Veteran Interview

Go right ahead, but I'd like a copy when you're done. Let me know how much it'd cost etc.

DUCE

 

Just wondering Alexandra, what object the fixed list of questions is to achieve? The sample you get is surely far too tiny to reach any conclusions? All it can produce is a few examples from the millions of people who took part?

In recent years I’ve noticed thousands of these projects mentioned on the web, and usually requests from children for a Veteran to interview. I believe there is an ongoing Federal scheme for students to interview Veterans and file the interview?

Some examples from children and more serious attempts are listed below.

No.9


http://www.bataviacsd.org/MS/SWATWarStories/VeteranInterviews.htm

http://www.wwiihistoryclass.com/student/transcripts_category.html

http://fas-history.rutgers.edu/oralhistory/indexA-H.html

 

Send them before thursday evening please.

I think you find my email-address.

 

Fine with me. It is a shame that the world wide web did not come 40 years ago when a lot of these veterans were still alive.

 

Sure thing, and if you have any other questions I can just call them!

 

PzJgr :

I know a few of us discussed this with you a year or longer ago.....

your grandfather served on Stug III's but which unit.....12th SS Pz.Jgr Abt. or in 38th SS Pz.Jgr Abt. ?...both ?

~E

 

Thank you Duce, PzJgr, & Doc! When the booklets are finished, I will make sure to send you all some free copies if you would like them.

If anyone else would like to order a booklet when they are finished, please let me know and I will put your name down. All proceeds are being donated to veteran's funds. Any suggestions as to names of funds that we should donate to are really appreciated!

No. 9 - originally these questions were being used to write up a research paper on the lives of several veterans. Basically, it was to be a brief biography of two-three war veterans. I assure you that they're not part of a federal scheme or anything like that However, we are now using the interviews (which we modifying slightly) to produce a small booklet filled with veteran interviews, stories, and photographs. And, as I said before, we are also donating all proceeds to veteran's funds. Hope that answered your question

 

I’ve found the US project I was referring to;

"There are 19 million war veterans living in the United States today, but every day we lose 1,500 of them. Motivated by a desire to honor our nation's war veterans for their service and to collect their stories and experiences while they are still among us, the United States Congress created the Veterans History Project."

The web site is: http://www.loc.gov/folklife/vets/vets-home.html

The questions from which I would guess your tutor cherry-picked a few from is at:

http://www.loc.gov/folklife/vets/questions.html

No.9

 

Hey, My grandfather passed away, although ive learned alot about him and I will add to this, Ive learned most about him through books and websites but will post what I know, believe I can answer all questions (maybe not the weapons one) ill get out the books and make notes.

 

No. 9 - Yes, I does look like my prof. used a lot of the questions on that site. Kind of amusing that he didn't bother to make his own...

Brad T. - I would love it if you filled out one of the interviews! If you want, tell me what war(s) your grandfather was in, and I can send you an interview more suited for that. If not, you can fill the other one out. Thank you!!

 

Sure, you can post the questions here, or e-mail me at sports_stuff_alberta@hotmail.com. He served in World War 2, In Canada, 1st Army, 2nd Inf. Div., 1st Battalion, He was also an adviser for the government during Korea and the Cuban Missle Crisis, but im afraid I don't know about that.

[ 24. April 2003, 07:45 PM: Message edited by: Brad T. ]

 

I asked him the questions and I will type them and post them.

But I still have a few questions to ask about a camp in Berlin near Spandau where a lot of foreigners were. Can anyone help me with that.

 

Unfortunately I don't have a specific answer. The last time I gave an assumption as an answer but should have clarified it as such. I do know he Started out on PAKs and moved onto the StuGs. For the life of me I cannot remember any specific unit below divisonal level. I do know that with the 38th he was not with any StuGs because there were none. That unit was so badly organized he was disillusioned at that point. Wish I had more info which is why it makes my research much more challenging.

