Today is the 69th anniversary.....

[JM07]

of the start of WWII


We, the generations that have followed, are, i'm sure, grateful for the sacrificies that were made by our parents, grandparents aunts uncles, etc, etc, that allow us to be who we are now.




i for one hope there is some sort of memorial service for the 70th anniversary next year.

we in the "free world" owe so much to those who lost their lives all those years ago............

 

[Sooty]

Some are grateful, some are unaware, some don't care. It is saddening that on each anniversary there are fewer and fewer surviving soldiers. Some of the 'men' who joined up were little more than boys, and women played a very significant role, both in the forces and at home. Hard times, so easily forgotten.

 

[Halfstep]

Well said JM07.

My Grandfather, who unfortunately now has a terminal illness, took part in the Normandy landings and fought in France. He never spoke much about what he went through, but I'm so proud that he made that sacrifice. We certainly do owe so much to the soldiers who served and died for what was a truly important cause. I also have family who died in the camps. I hope society will never forget the horror of totalitarianism and how close we all came to losing our freedom.

 

[TableDancer]

I'm glad you reminded us of this - thanks. Easy to get caught up in the minutiae of every day life and horses and forget about the big stuff.

 

[Fantasy_World]

JM07 and Sooty I echo both your sentiments on this matter entirely.
As a descendant of people who fought in both WWI and WWII I am eternally grateful to the efforts and sacrifices made by my own family and for those made by others as well.
We should never ever forget the courage shown and sacrifices that were made by those still living, the people who have since died and those individuals who lost their lives in the name of war.
War may be a dirty word to some these days and in some cases I don't believe war to be the ultimate answer to a human created problem but in retrospect of WWI and WWII ( especially the latter) it was a necessary action which as JM07 has rightly pointed out has enabled our existence in a 'free world'.
Caroline

 

[Vicki_Krystal]

My grandad - who sadly passed away in march - fought in the navy in WW2.

He was torpedoed twice!
To my grandads last day he would never speak of the horrors he saw in the war - a few weeks before his death he was watching a program on the war and was in tears as it brought it all back to him.

How anyone can not care about the brave men that fought is beyond me?
They shaped the country we live in today and for that we should all be grateful.

 

[Cop-Pop]

My grandad raised his glass

He was in the navy and was involved in capuring the enigma machine. I read his memiors and some of the tales made me feel ill - they used to have to shovel human remains out of the engine room when they were torpedoed before they started to smell from the heat

 

[MurphysMinder]

Very well said JM07. My Mum (who passed away in May this year) drove an ambulance during WWII, and Dad was in the army (he died in 1992). We are not church goers but each year I took Mum to the Remembrance Day service and it never failed to move me. My daughter was standard bearer for the Brownies one year and I was very proud, and pleased that she at least understood the sacrifice so many made.
I agree that some sort of memorial service next year would be a great idea.

 

[Bubblegum]

Well said.... my Father-in-law was invloved in D-Day. He dies last year. He was a very proud man, who rarely spoke of his experiences..but you could see the pain of his memories at times.
There have been a number of occasions to remember the end of the war, but few to commemorate the beginning of it. I hope something is done next year.

 

[SSM]

Echo senitments, we must also NEVER forget the Holocaust or it will happen again.

 

[Cuffey]

I think most families will have some connection
My uncle was a radio operator on the Atlantic crossings--he survived
Another uncle was a Japanese POW, he came home so thin he was unrecognisable and suffered stomach complaints the rest of his life, my aunt has been a widow a long time
My mothers cousins husband was shot down and killed as an RAF pilot she never remarried
My husbands step father (broad Yorks accent) never talked about the war but dreamed aloud in German
My Grandfather was killed in Iraq in WW1 when Mum just a baby.
My Mum and Dad farmed and grew potatoes etc for the war effort
Local schools here visit War Graves in France or Auchwitz
Those pupils will never forget

 

[nuffield]

It was also my dads 18th Birthday. He went down to the Royal Marine recruitment office in Manchester and joined up.
Rather different from how many would celebrate their birthday today,getting drunk and so on.

 

[CorvusCorax]

I was sitting watching 'Nazis - A Warning From History' last night (Sep 3) and the narrator said right at the end of the episode before I went to bed: 'On Sep 2, Germany invaded Poland. On Sep 3, France and England declared war on Germany' - sent a shiver up my spine.

When my grandmother was the age I am now, she had married a man almost fifteen years her senior (when she was 19), she had four children (two of her own, two adopted), three of those she had taken halfway around the world as an army wife, she survived a u-boat attack on one of the first convoys of WWII and braved the Blitz.

She passed away two years ago. While she didn't start talking about the war until later life ("We weren't allowed to talk about it") I was pretty much raised on her stories and I count myself lucky that I have been able to live in relatively peaceful times (touch wood) and I am all too aware that they just don't make them like her anymore!

Her generation is leaving us and I think we all have a duty to listen to and pass on their stories or else they will be gone for good.

 

[MotherOfChickens]

we must never forget. My natural grandfather was shot down over Holland and died, my stepgrandfather was a Desert Rat and my own father involved in the clearing of Belsen.
Nazis-Warning from History and The World at War should be made compulsory viewing at schools I think.

