Remembrance Day

[RockerGuy]

Its weird that for so many years there were never a remembrance day thread on this forum... shame on u

Anyway, if you have an uncle aunt grandfather who took part in WWII, let us know. It was the last great modern war. There were lots of trials and tribulations for alot of people and lots of countries. So if u have some stories, I would love to hear them. I like watching them on the history channel, but they are not interactive and I don't get to ask question . If there are still veteran riders on this forum, I salute you sir!

To the other veterans from other wars, you can also share them

Some useless facts:
Did u know the Nazis were the first to make a long range ballistic missile?
They were the first to put Nitrous in an engine, used to inject it in their aircraft engine.
Do u know the 1911 pistol has been in service for almost 100yrs?
But anyway, to all of our veterans, I salute u!! :salute:

 

[Red_Liner740]

God, i hate when people refer to the Germans during 1930's and 1940's simply as "the Nazis"....Nazi stands for National Socialist party not a country!

Its like the rest of the world referring to the Canadians as "those Liberals" or "those Conservatives"

Anywho, the german great minds of that era were well ahead of the curve in new and better systems and innovations. Not only was the V2 (the long range ballistic missile you are referring to) the first of its kind, it was basically the spring board for both the US and USSR balistic missile program. During the last few months of the war when it was pretty much over both the Russians and US were racing around trying to salvage as much of the technology as possible. In fact Sputnik was launched by a very VERY similar rocket to the V2. US Nuclear program was also made possible by the defections of great German scientists. Not many people know but Germany was AHEAD of the US in the nuclear research in the beginning of the war but the Allied raids in Norway hindered that program.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_heavy_water_sabotage

Anywho, back on topic.

The sacrifices by the troops were trumendous and for that, i SALUTE YOU!!

 

[Scuba Steve]

My grandfather was in WW2 and his birthday is nov. 11. He was also awarded the DCM in Italy for single handedly storming a german machinegun nest and killing all the germans manning it saving the lives of the troops he was leading. My grandmother also served in the Navy in WW2.

 

[RockerGuy]

God, i hate when people refer to the Germans during 1930's and 1940's simply as "the Nazis"....Nazi stands for National Socialist party not a country!

Its like the rest of the world referring to the Canadians as "those Liberals" or "those Conservatives"

Anywho, the german great minds of that era were well ahead of the curve in new and better systems and innovations. Not only was the V2 (the long range ballistic missile you are referring to) the first of its kind, it was basically the spring board for both the US and USSR balistic missile program. During the last few months of the war when it was pretty much over both the Russians and US were racing around trying to salvage as much of the technology as possible. In fact Sputnik was launched by a very VERY similar rocket to the V2. US Nuclear program was also made possible by the defections of great German scientists. Not many people know but Germany was AHEAD of the US in the nuclear research in the beginning of the war but the Allied raids in Norway hindered that program.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_heavy_water_sabotage

Anywho, back on topic.

The sacrifices by the troops were trumendous and for that, i SALUTE YOU!!

LOL, thanks for your contribution Redliner. But on the contrary, lots of Germans hate being called "Germans" when mentioning those things, simply because not all Germans had the same beliefs of Hitler. It was more his Nazi regime (3rd Reich) that wanted a world wide domination. That is parallel to "Why did the Americans invade Iraq"?

Yes, informative. The V2 rockets also springboard the Saturn V rocket into space. That same technology helped launch the americans into space. Alot might not know this, but many of the Nazi scientists who aided in the research of the German war effort, were pardoned and were not tried after the war. Mainly because they offer their experience in exchange for their freedom. Many became free american citizens who were well off.

Even though they might have been thought as the Axis of Evil, they had remarkable engineering. They say the luger pistol had such close tolerances, a razor blame cannot be fit in the spaces. Alot of the pistols were prized by the US marines

 

[RockerGuy]

My grandfather was in WW2 and his birthday is nov. 11. He was also awarded the DCM in Italy for single handedly storming a german machinegun nest and killing all the germans manning it saving the lives of the troops he was leading. My grandmother also served in the Navy in WW2.

Nice...
I would love to meet them. I always wanted to meet the veterans before they get too old. I always wanted to go to the veterans parade but I always have to work. I should take a day off.

I always love to hear stories of courage and valour as a kid. Even to this day, lol.

BTW was he in Ortona??

 

[Scuba Steve]

He is dead and she is not doing well right now, he was in Ortona and is mentioned in the book "The Gothic line" he was awarded the DCM for his actions in Rimini.

 

[RockerGuy]

He is dead and she is not doing well right now, he was in Ortona and is mentioned in the book "The Gothic line" he was awarded the DCM for his actions in Rimini.

