…just because it’s one of my favourites:
My grandfather looking somewhat exhausted after one of the infamous marches in Basic Training:
My Grandad fought with 1st British Expaditionary Force (BEF) in North Africa. He was with the 2nd South African Infantary regiment. He fought in both battles for Tobruk and was captured at the end of the second battle. He was a prisoner of war until the British captured their prison somewhere west of tobruk in December 1942. He was sent home and took no further part in the war. He was a Bren gunner and he died in 1982.
Did he ever mention how he was treated? I know that while the Axis treated soldiers in the West relatively well and with respect, they completely mistreated their Russians prisoners.
How did they treat the prisoners in North Africa?
Truth is he didn’t speak a lot about the war at all - some stories yes but not often and I regret to admit at the time I didn’t really pay too much attention (how I wish I did now). I can say he never had anything bad to say about the Germans and actually when I think about it he even seemed almost respectful of them, so i would have to say no - he wasn’t ill treated. The only thing that seemed to effect him was that he contracted Dysentery and Malaria at the same time in captivity and he never really ever fully recovered. I do recall that he did not have a lot of time for the Italians - can’t tell you why however.
I know how you feel, Saffer… I had a couple of grand - uncles who served in the German Army as Paratroopers and just died 3 - 4 years ago, with the exception of one of them. They were the kind of people who actually wanted to talk about what they experienced as some sort of “Group Therapy” or something like that. Dumb as I was, I didn’t give a rat’s ass back then, and now I am just pissed at myself.
Yeah, Ive been there I think…
Also, Ive heard that some other distant relatives fought for japan.
One of them did basic training, and then the war ended, luckily for him.
Just wondering, Schmidt, if you’re Japanese, then why does your location say Antarctica?
I mean, it’s obvious you’re not living there :mrgreen:, but did you confuse it with some other place, or did you choose that bit of ice-desert for a reason?
Actually he’s got a long history of extravagant locations. His real one should have a much milder climate though.
Is that so? Where else did he “live” before??
My Grandfather was a radio operator with the 1st Armored Division. He fought in North Africa and Italy. He was POW for a short time but he would never say much about that time. You can watch a video of him telling a story about when they suffered their first casualty at this link www.witness-to-war.org/content/view. He got me interested in WW11 history at a very young age and i have been soaking up every bit of information ever since. He joined in 41, right after Pearl Harbor, and didn’t come home until sometime in 45.
WW11? In Canada, we haven’t even reached WW3 yet!:mrgreen:
(Sorry for giving you a hard time, but was just too good to pass up!)
-Valkyrie IV Spacestation
-NeuBerlin, Neuschwabenland
-Eastern front
-LZ140 Zeppelin “Adolf Hitler”
You sure get around a lot, Schmidt
So sorry… WWII. That better Schultz?
Very nice jcompton
Hey thanks… I’ll get it right one of these days.
I had a great uncle serving on HMS Exeter, one great grandfather was a s/sgt in the 17/21st lancers, another was in the Navy until he got a medical discharge and became a Bevan boy.
What’s a Bevan Boy?
Lord Bevan was a minister in Churchill’s wartime cabinet he conscripted thousands to go down the mines rather than fight in order to keep war production going.