What did your relatives do in the war, Daddy?

My Grandfather was in the 102nd FA Battalion, he drove jeeps and was a part of forward observer groups... put very simply. My great uncle also served in WWII and my dad was in the Army during Vietnam.

 

One of my granddads was in the S.A.S in World War 2 and my other grandfather was in the NZRAF in the pacific. I also had an auntie who was stationed at Biggin Hill in WW2 in the WAAF.

 

My Dad joined the Navy in the Fall of '44 but did not actually go through training until the Summer of '45. He is technically a veteran of the War but he never saw combat. In fact, he was never at any time on the water and he never fired a weapon during his three years in the service!

My Mum is from Guernsey in the British Channel Islands. She was evacuated the night before the Germans occupied the island and spent the war in London and then Yorkshire, where she and an older sister were placed at a farm. Her father (my grandfather) was in the RAF -- a navigator, I think -- and I know he flew missions to supply the French resistance and was stationed in Persia for a while.

 

My father worked in the shipyard in Greenock at the start of the war then went round the Uk building R.A.F. bases, he had a couple of close calls when the Luftwaffe bombed Greenock he told me it was quite sight to see a whiskey distillery go up in flames. He had two brother's in the Seaforths and one a chief engineer in the Merchant navy who survived being sunk twice, his third ship was unscathed.
My mum washed flying boats on the River Clyde and her two brothers were with Monty in Africa.
Everyone survived the war.

My father had the most amazing memory and it was through him I got interested in Military history. Alway with hindsight when you had your relatives around you didn't think to record what they were saying but now sadly they are no longer with us, you wished you had.

cruachan

 

I am still looking for information on my family, but i have found out that my grandmothers brother(Isnt he my granduncle then? I have no idea) Was a sailor on a ship called Brant County and he was killed when the ship was torpedoed March 11 1943 by a U-757

 

My father was a Staff Sergeant in the US Army stationed in the Antilles, the Panama Canal Defence Zone, and in Latin America. One of my uncles was a CPL in the 45th Inf. at Anzio where he was wounded. Another uncle was a SGT in the 65th Infantry Reg. in France. Another uncle was a PO 2nd Class on a Destroyer off Okinawa(?).

 

I love reading the stories you all give in this old thread ;-)) Keep them happening ;-))

 

Then i suggest you read these threads i have created: http://www.ww2f.com/military-service-record-genealogical-research/34905-any-these-still-alive.html http://www.ww2f.com/military-servic...34459-search-after-missing-family-member.html

 

Just joined the forum--loved reading these stories, so I thought I'd share mine.

My grandfather was a Lieutenant (JG) in USN. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross for extraordinary achievement in aerial combat as pilot of a fighter plane in action against Japanese forces in the Battle of the Coral Sea, 7 and 8 May 1942. His plane failed to return 8 May 1942 and he was presumed KIA. Naval Destroyer Escort USS Rinehart (DE-196) was named in his honor, which I happen to think is very cool! Old Ohio State football coach Woody Hayes was the commanding officer of the Rinehart during WWII.

 

Dad: USN. At Pearl Harbor during the attack, assigned to a minesweeper Sqdn. Later stationed on the YDG-4 when it ran aground near New Caledonia.

Mom: Civilian guard at McClellan Airfield, carried a .38.

Uncle John: USN. Naval Aviator, TBF's. Member of VC-19, shipped with the USS Bogue and USS Guadalcanal. KIA in night time landing accident.

Uncle Charlie: USA. Not sure of activities.
Uncle Frank: Shipfitter at Kaiser Shipyard in Napa, CA.
Uncle Casper: Not sure.
Uncle Eddie: USAAF. Unsure of activities.

 

I had two uncles on my mother's side who served in the ETO during WW II. Don't really know much about their war experiences, but one was infantry and survived the war. The other one, I'm told, was a tanker in the 2nd. Armored (Hell on Wheels?) division. he was killed just a couple of months before the end of the war in Europe.

Both my parents served in the US Navy in WW II. My dad enlisted in late 1938 and since he already had his pilot's license and experience flying in Alaska, he was sent to pilot training. Prior to the war he flew SBD's off the old Ranger, and then in 1941, was transferred to the Enterprise in the Pacific. He was there when the war started and fought in all the Enterprise's battles in 1942, as well as being among a group of SBD pilots who flew from Henderson Field late in 1942. In the spring of 1943 he was transferred back to he States and became a pilot instructor. After a year of that duty, he was again transferred to an active carrier (the Lexington CV -18) this time flying F6F Hellcats. He continued until the end of the war and returned home in August, 1946

My mother enlisted in the Navy in 1943 after her first husband (a B-17 pilot) was killed over Germany. She was trained as a parachute rigger, and stationed at Moffett Field near Oakland, CA. She was mustered out of service in November, 1945.

My wife is Chinese and was born on the island of Borneo when it was still a British colonial possession. She later became an Australian citizen. Her parents and older siblings were resident in Miri in 1941 when the island was invaded by the Japanese. Her father, who was an oil field production engineer helped the British authorities blow up the well heads. The Japanese treated Chinese people's especially brutally wherever they were found, and my in-laws were no exception. The have told me stories that simply disgust and appall me. All of her family however, managed to survive the Japanese occupation with the exception of her eldest brother who was arrested by the Japanese and never seen again.

 

Very cool. Just a minor correction. Moffet Field is near San Jose on the south end of the Bay. You can still see the blimp hangars.

 

My Grandfather served as a tail gunner on a Lancaster bomber with the RCAF from 1944 (post d-day) to the end of the war a little past that. He said that he served with 2 different crews after the first one was mostly wounded or killed in a bad landing. He also participated in food drops in the Netherlands and talked fondly of these runs. He didn't talk to much of alot of the flights but you can tell from the reaction that most of these were not good. Also he mentioned that he volunteered for a few missions that even up to his death he didn't know what they were for. The crews were asked to volunteer for a mission dealing with new equipment he said yes, 2 nights later he was picked up in a jeep, had a bag put on his head and drove around for what he said felt like hours. When the jeep stopped he was put into a lanc and the plane took off, after some time the bag was taken off and he was told to go into his tail gun and use it as he would normally, "defend the plane but always aim down",he said there was no shells but he did what he was told "shooting at targets". Did this for about a hour before being hooded, landing and taken back. He did this 2 times but never knew what he was doing. Unfortunately he had his shed that he kept all his military items (but his medals) burn down so we have no record to his unit or service numbers , and he might have told me but it was so long ago I would never remember. I have tried to look up service records but he has a incredibly common name I have not had any luck.

 

My mistake.

But actually, that was how my mother described it whenever she was talking about her Navy experiences. San Jose, in the war time years, was nothing but a small farming community, and mom being a city girl, didn't consider it worthy of mention. So Moffett Field, for my mom, was "near Oakland".

 

I had three uncles in the war, two in the ETO and one in the PTO. My grandfather served with the AEF in France during WW I.

 

Not sure how i didnt see this thread and i know i mentioned it a lot, but my grandfather was an surgical technician in the 26th general hospital, stationed in africa and italy during the war.

 

That is certainly a role that often is not brought up, but clearly an important one. Just think of the lives he would have saved.