New member, shamefully clueless.

1. Your Name: Whats your name? What would you like to be called? How did you come up with your member-name?

My name is Chrissie, and er well I just went with it as my member name.

2. Age: How old are you? How long have you been interested in WWII?

I am 28. From as long as I can remember my Dad "bored" me with stories of WWII. I used to yell at him that I didn't care but some of it stuck. As I grew older and began to understand the gravity of what he was telling me I began to research some of his stories "Hey Dad said that xxxx... I wonder if that's true and why?". I lost my Father a few years ago and I hate that he is no longer around to see me finally get interested in his favourite subject. It's also sad that he isn't there to answer the million the questions I know he would be able to answer off the top of his head. My Dad was born in the 50s by the way and had no military background. Indeed being of mainly Irish origin only one member of my family (as far as I am aware) served in WWII.

3. Origins: Where are you from?

The UK.

4. Specifics: What areas of WWII are you interested in? What would you like to know more about?

Gosh all of it. I am especially interested in the Russo-German war.

5. Hobbies: What sort of Hobbies do you have? Are any related to World War II? Wargaming? Video-games? Memorabilia? Visiting historic sites?

I play video games and read possibly too much (if there is such a thing). I have two children and am doing a degree so not a whole lot of time for anything else.

6. Other: What other time periods are you interested in? Specific eras? Why?

The British industrial revolution and the Roman Empire (odd combination) are the two other periods in History that really capture my imagination. I have limited interest and knowledge of a few other periods.

7. Miscellaneous: Anything else you'd like to share with us?

I joined these forums for two reasons. Firstly like my Dad I want to discuss what I am learning and hear other view points on it. Also like my Dad I am beginning to bore family with it.

Secondly although I feel my military history of the conflict is much stronger than your average 28 year old woman with no formal education in the subject I am still missing huge swathes of knowledge. I want to read others posts and also find out the best sources of information to find out more.

Every time I finish a chapter of what I am reading I am filled with the need to talk about it, the need to find out more and hear if there is more than one side to the story. I am often frustrated. I intend to have a good look round the forum to see if any of my questions have already been answered. Some of these questions are probably pretty stupid.

 

Hi and welcome Chrissie. Don't be afraid, none of us start out as "experts" and even they can learn something new every day, as can we mortals.
Unusual if your Dad was born in the 50's for him to have such an interest in WW2.
What did his Dad do during WW2?
Surely Granddad and Grandma (on both sides of your family) couldn't have spent 6 years between 1939 and 1945 without being involved in some way.
And what about their parents? They must have been involved in WW1 too....

You may find that looking into your own family is an absorbing (if not obsession) hobby!!

 

Hiya and thanks for the welcome.

My Dad told me that most of his generation were really interested in the war, I remember him specifically telling me that when he was a child all the boys wanted to be soldiers and girls nurses because of the war.

My parental Grandfather was Irish and he came to Britain during the war to "teach women to farm" in the words of my relatives. My paternal Grandmother worked in a munition factory. My maternal Grandfather was too young to fight but his Father did something with MI6 possibly in Staffordshire. The relations on that side of the family aren't great so not sure of anything more than that.

I lost a relative in the battle of the Somme and my Great Grandfather was in the infamous Connaught Rangers (although he was discharged with Malaria before the mutiny).

You make a good point, there are a lot of gaps in my knowledge about my family during this period.

 

Thanks Slipdigit I suppose you have a point with the clueless thing.

I am currently reading a very large book called "World War Two" by Martin Gilbert, chose randomly from the library it's basically a chronological over view and like you say is a very helpful starting point. For every question answered it seems to raise 10! I have Barbarossa by Alan Clark lined up for afterwards as the Russo-German battles and conflict I find particularly fascinating.

I am going to go and find the book suggestions as I am already unhappy with some of the Gilbert book I am reading. Namely Gilbert seems to imply that FDR himself was reluctant to join the war were as I understand it was more a matter of public support (the same way it was across the entire world). I could be wrong, or it could all be a matter of opinion I really don't know. I am enjoying trying to find out though!

 

Welcome fellow recruit

As to being clueless, I thought I was pretty knowledgeable of WWII, until I found this forum.

But jump right in, talk about the things you do know, and ask about the things you don't, it seems a pretty friendly bunch.

Vest

 

Hello Chrissie, nice to meet you. I'm just two years older than you. I started reading about WWII when I was about 13, but I still feel clueless compared to these guys.

But thats ok. They are very helpful. Just don't act like you know everything and cannot back up your facts, or they will come after you!

 

Welcome - I too am fascinated with the Russo-German War and have discovered a number of excellent resources on said topic courtesy of the members of this forum. You are certainly in the right place to learn more.

 

welcome young lady

as to German/Russo war would suggest your local library / antique book dealers and discover what is on the shelves, this is what I did back in the 60's for starts till job(s) came into abundance and I could afford the books I was seeking although back in this middle aged times books were quite one-sided affairs

 

Echoing others, welcome to this fine site. And as pointed out already, there are no "dumb" questions. And as Jeff said, knowing what you don't know is the first step in the process.

In the words of both Lao-Tzu and Benjamin Disraeli (different words same meaning); "To know that you do not know is the best, to pretend to know when you do not know is a disease." (Lao-Tzu) To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step toward knowledge." (Disraeli)

I'm sixty years old, been doing this section of time for donkey's years, have a B.A. in history, and learn something new every single day. The scope of this period of time in human history is (to say the least), mind boggling.

The "wonders" of science and acceleration of the research in pursuit of winning this war alone are stupifying. Both the good and the bad. Again, welcome Chrissie. Enjoy your time here.

 

Welcome to the forums Chrissie, looking forward to your contributions.

 

Welcome Chrissie. Enjoy your stay here and absorb like a spunge.

Greg C.

 

Welcome Chrissie to the forum.. you have come to the right place. We are all here to learn about the war...so don't at all feel clueless. Even the experts are learning new things everyday. There is a wealth of information here and you are welcome to tell us what you know or like to know about any subject regarding the war.

So welcome and enjoy the forum!

i'm Suzie by the way

 

Thanks all for the lovely welcomes.

 

Welcome,

PD.