antony1969 Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 Listening to some amazing , incredible stories this morning on 5 live radio about real heroes who faced hell on earth 70 years ago Big thanks to my Grandad , Herbert Tunacliffe and the rest of those young lads who were ' just doing there job ' as they say Any personal stories of relatives involved ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Collings Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 None from my father he was several thousand miles away at the time with the 2nd Dorsets and busy chasing the Japanese away after the battle of Kohima. He had buried a lot of mates there. On the way east in Nov 43 his troopship had been sunk by the Luftwaffe in the Med. Everyone aboard survived. A month later the next convoy came a cropper and the Allies suffered the worst trooping disaster of the war. I was in Falaise a month or so after the 50th Anniversay and met a D Day Vet. He wondered if it had all been worth it. I said " Neither I or my two adult sons have had to go to war so thank you very much for what you did. Perhaps it was he said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Dwight Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 My family lost a relative, he flew Lysanders he took a passenger over to France one night and was never heard of again. My father was in the RAF survived the war and died of Cancer at 58. An uncle was in the Welsh Guards and fought in the Desert I believe. father in law was in the 8th army survived with shrapnel wounds having been in the Desert, Italy and Selonica Another uncle was at Arnhem. My Grandfather was in the Trenches in WW1 he survived but lost both his feet due to trench foot. If it wasn't for people like them we would not be here today. So many of the young men were in their late teens having lied a bout their age to go and fight for their Country. It makes you feel very humble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nowtelse2do Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 My father was in the Royal Navy and was on escort duty for the Dieppe raid. Apparently he told my mother that he hid in a coil of rope and that he would sooner be a live coward than a dead hero. Nice chap my dad, Mum separated from him when I was 4 month old and divorced him when I was 4yr old, mum said he was very good at hitting women and babies, breaking into old people's houses, beating up drunks and robbing them. But he did like other ladies, he was always nice to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antony1969 Posted June 7, 2014 Author Share Posted June 7, 2014 In my view great posts them and nice to read some personal stories about folks relatives As for your dad Dave , his wife beating and other to the side I wonder how we would have reacted in such circumstances . Not all can be heroes and there must have been plenty that hid , froze , faked injury to escape hell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Collings Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 We rightly remember D-Day but the conflict raged on elsewhere. The men fighting in other theatres gave themselves ironic names. The 8th Army in Italy were the D-Day Dodgers and the 14th in Burma The Forgotten Army. Coming back and Restarting life after it was all over could very difficult. I can remember one full and frank discussion between my parents ending with Mum telling Dad "Dont come all regimental with me." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archiesgrandad Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 My Dad was a labourer at the local gas works, and this was a Reserved Occupation so he was not allowed to leave. He worked extremely long hours for very poor pay, and was twice was given bravery awards for moving wagon loads of dangerous chemicals away from the residential area when the works was bombed. We were .sent away to Leicestershire for the duration, but he was not allowed to go with us, so he lived in our bomb damaged house alone, by the time we moved back he had somehow found time to repair it all. Whilst we were away he had only one day off after seven days, which meant that he could be away from the works for exactly 48 hours. He used to cycle 47 miles out to Leicester, spend a day with us, and then cycle straight back to work, summer or winter, through rain, snow,ice, fog, he said only occasionally sunshine, daylight or darkness. This was on roads with no street lights , road signs, or anything like that. He was frequently stopped by policemen as he cycle through the darkness, or Home Guard or Regular troops, because German bombers flew along that route to and from bombing Coventry and Birmingham, and occasionally had to jump out of their aeroplanes. I know it's different, but he was my Hero. After the war, specifically as a reward for his war effort, he was specially trained and promoted to Engine Driver, with a small pay rise. Thank God for them all. AGD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antony1969 Posted June 7, 2014 Author Share Posted June 7, 2014 Interesting post that AGD , sometimes forget the great essential jobs done by those at home . Your old man sounds like he was pretty decent kind of fella who well deserves your hero tag Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Symbol Owner Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 AGD beat me to it about essential jobs done on the 'Home Front' Antony:- My Dad was born in 1893, so was just over the age to be 'called up' -- he was deemed to be 'unfit fo service' -- he had a very slight build --for WW1 -- but, as my parents lived in London during WWII, he served as an Air Raid Warden -- we kids played with his 'Tin Hat' after the war (I was the 1st. of 3, born 2 months before D-day.) Dad regaled us with tales of throwing incendiary bombs off the roof of St. Pauls Cathedral -- it worked -- Wrens grand dome is still there! My Mum worked for the furniture-making firm of Harris Lebus & Co.,who, during the war, turned their woodworking/manufacturing operations over to making wooden airframes for the fabulous 'Mosquito' light bomber ( one of which landed bombs on Hitler's Chancellery) and, also, many of the 'Hengist' and 'Horsa' gliders that transported airborne troops into France on D-day -- so there is an indirect connection there! Mother kept a couple of glider pattern books after the war was over, which (Ithink) one of my brother's still has in his possession. Our house was greatly shaken when a 'V2' rocket landed on a nearby Co-Op store in daytime, with great loss of life. I used to play on the 'bombsite' a couple of years later and recall the 'Rose-bay willowherb' which grew there. My mother was in London (as were my aunt & grandmother) throughout the 'Blitz', so many wartime memories were handed down. Those days, with the whole population working together toward a common goal, followed by the 'landslide' election of the greatest reforming Government that this country has ever seen, is what has informed my political/social aspirations ever since. I think that most of you 'youngsters' must come from the "Never had it so good" generation! Colin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
candapack Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 Symbol Owner - 2014-06-07 12:38 PM I think that most of you 'youngsters' must come from the "Never had it so good" generation! Colin. "Never had it so good" sums it up for me. Never had to go to war. Never unemployed. Never had to worry about getting a job. And now, aged 61, retired on a reasonable final salary pension. A very very lucky generation indeed. :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Symbol Owner Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 How right you are, Chris, that's exactly what I meant! It was, of course, the Tory prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, who coined the phrase which I quoted, but you knew that, didn't you? cheers, Colin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 candapack - 2014-06-07 2:25 PM Symbol Owner - 2014-06-07 12:38 PM I think that most of you 'youngsters' must come from the "Never had it so good" generation! Colin. "Never had it so good" sums it up for me. Never had to go to war. Never unemployed. Never had to worry about getting a job. And now, aged 61, retired on a reasonable final salary pension. A very very lucky generation indeed. :-D Trouble is that ALL pensioners tend to get labelled the generation that " never had it so good " Even those that got bombed out of their houses - split up from their families by evacuation,and had to put up with years of rationing. :-| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Collings Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 My late father in law was about 16 when the war started, good at maths and working for an engineering company in the East End of London close to the docks. He he tried to join up despite being in a reserved ocupation but had serious hearing problems and failed the medical. He helped turn out high precision parts for the war effort and nights on the rooftops spotting indecendaries all through the blitz, The family were bombed out as well. He probably had more explosives aimed his way than the average serviceman. He watched some of the mulberry harbours being built but never guessed what they were for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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