and when he touched him, his body felt aside and gyula saw that his half face and head was missing. he stayed in the canal and didnt moved and he hide or act as an death , later that night the hungarian army striked back and found my grandfather he was the only survivor of the regiment. about this day he wrote later ended his childhood cause he killed the first time and saw the death. later the years the nazis accroached the might in germany. hungary were in alliance with them. but the germans didnt trusted the strength of the hungarian so they didnt really fought at the front line. but in the inner of the occupied countries they fought against partisans. in ukrainia but both sides didnt really wanted to fight against each other. and so one day they were standing in the forest, one each side of a glade there were standing the soldiers and every morning while they were standing in front of each other a group of pigs ran over the glade. so my grandfather as the officier said to the ukrainians lets shoot the pigs and make fifty fifty. next morning they shooted the pigs and a officier and the cook came out and took the meat of the pigs and arranged a three day peace at their small line. and had good times in a bad time. in my family the firstborns son name is gyula so my grandgrandfathers name is also gyula he was kind of in resistance in hungaria but we dont know exactly anyway the gestapo wanted him and got him later and tortured him to death but before they got my grandfather but the gestapo got the wrong gyula. they wanted to beat him and others the others were hitten brutal but he cried and howled "dont hit him" so they said <Mod Edited for Language> and he didnt got beaten later he sat smiling between the others with bloody and blue eyes and they couldnt smile. In the prison of the cage more exactly in the basement of the prison there were standing the gestapo guys and the prisoners in one room during a bombardment. the prisoners at the side which was close to the collaps and the germans on the strong side. the building was damaged or something. but the strong side got an direct hit and the prisoners were free. he came free and got catched again and came to another prison which was his old school building. in vienna. he escaped cause of his knowledge about the building and the areal and was almost free but the russians invaded the city and he had to flee again. in the end he ended up in germany. bought lace cause a jew told him, got rich, builded up an factory got three kids got died of parkinson in the age of 93 and i never really knew him. he spoke everything on camera and my uncle typed it down. but my german grandfather hes telling all the time how they kicked the russians asses and from the way back and his story ends at the close combats in berlin. he speaks perfect russian now he learned it in sibiria and came alive back. he stayed in the army till he pensioned off.
    and when you talk with him you are all the time somewhere in the war in estonia russia the lost home the positions. the war never really ended for him.
     
  2. b17sam

    b17sam WWII Veteran

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    Reading all these great WW2 stories related by grandsons and nephews, who now regret they didn't delve for more stories while Grandpa John or Uncle Harry still walked this earth spooks me out -- makes me feel like some kind of amorphous ghost wisping among you. Well, there are still many of us still around who can still report the straight goods about WW2, and far more truly than the fluff portrayed in books, movies, and TV advertising the True Story of this or that episode as told by writers who learned all about WW2 in books, movies, and TV. Check out B-17 B-24 Pictures Information 8th Air Force Flying Fortress Liberator Ploesti Schweinfurt Merseberg Berlin missions for the straight goods in reports and pictures from someone who was there and still walks among you..
    b17sam, your friendly ghost
     
    brndirt1, macrusk and Skipper like this.
  3. Skipper

    Skipper Kommodore

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    Hello Sir, thank you for this link. Guys you better be nice with Sam or he'll tickle your feet when you sleep :pacman-clyde:.:D

    Ivisited your site today and enjoyed the stories and the pictures. I love the modern one with the lions under the wing of the aircraft.
     
  4. macrusk

    macrusk Proud Daughter of a Canadian WWII Veteran

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    Thank you, Mr. Sam, for sharing your site and your story. I enjoyed the site and will be back to visit more thoroughly. I appreciate your service. I am also glad you are here and willing to share your memories with us.
     
  5. White Flight

    White Flight Member

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    Sam . . . talk like that in these parts is libel to get you adopted. My father is still kicking, but by uncles have past long ago.
     
  6. b17sam

    b17sam WWII Veteran

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    Thanks for the compliments, boys. I really don't deserve them, but come to think of it, I have a helluva bunch of arthritis in both knees and I don't deserve that either.
    b17sam
     
  7. Slipdigit

    Slipdigit Good Ol' Boy Staff Member WW2|ORG Editor

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    You're a hoot, Mr Sam.
     
  8. BigBlack

    BigBlack Member

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    Hello all. I dont much detail but I hope to find out more soon.

    My Grandfather (dads side) served in the U.S. Air Force during the war, not sure of exact years. He was in North Africa and later in France. We have many of his personal items from the war with is pretty cool. Sadly, he died when I was only 6 months old.

    My other Grandfather (moms side) was too young to serve in WWII. He lied about his age and joined the Navy at age 17 in 1949. He is still alive.

