What did your grandparents do during the war (or great grandparents)

[listsandbudgets]

Was thinking about my grandparents last night and how they were involved in the wars. they all did very different things

My grandfather was an older father to my dad (IYSWIM) and fought in the trenches in World War one. He was exposed to mustard gas and left with life long breathing difficulties but was involved with Air Raid Precaution during the World War 2.

My father's mum was a nurse at one of the big military hospitals and also a volunteer for the WRVS.

Both of my mother's parents were farmers so were in reserved (and necessary) occupations. They had Italian and German prisoners of war working on the farm as well as the Land Girls and my Nana had to learn Italian and sometimes did translation for the military - not bad for a girl who left a very rural Irish school at the age of 12 and worked on teh land ever after

I don;t really know about DP's grandparents but I do know his great uncle was a code breaker at Betchley Park (DP would probably have ended up in the same place I think)

I met a man who flew in the RAF during the war. After the war he went to Israel (must have been the 60s) and flew fighter planes for them. Came back to UK to be a hairdresser.

I met a man in Poland who got bombed by Israeli fighter planes whilst working on a dam in Eygpt. Both men the same age.
What would the chance be that my neigh our I Lo don bombed the Polish man I met in Warsaw?

My grandad was a paratrooper. My gran used to joke that he'd landed on his head at one point ... he was a bit of a character, God rest his soul!

Dad served in the RAF as a mechanic during WW2. Spent quite a lot of the war in South Africa, well away from serious danger (lucky man!).

Mum worked on farms at home.

FIL was in the army, and took part in the Normandy landings, shortly after D-Day - it's how he spent his 21st birthday.

MIL was just leaving school and starting office work during the war.

Maternal DGM was in-service in a kitchen in a big house and in the Red Cross. They had to go out and help as soon as the Air Raid sirens had stopped. She says she enjoyed it - it was very dark and quite exciting.
She married my DGF during the war. He was in the Navy, mainly in the Far East and on the North Atlantic Convoys.

Her father (DGGF) was a WWI Old Contemptible. Many years later, he co-wrote a book about his life and recorded some stories for the Imperial War Museum.
He and his mates had been in the Territorial Army before the war and, on the day after war broke out, the police came knocking at their doors at 7am. He was on the 10 o'clock train to Kent that day for training, and in France within the week.
He was in the trenches and at the Battle of the Somme. He had his horse shot dead under him on two separate occasions, and served with the then Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII), who he thought was a splendid chap.

Maternal grand mother worked in a munitions factory. Maternal grand father was in the army, in Burma for some of it
Great grandmother was long dead by WW2 and too young in WW1. Great grand father lm not sure?

Paternal side were Irish and were all in Ireland at that point. So weren’t involved in either as far as l am aware. I know some Irish people were in the wars but were paid to be there rather than conscripted. If you see what l mean

Grandparents:

Nurse (battlefield)
Soldier (officer who won a VC )

Still miss them Very practical people but also incredibly warm and loving.

My mum (who died 4 weeks ago) was in the WAAF during the Second World War. She came over from Ireland age 17 to join. She was trained as an electrical engineer to mend the aircraft. She loved her years in the WAAF. She would have turned 93 next week.

My paternal great grandfather was in the Army of India and fought in North Africa.

However we now know (it had been whispered about for a long time), that my paternal great grandfather was really a British officer stationed in India during WW2. It also explains why myself and my Dad are both unusually tall and pale for Pakistani’s!

My Grampas had reserved occupation in the steel world and my nanas stayed home and looked after the children.

My great great grandparents, ie. my grown ups nieces and nephews great great great grandparents were in the second world war

We've seriously crammed those generations in

Dad’s side: his dad was already dead. Their house in Hull was bombed and flattened, fortunately they’d recently moved.
Mum’s side: her stepdad was at Dunkirk.
Both grandmas were very poor and holding young families together.

WW1
Paternal GGD army medical corp
Maternal GGD 1. spent most of the war in prison as a conscientious objector

Maternal GGD2. Too old to fight (not sure what he did)

WW2
dgf 1. Fought out in Burma and Egypt with RAF. Bacame a POW. Never talked about it
dgf2. Was protected from fighting (something he felt v. Guilty about) as he was a medical student. But he did his bit by being on incendiary duty and putting out fires on top of buildings during the blitz.
Dgm1. Not sure something medical (nurse.?)
DGm2. Secretary I think

Maternal:
Grandma was a Land Girl
Grandad was in the Yorkshire Own Light Infantry. He was in the D Day landings and liberated Bergen Belsen. Incredibly proud of them both
Paternal:
Grandma worked in a factory
Grandpa was in the Navy as a Signaller. He spent most of the War in Trinidad. He never ate potatoes again after having bad food poisoning.

German grandfather fought in WW1- lower leg blown off. He married my German grandma who was half Jewish- “mischling”- as the nazis saw it. Was visited by gestapo and roughed up. My mother was a child in the war. They survived the dreadful bombing of Hamburg which saw 70000 civilians killed over a 3 night period.
They were v relieved that the Americans and Brits liberated Hamburg, not the Russians.
My mother’s best friend who was 14, was raped by a Russian soldier in Berlin, whilst the soldiers forced her Father to watch with a gun against his head.
My Scottish Grandfather fought WW11, he had part of his arm blown off and rescued from no mans land, although it went against orders.
My Scottish uncle was involved in intelligence in WW2, which I’m told was basically interrogation.

@RedToothBrush very sad 😔. One of my paternal grandmothers brothers was a POW in Japan. Came back a broken man basically and became an alcoholic. He was my grandmothers favourite and closest sibling so she found this very hard.

@CuriousaboutSamphire that sounds infuriating and so unfair. It was all so long ago so hardly a threat to national security! So they should say what happened

My Scottish Grandfather fought WW1 - error made in original post

My maternal grandad was too young but his older brothers fought in WWII (in Finland - the Winter War and the Continuation War and the Lapland War though that wasn't really much of a war) and three of them died, one was just 21 :(

I don't actually know what/if my paternal grandparents/great grandparents did

Me: Paternal GF - he was a GP. Would have been the right age for active service in both World Wars, but was in a reserved profession.
Paternal GM: WWI- Typist in military office of some sort.

Maternal GParents were not born.

WW2: Paternal GF -see above; Paternal GM, was GF’s receptionist/secretary/pharmacist

Maternal GF - fought in Syria
Paternal GM - teacher, then had DM in 1944, so presumably stopped.

DGM worked in the munitions factories in WW1, DGF was at Passchendaele and was a signalman. During WW2 they had a farm and lots of evacuees.

Silentsister, sorry if I'm being utterly stupid, but which country was this in? The UK?

One grandad was in the home guard. He was posted to the tunnels in the white cliffs at Dover Castle. No idea about the other male grandparent.

Granny was in Kenya, she was a driver. Don't know about Nana.

One Grandad was a stretcher bearer which must have been horrific. One Grandad was a Captain. One Grandma spent time on rooves as a fire watcher.

Both our parents were in the ww2. Dhs dad was amongst the first British troops in to liberate Belsen. He told dh stuff, but he still cried about it even into his 80s. My dad went through the war with horrific experiences too.

And they were young men.

Ww2

I dont think they did anything to be honest, certainly nothing my parents ever told me

But they all died a long time ago now so didnt really get the chance to ask them

Fascinating stories from other posters though

My mum's next street over was bombed, everyone died.