Forum Users Areas of Knowledge

Only just picked up on this.

My main areas of interest/knowledge are:

British Army in WW2; having access to a large number of regimental and divisional histories.

Campaign in NW Europe 1944-45.

Campaign in Italy 1943-45.

I also have a pretty good knowledge of WW2 Battlefields worldwide and am happy to help or advise on visiting them.

 

My interest is British history of the 20th century.
I'm afraid I'm a bit of a Jack of all trades, and master of none.

 

Mine are:
*101st Airborne Division
*US Army operations 1941-1945 (ETO)
*Medal Of Honor recipients
*US Military medals and decorations
*Holocaust/War Crimes
*Market Garden and Dutch operations (to an extent)
*German medals and decorations
*Oberleutnant Gunter Viezenz
*Infantry Weapons of all countries
*Hitlerjugend groups 1944-45

Want to know more on:
*Battle of the Bulge
*French Campaign after D-Day
*Waffen SS/Allegemeine SS
*Tank Destruction Badge recipients

 

My interests is in ALL military history, Im not as knowledgeable about WW2 as other wars, but my interests are in no particular order

PTO mainly Philippine Scouts and guerilla units
ETO Stalingrad and Kursk
Tanks especially Soviet and German
Waffen SS
US Marines

I would like to learn more about

Logistics
WTO
Navies
French Resistance
Anti Partisian Operations
Afrika Korps
German Generals
And anything else I don't already know about

 

My WW2 strongpoints:


Fall of France
Fall of the Philippines
Winston Churchill
Douglas MacArthur
Jonathan Wainwright
EarlY PAcific War
VMF 214 (Black sheep Squadron)
THe American Eighth Airforces campaign over Europe
The Russo-Finnish Winter War
The Jagdflieger (German Fighter Arm)
JG 26


And non ww2, if anyone wants a question answered:
American Space Program
ALL AMERICAN MILITARY ACTIONS (Boxer, Nicaragua, North Russia, etc.)


Learning more about:
Civil War (American)
WW1


CvM

 

And another old thread surfaces...I quite liked this one, and it would be interesting to hear some of our newer members' areas of interest.

Looking back at my list, it's remained pretty much the same ( the interests vary in intensity, but they are always there ) with two main additions : -

The Tiger Tank
The Normandy Campaign.

 

Well, definitely over the years I´ve started reading about " the other side"

Malta
Grand Slam and Tall Boy
El Alamein
Operation Bagration

 

Everything on the British Home Front for me, also military archaeology.

 

Primarily materiel.
Used to be intrigued by just the articles themselves but now far more interested in the development processes that led to them as followed by Great Britain and Germany, and to a slightly lesser extent the US.

& Cameras.

Conversely, my greatest area of weakness is the Pacific fighting, It always intrigues me how our areas of knowledge are so often dictated by our differing cultural backgrounds, & that part of the war just never cropped up in conversation while I was growing up.

Cheers,
Adam.

 

The title of this thread intrigued me…..“Forum users area of knowledge”.

I’ve often wondered what areas of expertise were owned to by other members but hopefully, by the time this thread has run its course, I will finally have the answer

Speaking for myself, I can of course retreat to my signature which shows areas in which I served, namely North Africa, Sicily, Italy, Egypt, Austria & Germany and I can quite happily and with confidence, speak of what it was like to have survived in those frenetic wartime days. I cannot however talk of such things as strategies and decisions taken at Commander level, at the time of which we speak I was but a lowly ranker in the Royal Artillery and later the Royal Armoured Corps.

No one above the rank of Sgt.Major ever took me into their confidence or told me what was going on, like millions of soldiers since time immemorial I just did what I was told and tried to stay alive.

While I have the floor, as it were, I would beg your indulgence while I raise an affiliated matter.

In 1949 I married the love of my life and thereby acquired a new family, namely my wife’s.

Two of my wife’s uncles, sadly departed many years ago, were of the generation that fought in the First World War, then known as the Great War and I was bemused by the fact that whenever these two met up they would be forever comparing wartime experiences.

I have to remind myself now, in the year 2007, that these two old codgers were reminiscing in 1949 about events that had taken place only 30 odd years before yet here am I, on this site, discussing and yes, remembering, things that took place 65 years ago.

I like to pride myself on the fact that I have never knowingly published an un-truth.

This has often required that I go back at a later date to articles I have previously written and say something like “on checking with my diaries I find” and make, where the system allows, the necessary amendments.

I am deeply aware of the limitations of what I have to offer in the way of historical dispute never having previously been involved in any academic research of wartime events but I am equally aware of what we, the old clan, can offer those who are prepared to listen.

Fellow veterans like Sapper and Tom Canning have told what it like to be grievously wounded, other “lucky buggers” like myself have told of the sheer miserable existence of surviving, in my case, almost five years of a mind sapping mixture of boredom/exhilaration albeit usually spent in extremely perilous conditions.

I would humbly suggest that you simply take our "veteran" tales as being the salt that enlivens your academia. “They should have done this” or “He should have done that” is all very well when using hindsight but just remember those of who lived in the period in question had to make do with pure ability and lots of guts.

With regards to all

Ron

 

Lately I've been looking into Operation Reservist and the North African landings pretty intensely and really intrigues by what I am finding.

 

I am hugely interested in North Africa and the Med, particularly the early years ('40-'41) but also the actions in Tunisia from Torch to the end in Africa.

 

and welcome to our forums...........

Ron and I expect you to keep adding your thoughts from the past as we of the younger genration need to know so we do not repeat

for me well yes I had to go back to page # 1 and see what I included.........yep I'll stick with air war over the Reich, S-booten of the Kriegsmarine arm

this is a good thread to have on hand, glad it was brought back up

 

Same here:

Eastern, Balkan and Mediteranean Theater of Operations
Waffen SS
Facist Italy

 

That is a more than fair point, Ron; and one which I try ( but don't always succeed ) to keep in mind. As you say, it's nice and easy for me to say 'why on Earth didn't they...?' but then...no-one's ever shot at me ....

 

Mine has not shifted to much but I would add to this

- Western Air Power both at the Strategic and Tactical level
- Operation JUBILEE - The Raid on Dieppe

Ross

 

Hello

My main interests are:

Operation Jubilee
Dieppe 19 August 1942
Army Commando WW2
Royal Marine Commando WW2
SBS WW2
SOE WW2
SAS WW2
No6 Commando
101 Troop
SAS in Malaya in the 50's
Covert operations in Malaya in the 50's

There That should cover it for now

 

Mine are,

-All types of tanks
-High-level ground tactics
-ETO, mainly D-Day and post D-Day
-MTO, mainly north Africa

Need to learn more in
-Ost front
-Italian Campaign
-PTO
-Naval stuff

 

I'll call mine areas of interest, knowledge (maybe).
Aircraft (fighters/ground attack/torpedo/dive bombers)
Navy (ships/planes/battles)
Tanks et-al
PTO, ETO
Submarines
B-29's
Island fighting