Sorry to hear!
Not familiar with the acronyms, but know there were fierce fighting in Ortona. You must be proud

 

[87m6chris]

Both my Mom and Dad served in the second World War, my Mom as a British nurse and was also one of the
thousands of "war brides" that came over here after the war. I remember her telling us about being trapped in a collasped building in London during the Blitz for 3 days before being pulled out. She also told us she was one of a group of nurses that were brought over to Germany to care for the survivors of the death camps, pretty horrible memories, she didn't talk very much about that. On VE day(I think that's what the Brits called their victory celebrations) she was in Picadilly Circus celebrating with a bunch of other nurses and a newspaper photographer took a pic of my Mom and 2 other nurses blowing horns and whooping it up, well it made the front page of one major paper and later, in Britain at least, became one of those iconic photos
that summed up that moment in time. She was always very proud of that.
So on the 50th aniversery of the end of the war that same newspaper tracked down the other 2 nurses and finally found Mom in Vancouver and flew both of my folks out to London for the celibrations. They treated them like royalty, all expenses, nice hotel, the works, She was absolutely thrilled and I thought it was a fitting tribute, a great way to end off her life, she passed away a year or so after they got back.
My Dad, an Alberta boy was in Chicago working when the US entered the war so that where he signed up.
I can't remember if it was the army or the airforce but he made it up to Staff Sargent and was posted to London. He never saw action except for the Blitz (the relentless bombing of London) but his big claim to fame was to be one of the 4 meteorologist to predict the weather for D-day. He would joke that none of them did a very good job as the weather conditions for the invasion were perfectly horrible.
Both my Mom and Dad said as terrible as the war was it was also the best time of their lives, they had a purpose and a reason for winning. And when they weren't on shift they had a hellof lot of fun.

 

[RockerGuy]

Both my Mom and Dad served in the second World War, my Mom as a British nurse and was also one of the
thousands of "war brides" that came over here after the war. I remember her telling us about being trapped in a collasped building in London during the Blitz for 3 days before being pulled out. She also told us she was one of a group of nurses that were brought over to Germany to care for the survivors of the death camps, pretty horrible memories, she didn't talk very much about that. On VE day(I think that's what the Brits called their victory celebrations) she was in Picadilly Circus celebrating with a bunch of other nurses and a newspaper photographer took a pic of my Mom and 2 other nurses blowing horns and whooping it up, well it made the front page of one major paper and later, in Britain at least, became one of those iconic photos
that summed up that moment in time. She was always very proud of that.
So on the 50th aniversery of the end of the war that same newspaper tracked down the other 2 nurses and finally found Mom in Vancouver and flew both of my folks out to London for the celibrations. They treated them like royalty, all expenses, nice hotel, the works, She was absolutely thrilled and I thought it was a fitting tribute, a great way to end off her life, she passed away a year or so after they got back.
My Dad, an Alberta boy was in Chicago working when the US entered the war so that where he signed up.
I can't remember if it was the army or the airforce but he made it up to Staff Sargent and was posted to London. He never saw action except for the Blitz (the relentless bombing of London) but his big claim to fame was to be one of the 4 meteorologist to predict the weather for D-day. He would joke that none of them did a very good job as the weather conditions for the invasion were perfectly horrible.
Both my Mom and Dad said as terrible as the war was it was also the best time of their lives, they had a purpose and a reason for winning. And when they weren't on shift they had a hellof lot of fun.

Wow, thats quite a story. I could imagine how happy she was. There was a pic of me in a motorcycle magazine and I presently have 3 copies of it, lol. So I guess I kind of know how she felt.

 

[DJM]

I'm from the UK so most of my family history is with the British Armed Forces.

My Grandfather on my Dad's side served on the HMS Frobisher during WWII. His ship was part of a group that bombarded the beaches on D-Day.

My Grandfather on my Mom's side lost his leg as a child so he did not participate in combat but worked at an armament factory in Edinburgh during the war.

My Grandmother on my Mom's side lost both brothers in Normandy during the invasion.

My Brother-in-Law is currently a Sergeant with the US Army as an 11 Charlie (Mortarman) at Ft. Benning GA. He has seen action in Afganistan.

My son is in his second year of Army Cadets locally. I took him to visit RMC in Kingston to see if he would be interested in an Officer Career path there when he graduates from High School in a few years.

My son and I have never missed a Remembrance Day Ceremony since he was two. That was 11 years ago. I remember when there was barely any citizens there but many veterans. Now it's the other way around.

 

[short stop]

My parents immigrated from Sweden in the early 70s, so needless to say I don't have any direct family experience with WW2. Having said that, I have found quite the gem in an antique shop one day many years ago: a WW2 era flight log belonging to a RCAF recruit training at Virden, Manitoba. I've always wondered what I should do with such a booklet, and if I should try and find the family of the owner. Any suggestions?