 

[MissDeMeena]

[ QUOTE ]
I think most families will have some connection
My uncle was a radio operator on the Atlantic crossings--he survived
Another uncle was a Japanese POW, he came home so thin he was unrecognisable and suffered stomach complaints the rest of his life, my aunt has been a widow a long time
My mothers cousins husband was shot down and killed as an RAF pilot she never remarried
My husbands step father (broad Yorks accent) never talked about the war but dreamed aloud in German
My Grandfather was killed in Iraq in WW1 when Mum just a baby.
My Mum and Dad farmed and grew potatoes etc for the war effort
Local schools here visit War Graves in France or Auchwitz
Those pupils will never forget

[/ QUOTE ]

That's amazing, that you know so much!!

One of my grandfathers wasn't able to go to war, so therefore stayed at home to farm, and the other one wont talk about it!

So i don't know that much about my families involvment in the war..
My Grandmother, (married at the time to the grandfather that wont talk abou it) used to drive lorries in Burma, the big red cross lorries.. She always used to joke to me that granny was a trucker during the war.

 

[kerilli]

Thank you for the reminder. We must never forget. We are so lucky to live in quieter times.
Can we please spare a thought for those in Iraq and Afghanistan now, engaged in a far less justifiable war imho. oh, sorry, forgot, it's not technically a "war" is it...

 

[quirky]

I have a thing about graveyards and try to visit at least one wherever I visit. I am always moved by the age of the soldiers who died in WW1 and WW2 and am forever grateful for their sacrifice.
My paternal grandad, who died before I was born worked in the intelligence side, at amongst other places, Riber Castle. By all accounts, he came back a broken man with what he had seen and experienced. Like others, he chose never to talk about it.

 

[CorvusCorax]

DV - I bought both last week - I thought Nazis... was brilliant at the time and while I am too young to have seen TWAW first time around, I so enjoyed the odd episode and then the UKTV History marathon during the recent August Bank Holiday I decided to get the whole lot.

I agree, young peope should watch both these amazing programmes.

Edited due to a typo.

 

[duckling]

Thanks for bringing this up - echo sentiments completely.

My Grandad was in the RAF and worked as a mechanic on Lancaster Bombers - the only story I know of his war was told to me by my Gran as Grandad would never talk about it. He rescued a group of people from a burning plane, and was awarded a medal for bravery by the King. He however, thought he didn't deserve it and threw it away when my Gran died

Grandad passed away in 1996, and I always wish I'd known more.

My Gran's uncle was killed in WW1 - we've recently found out where his war grave is in France, and will hopefully take a trip over to visit it at somepoint.

I too hope there will be a memorial next year.

 

[The Virgin Dubble]

Well said JM.

Poor buggers were like lambs to the slaughter.

 

[kerilli]

duckling, my Grandad worked as a mechanic on Lancasters too, I wonder whether they knew each other? he never talks about it either.

 

[duckling]

Kerilli - Oh really?? Where abouts did he work?? I'll ask my mum when she gets home where Grandad was based.

 

[cefyl]

Thanks JMO7 for starting this. And thanks to all of those still with us, and those passed on who were part of WW2 who ensured we have our freedoms and life as we know it today.

My late father flew in Lancasters, and was based first in Lincolshire, then France (Istres), and finally Norway. I asked him once how frightening it must have been flying missions and being battered with flac from anti-aircraft guns - he said "you never thought about it, you just did it for family, King and Country". One of his squadron's crew (I think a sparks or navigator) got a high medal for climbing out onto the wing of a Lancaster while in flight returning over the Channel to put out a fire in an engine and therefore saved the plane and crew.

My step-father was one of the thousands who parachuted into the beaches in the Normandy landings, quite literally sitting ducks. He said you would look to your left or right and there would be the remains of someone you knew still floating down attached to their parachute.

My grandfather was in WW1 with the Royal Engineers, he (as did many) had to take his own 2 horses to the front and he was fortunate to bring them back to the UK. Many did not and had to leave them there to an uncertain fate, or lost them inthe fighting.

http://www.firstworldwar.com/features/forgottenarmy.htm

" Look back on our struggle for freedom, trace our present day's strength to its source, and you will find the man's pathway to glory is strewn with the bones of a horse. "
Anonymous

I wonder how many of todays youth would take up the call to arms that our parents / grandparents / greatgrandparents took up so willingly. Sometimes I feel National Service would be of benefit.

 

[dunthing]

I had a great uncle, my mum's younger brother, who joined the merchant navy and at 18 years old, the ship was torpedoed off the coast of Canada. My poor Nan had to wait for 4 months to be told that he was presumed dead. I still have some letters from members of the crew who were rescued. I find it incredibly sad as my step grandfather had been married before and his wife and baby died in childbirth. I also had another great uncle who was in the navy and escorted convoys in the atlantic.

 

[skewbaldpony]

WWII was a real dilemma - you probably know this, but many Friends (Quakers) fought in WWII, or at least volunteered for medical positions and such, despite being conscientious objectors.
They just could not find moral justification for allowing Hitler to continue, despite being wholly opposed to any kind of violence.