 

Could he have been with the anti tank unit within the 38th or one of the infantrie units ?

~E

 

1.Name
Albert Sermeus

2.Current Age
86

3.Age at time of service
20

4.War(s) served in
Belgium

5.Countries served in
Belgium

6.Dates served
Mai ‘39-‘40

7.Assignments during service
The first months he was a regular soldier, but afterwards he was an employee in the army.

8.Rank at beginning and end of service
Soldier, afterwards he was moved towards the administration of the army.

9.Divisions served in
Eight compagnie of the Seventh divisions. (I’m asking the Belgian army more details about this one)

10.Do you recall your first days of service? What were they like?
Not yet asked.

11.Were you enthusiastic about serving in a war, or did you feel it was more of your duty as a citizen?
No, he wastn’t enthusiastic at all.

12.Did you keep a personal diary?
No

13.What was your life like on a daily basis (your daily routine)?
When he was in service they didn’t do much, but he used to go walking with friends.

14.What were your views of World War Two during your service?
He was only a year in service, but off course he didn’t like it and he hoped that it would end very soon.

15.Do they remain the same now?
Yes.

16.What were/are your opinions of the German soldiers during the war? Of Hitler?
The German soldiers treated him very well, but he hated Hitler even before the war started and after his capture this didn’t change.

17.What sort of combat experience can you recall?
Nothing, because he was in the administration and fled with all the military papers towards the innerland of Belgium.

18.Was combat something you witnessed often?
Not a real battle, but he heard a lot of airplanes flying over.

19.What weapons did you use?
He learned to work with a mitrailleur.

20.What are some of the more memorable experiences you had?
Liberation by the Americans and also the marriage to my grandmother in November 1942.

21.What was your family's response your military service?
They weren’t happy and neither did my grandmother because they were already engaged.

22.Did you keep in contact with them during the war?
He did with my grandmother and she told the rest of the family how he was doing.

23.Have you joined a veteran's organization?
No.

24.What did you do after the war?
He just started again as a tailor just as he did befor the war.

25.Do you feel it changed your perspective on life?
Completely. In fact he never enjoy his youth, because he had to go Germany. He also said the the youth from today is very lucky.

26.What events lead to you becoming a POW?
He was captured by the Wehrmacht when they tried to flee to the coast.

27.Did you feel that the German soldiers treated you fairly?
Yes.

28.Do you think that your nationality made a difference in the way you treated?
As a POW there were only Belgians. In Berlin there was a difference.

29.As a POW, how were you treated?
Very good.


30.What were you asked to do? What did a typical day as a POW involve?
Not much.

31.Were you allowed to keep in touch with your family while you were a POW?
With my grandmother.

32.What feelings did you have while you were a POW?
He hoped that he would return very soon to Mechelen and to go back to work.

33.Were there other POWs around you? If yes, were any of them from your troop, or were they people from all different militaries?
He was a POW and off course a lot of his friends were also there.

34.How did you feel when the Americans liberated you?
He was very happy and joyfull to go back home.


I will post the full story later.

 

Brad T.: I sent you some questions by email. Thank you!

Erwin: Wow! I really want to thank both you and your grandfather for doing the interview. Would you each like your own copies of the booklets?

Also, I have a question for everyone. Our original plans for the booklet were to have seperate sections for each war. The problem we are coming across is with World War Two and Korea. A lot of the veterans we are talking to served in both wars. Do you think it be appropriate to combine World War Two and Korea into one section? I'd like to know what you all think since everyone here has been so helpful and I'm sure that your opinions would be help us out a lot. Thank you.

 

That's good Cavusdaisy. Thanks for that. Maybe it is good to know that my grandfather was only a POW for a couple of weeks.

After that he was a couple of weeks home and was then sent to Germany. There he went from Mechelen - Rehbrücken - Berlin - Landweihler-Reden - Haßloch - Mechelen. I also asked him a lot of questions about this one. But I have to type it out in Dutch and then afterwards I shall translate it into English.