    My grandfather (moms side) cousin was a Paratrooper in the 502nd Airborne. He jumped in on D-Day. Im not 100% sure, as I was young, but I remember my grandfather saying he was KIA some time after D-Day.

    My grandfathers, sisters, husband was aboard the USS Fanshaw Bay in the South Pacific. I remember him telling me about how his fleet was training for the invasion of Japan toward the end of the war, but it never came. After the war he came home and became the sherriff of a small county in eastern Virginia. He died several years ago. I have many of his personal effects.

    Although no relation to me, the man who lived across the street to my mom when she was growing up was very close to my family. So much that she and her siblings called him "uncle". This man landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day. She said he never liked to talk about. Im sure he saw awful things. Sadly he died many years ago.
     
  9. urqh

    urqh Tea drinking surrender monkey

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    Good family history BigBlack, even though your other grandfather didnt serve in ww2, his service is no less interesting I bet. You should gain as much info on his service as you can. Its a young thing, to look at our older relatives and forget that they have been there, done that and seen things. We tend to think of them as not having a youth and being impetuous.
     
  10. urqh

    urqh Tea drinking surrender monkey

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    What emergency is it your referring to DanIO? Which decade? Irish Emergency can be pretty interesting story, but the last century was filled with the Irish Emergency. I am particularly interested in the Irish history and conflict. If you have any details please feel free to post. I only say which decade because I suppose it could have been either of the 2 great wars.
     
  11. White Flight

    White Flight Member

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    "I must ask him sometime." Sooner the better as your opportunity may slip away.

    The Emergency (Irish: Ré na Práinne) was an official euphemism used by the Irish Government during the 1940s to refer to its position during World War II. The state was officially neutral during World War II, but declared an official state of emergency on 2 September 1939,[1] and enacted the Emergency Powers Act the following day.[2] This gave sweeping new powers to the government for the duration of the Emergency, such as internment, censorship of the press and correspondence, and the government control of the economy. The term has remained in use, for example, as a cultural and historic context in school books. The Emergency Powers Act finally lapsed on 2 September 1946.[3][4] Although the state of emergency itself was not rescinded until 1 September 1976,[5] no emergency legislation was ever in force after 1946 to exploit this anomaly.

    The Emergency (Ireland - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
     
  12. urqh

    urqh Tea drinking surrender monkey

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    Thanks for explanation.

    I have my own history and experiences with Ireland.

    Keep diving in and out of R.F.Fosters Modern Ireland 1600-1972 which is enlightning to say the least.

    Thanks again.
     
  13. fricker66

    fricker66 Member

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    My grandfather (pictured below) served in the US Army during WWII as a surgical assistant at the 156th general hospital in England. He arrived there just a few days after D-Day and was obviously very busy during that time. He says as the troops pushed further into France there were fewer troops coming all the way back to England for surgery. However, once the Bulge began there was a huge spike in the injured and so they stayed in England until VE Day. He was brought back to the states as he expected they were preparing to send his group to the Pacific. Fortunately for him that day never happened.

    He's currently 84.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  14. ScreamingEagleMG42

    ScreamingEagleMG42 Member

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    Those are some great pics!

    The only real story i have from my grandpa about the war is one of his experiences on the day that Japan surrendered, it makes me laugh and cringe at the same time...

    He was stationed in the Philippines at the time and was on a transport boat with other members of his company. The other soldiers and him were chatting and listening to the radio when the announcement came that Japan had just surrendered and soldiers were laying down their weapons. The boat burst with excitement and celebration at the announcement that they would all be going home.

    Amidst all the excitement one of the soldiers in the company was shouting and grabbing his rifle he tossed it overboard. This brought a chain reaction of nearly every soldier on the boat (grandpa included) launching their rifles into the ocean despite the shouting of their officer to whom they gave a few "choice words".

    I loved hearing this story as i could just picture the relief of these soldiers as they tossed their weapons overboard. However it almost made me sick at the thought of all those beautiful M1's lying at the bottom of the ocean right now!

    I never did find out from him what punishment they received for disposing of their rifles...
     