 

[FiReSTaRT]

My gramps was initially put in a concentration camp, but got out (went to the same French med school as some German bigwig who was visiting the camp and recognized him and released him).. Ended up serving with the commie resistance movement as a medic (had his share of combat and a couple of notches, though). My other gramps most likely served with the royalist resistance movement, but since they were on the losing side of the civil war that was happening in the middle of German invasion, he kept that pretty quiet and he died before I was born.. Royalists were to be shot on sight or in a few rare and merciful cases, put into gulags.

My old country wasn't ready to be involved in World War 2 after losing close to half of the male population in World War 1 (they were trying to stay neutral and just beginning to recover), but the British orchestrated a coup d'etat (as per recently declassified documents) and their puppet-government declared war on Germany, so there wasn't much of a choice. The 2nd war was still pretty devastating with close to 2,000,000 of Roma, (mostly) Serbs and Jews killed in concentration camps, so I really gotta give the commies kudos for their subsequent rebuilding effort.

My appreciation and gratitude go to all people who fought the German expansionist efforts, whether they were European or foreigners who decided to fight on the side of justice. While the lines between good and evil are pretty unclear in most conflicts, this was one of those conflicts where there was no ambiguity.

 

[Baggsy]

To all those who served, serve now, or will serve - Thank you!

 

[FiReSTaRT]

To all those who served, serve now, or will serve - Thank you!

That too.. I really appreciate the service of everyone who decided to put their life on the line for our country.

 

[RockerGuy]

I'm from the UK so most of my family history is with the British Armed Forces.

My Grandfather on my Dad's side served on the HMS Frobisher during WWII. His ship was part of a group that bombarded the beaches on D-Day.

My Grandfather on my Mom's side lost his leg as a child so he did not participate in combat but worked at an armament factory in Edinburgh during the war.

My Grandmother on my Mom's side lost both brothers in Normandy during the invasion.

My Brother-in-Law is currently a Sergeant with the US Army as an 11 Charlie (Mortarman) at Ft. Benning GA. He has seen action in Afganistan.

My son is in his second year of Army Cadets locally. I took him to visit RMC in Kingston to see if he would be interested in an Officer Career path there when he graduates from High School in a few years.

My son and I have never missed a Remembrance Day Ceremony since he was two. That was 11 years ago. I remember when there was barely any citizens there but many veterans. Now it's the other way around.

I met a guy in Niagara and has generations of family members who served since the civil war in the US, lol. He told me he had Grandfathers and great Grandfathers who served as far as he can remember. Thats quite a feat. He's had family in WWI, WWII and he is now in service.

He served and is thinking about going to college now. Really quiet, nice guy, u would never thought he was a soldier, lol

My parents immigrated from Sweden in the early 70s, so needless to say I don't have any direct family experience with WW2. Having said that, I have found quite the gem in an antique shop one day many years ago: a WW2 era flight log belonging to a RCAF recruit training at Virden, Manitoba. I've always wondered what I should do with such a booklet, and if I should try and find the family of the owner. Any suggestions?

I think there is an organization that tracks down family heritage for veterans, I saw it on the history channel. I am sure such an item will be highly valued for a History Nut. If not, you can try the museum.

I would really like to take a read

 

[crankcall]

My great grandfather was British cavalry in WW1 , then somebody invented the tank... my grandfather was homeland air raid warden during WW2, I have an uncle buried somewhere in France, my Dad and my father in law were Navy guys, my Dad was a Chief Petty Officer, and my father in law a career navy guy , Lt. Cmdr when he retired.

My sincere thanks to all that have served and sacrificed to allow me the life I have here.

 

[short stop]

For anyone who is interested:

 

[short stop]

 

[rafiki911]

Friends that see my dad eat either think he's been in prison or the army.lol He served like all Greek men do in Greece for 2 years. I think he eats like that though cause he was born in 1941 and as a child had Nazi's occupying his home. They barely had any food to eat and would some times eat only once a day while the Nazi's were feasting. My aunt used to take a plate over when they were eating and get food but my dad even though he was younger knew that was wrong and never accepted any. My grandfather served durring WWII and I think they thought he was dead for a while cause they didn't hear back from him for a long time.

Thanks to all that served and all that are still serving. You guys sacrifice a lot and so do your families.

 

[Myztyk]

Grandfather served at Dieppe and was a Nazi POW for a few years. Never talked about it unless he was REALLY drunk. Then it was dark as all get out.

Other grandfather was an air force corpsman on this side of the pond. He used to ***** about the hardships of the war all the time. Oddly, never in earshot of my paternal grandfather though.