 

I would seperate the both wars, because it were two totally different wars.

Maybe you can split your book into different sections, namely per country.

 

If anyone would like a booklet, please email your name and email address to me so that I can get in contact with you when the booklets are finished (hopefully by mid-june). My email address is: carebearsbraveheart @ yahoo . com. Just take out the spaces in between everything. Thanks again to everyone here who helped out!

 

Hey, sorry for being late, somehow my computer got 92 viruses?

Name: Mark Tennant

Age at time of service: 26-32

Branch of service: Infantry

Rank at beginning and end of service: Private-Lt. Col.

Military training: Joined Militia well young, Calgary Highlanders were mobilized September 3rd 1939, trained in Calgary, Camp Shilo, then in England before reaching Normandy in 1944.

Dates served: In WWII, he was in different Militia units until September 3rd 1939, until late 1945, lead his regment 1953-1956, and was in military during Cuban Missle Crisis and Korea, but did not go overseas.


Was he drafted or did he enlist? If he enlisted, why.
Enlisted
did he choose to do so? Yes

How did his family and friends react to his service? Supportive.


What was his life like prior to his service?
He was in a mechanic, he was actully working on a car when he got the mobilization call, he left the Car in the shop, and went to the base, didnt see the car after.

What war(s) did he serve in? Where did he travel to? WWII- France, Holland, England, Belgum, Germany

What were his assignments? He was leader of the support company, getting nesesities for his troops, providing support for the other companys.

What were his impressions of the country(s) he
traveled to? Of the people there? From what I know he liked England, but was bored, and he was loved in France-Belgum-Holland.

What were some of the most memorable experiences he had? I'll give ya some battle stories:
Someone had fired a flare right over our area and then the Stukas came in, their sirens screaming. You could have struck a match on their noses they came so close to the ground. As they pulled up, down came their bombs, not the ordinary kind but containers with five to six hundred bomblets a little smaller than a grenade - grass-cutters. One container landed near me and didn't explode, Thank God.

There's always been an argument about how many Stukas there were. I think maybe three, others say half a dozen, others more. But they only made the one pass. No one had dug in except for Bob Morgan-Deane who was killed the next day. He made his platoon dig in and one of those clusters landed right beside them. Not one of them got a scratch. But counting a liitle skirmish we had next day, (the battalion) lost five officers and 115 men to those damn Stukas
Ahead of us, a German was running away and I decided to let him go. I didn't want to shoot the poor devil but then he turned back and picked something up. I thought that it must be pretty valuable and that if he was that serious about it, we probably needed it more than he did. I gave him the works and told the tank commander to stop. In the German's hand was a tin can with a swastika on it, used to collect coins for the war effort. And that had cost him his life! (This same Tin can is still at my uncles house with the money in it, I gotta take it from him one of these days)
Did he keep a journal? If yes, how often did he write
in it?
Nope

What did he and the other soldiers do in their spare
time?

Did he keep in touch with family and friends? If yes,
how so? Yes they wrote back and forth.

What was a typical day like for him?
In combat he was scouting, advancing making sure every one was fitted with weapons and support.
Was he involved in any combat? If yes, what was it
like? How did he feel about it? Was combat something
he experienced often?
Yes, don't know how he fealt, but I read he was very calm, he did expierence often.
What types of weapons did he use?
Mines, Rifle, Anti-Tank weapons.
What were his views of World War Two during his
service? Did they remain the same after the war ended? Dont know

When his service ended, what did he do? 45 but he stayed in Militia tell 1981. He did things like have family, open autobody shop, alderman in City of Calgary.

During his service, did he make friends that he kept.Yes
in touch with over the years? Yes

Did he join a veteran's organization? Royal Canadian Legion, also the highlanders met up every year


Is there anything else you would like to add?
Park named after him in Doetinchem.
Nominated for Victoria Cross
Had Citation from Montgomary, and other awards such as the Order of Canada