  15. Chenstrap

    Chenstrap Member

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    nothing from grandparents but my dads godfather drove higgins boats inthe first waves of iwo and okinawa. would always get annoyed with people who would say "i feel so bad for wat thode marines are going thru" and he would come back with " they can get up on the beach and try 2 find a crater or soomethin like that bit i need 2 make 3 or 4 trips to and from the beach doing 5 mph". also had a pet monkey on okinawa and iwo. my dads godfther was playin football with buddies on either iwo or okinawa, not sure, and tojo (the monkey) decided he wanted the ball. so when tony (dads godfather) got the ball he climbed up on hi head and started punching him and pulling his hair. priceless
     
  16. LRusso216

    LRusso216 Graybeard Staff Member

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    I enjoyed reading the personal stories. My father's unit was originally an AA/AWB unit that became an infantry unit in the 5th Army. I know he spent time in North Africa and took part in the invasion of Salerno. He continued in the Italian campaign until the end of the war, reaching the Po Valley. Unfortunately, my father was always reluctant to talk about his experiences except when he went to the annual reunion that his company held. I used to attend them, and one of his buddies is my godfather. The guys would gather late into the evening and talk about their experiences, and I only got to hear bits and pieces. Since I was only a child, I really didn't know what they were talking about, although they jokingly talked about winning the war bigger every time they met. My father passed away in 1990, never really having said much to us about what he did. It has only been in the past 5-8 years that I've begun to piece together what he did. Most of the guys in his outfit passed away many years ago, so I can't even talk to them. I feel such a dolt for letting the opportunity pass.
     
  17. brndirt1

    brndirt1 Saddle Tramp

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    I've put off adding this story, since it isn't one of "heroics" or anything, just a sort-of funny story concerning my Dad and my Grandfather. Dad was a pilot with Transport Command flying C-47s, his last base was Greenham Common outside of London. But after he was rotated home to instruct other pilots in multi-engines in late July, 1944, he was given a short leave to go home and visit his folks (my grandparents) in August of ‘44. My Grandpa was a recent immigrant from Norway in the early twenties, and patriotic to his new country to the Nth degree.

    Since he was a farmer, Oskar received a pretty large gasoline ration budget, and he read and followed the instructions to the letter. When FDR asked him to aid in the "war effort" by using less gasoline, he fired up his old Twin-City "25" steam traction engine and parked his steel wheeled Hart-Parr gas tractor for the duration. Oskar had worked for the Great Northern railway while trying to get his farm up and paying, as well as custom threshing for others (and done other things, see below). The Twin-City could be fueled with straw during the harvest, but it needed coal for the plowing. So, since he knew where to find coal that was being wasted along the lines, he would hitch up a horse and wagon and go "coal" hunting for the fuel. If he didn’t find enough he would re-hitch his team, and still finish the plowing.

    Anyway, Dad came home near the change of a month or a ration period or something, and one morning he came out to the kitchen to find Grandpa feeding sheets of gasoline ration stamps into the pot bellied stove. When he asked his Dad what he was up to, he was told; "it says right on the instruction page, if you find you have unused stamps when you receive the new stamps, destroy the excess stamps, and that is what I am doing. I never use ‘em, I just burn ‘em"

    When Dad told him how much those would be worth on the "black-market", Gramps just said that would be cheating, you don’t win wars by cheating.

    Dad loved telling me that story, and teasing Gramps at the same time for being such a "straight arrow" when it came to the American ration program. This was doubly funny because Oskar was known to be a bit of a "rake", he toured around in a Graham-Paige "Sharknose" in the late thirties with a cougar and a boxer (dog) staging "pit-fights" for extra money. He himself was a prize fighter, and wrestler. Played pool for profit, and did a bit of "bootlegging" as well. But when it came to the war effort, it seems he was as honest as the day was long.

    Almost exactly a year later, Dad had been given another leave and was home for his birthday (Aug. 9th), and while he didn’t really hear that the atomic bombing of Nagasaki was on that day until he returned to the base he always maintained that bomb was the "best birthday present" he ever got.

    If anybody is interested I have the "proof" glossies that Gramps used for advertising his "animals" in the "fights". Of course they never fought each other, and he told me that he also wouldn't let either his cat or dog kill another animal in the pit. Don't know I totally believe that, but hey he was my Gramps and I thought the world of him. He taught me to fly fish, and to tie flies of my own. What can ya say? Sometimes admiration is blind.;)
     
  18. clivetemple

    clivetemple recruit

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    My Grandad served aboard HMS Topaze in the RN during WW1. In WW2 he worked at Vickers in Weybridge, Surrey where he was badly wounded during an air raid.

    He knew Barnes-Wallis but according to Grandad, BW wasn't a very practical kinda guy so he always had to ask my Grandad to help him fix his car. ;)

    Grandads eh?
     
  19. Heidi

    Heidi Dishonorably Discharged

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    Why can;t i sulute fricker66 post with his grandfather pictures posted in his post???

    I have one report from one of my grand fathers,that he saw inside a captured British tank or an American tank (can;t remember which one) that there was body bits everywhere.

    I don;t have much stories to share,sorry.
     
  20. MarineRaider

    MarineRaider Member

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    This is great. thanks for posting!
     

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