What stories do you know about your (Great?) grandparents experience of WW2?

[HappyPeach]

Inspired by my other thread, I realise I know nothing about my grandparents war experience. Other than one Nan was in the WRVS, though I don't know what she did. All my grandparents died years ago so I can't ask now. I wish I knew their stories. What do you know about your relatives experiences?

DGM1 - evacuated from Singapore, via Malaysia to Australia with four under 10.
DGP1 - regular in the British Army, captured by the Japanese in the fall of Singapore, spent the war in Changi (survived)
DGM2 - US based, no real effect
DGP2 - US based, engineer so reserved occupation until late in the War, joined US Air Force when called up, had only just finished training and flowed within the US when the War finished

Grandmother worked in a munitions factory, husband killed leaving her with a 4 and 2 yr old.
Other side of the family, Grandfather in a concentration camp, lost all his family.

Are you writing a book?

My grandmother was taking cover in Chislehurst Caves in Kent with her parents and a group of other family members during a night of bombing when they came out of the caves to run for cover elsewhere my great uncle was carrying his little daughter on his back who was seriously injured from shrapnel it still upsets me now thinking about it, the shrapnel had torn through her abdomen she didn’t survive 😢

and gosh how much I miss my grandmother telling me all of her stories ❤️

My grandpa captained a ship that, among other things, sailed across the channel on DDay. Ashamed to say I’ve no idea what my other three grandparents did, and none are around any more to ask.

Great Grandmother was awarded an MBE for heroic actions at sea.

My paternal grandfather was a Japanese POW survivor. He never spoke about it.

Father's father in WWI in Egypt and what was then the Palestine mandate stationed at Joppa ( Jaffa) with Cavalry, WWII home guard
Father's Mother WWI ammunitions factory then nursing, WWII SAHM
Father WWII electrical engineer for MOD reserved occupation lots of secret stuff
Mother not born
Mother's Father WWII mostly North Africa then Italy
Mother's Mother not sure maybe a nurse as she met my GF in a convalscent home for the injured

Grandparents?

All were too old for active service in WW2 - 'their' war was WW1

So continued with their occupations, but in somewhat more demanding circumstances - short staffed, covering larger areas, and dealing with shortages of raw materials

My Grandad was in a reserved occupation (knowing him he probably wasn’t but was aged to dodge it somehow)
Step Grandad was captured in Burma and sent to a Japanese POW camp. He was on his way to work on the railway when the war ended. He didn’t speak about it much but what I do know sounds horrific and he never recovered. He hated The Japanese until he died

Grandma.

Lived in Ancoats ( Manchester) evacuated to Pickmere ( actually very near where I live) and had a lovely time riding on the back of farmer boys motor bikes and being given lifts of the back of horse drawn wagons ( carriages) she had a lovely time.

she was told she had to return home for a family emergency so she run through the front door excited at seeing her mum and siblings and found her dad who had passed away in the living room on the table. Every one was in mourning.

Paternal grandfather was a miner, so stayed down the pit. Maternal grandfather was a medical orderly in north Africa and Italy. He told me a few stories when I got into medical school. I really wish I'd asked him more.

One of my grandfathers had a stint in Scapa. He and his troop got a little drunk and I believe were called onto alert. My other grandfather picked up airmen shot down over the Channel around Kent.

One grandmother was apparently working at Bletchley, but I think she was more interested in the eye candy than the work.

One set of grandparents were in Ireland and weren’t involved at all.

My other grandmother, also Irish, arrived in England just before the war broke out. She lived in London and worked for a pharmacist… and had a love affair with an African American GI from Atlanta. He wanted to marry her but he was then posted back to the US, she left for a munitions factory somewhere further south (I want to say Cornwall, but not sure?!) and there she met my granddad, who was a chemist (apparently making bombs!).

They married in Sept 1945, and had two children in quick succession, one of whom was my Mum.

They very rarely talked about the war, other than my Gran wistfully talking about the GI and the fact you couldn’t get stockings for years .

My beloved late Grandad helped liberate Belsen

My father was in the RAF and was a Japanese POW for 4 and a half years having been captured at the fall of Singapore. My mother worked in the RAF post office from about 1941.
I know my GF on my father's side was in the army in WW1 and fought in Belgium/France. Don't know about GF on my mother's side, I never met him.

My Mums Mum was a Wren - no idea what she did though
My Dads Dad was a drill instructor in the RAF so he didn't see active combat. His family home was in central London and his sister was killed during the Blitz when their pub was hit. He talked about how looters stole loads from the damaged homes that evening which always surprised me as it always comes across that everyone was in it together - very naive I suppose!

No idea about my other grandparents but they both died a long time ago so I never got to ask them. I'll definitely be asking my parents now though!

My grandfather was an army surgeon in Africa (they finished med school a year early). He told me rather more about it than I needed to know tbh. I honestly think he had life long psychological repercussions from what he saw and did out there.

My nana worked on the south coast radar. One morning they woke up to find outside littered with silver foil and the radar not picking up much- was something to do with sending British aircraft over and stopping the enemies radar! She also became a lorry driver.

grandad was a baker on the front line and then repaired lenses on telescopes etc. also went to Egypt and Iraq. He wrote his war history in a book 🥰

Another one which makes me cringe a bit now is something about grandad’s regiment getting orders to leave an area so the commanding officer made a train carriage full of French refugees believe they were going in the wrong direction and get off so that the regiment could get on… something seems a bit wrong about that but without it I guess I might not be here today

I wish I did but my grandfather was so traumatised by it all he refused to say anything about it. The whole family shut down any mention of the war years out of respect to him. He was part of the Normandy Landings so it must have been brutal

My Dutch MIL was born in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) and was captured by the Japanese. She was in a concentration camp from age 14 to 18, and only survived because the Americans bombed Hiroshima, ending the war. Her brother died in the male camp, she didn’t find out until after the war.
FIL was an army officer and fought at Monte Cassino, having to see his men blown to bits in front of him.
Dad was in the RAF, mostly on air sea rescue, but also served as a rear gunner and radio operator on a bomber squadron. He was involved in air support for the liberation of Denmark, and was invited to a banquet in Copenhagen decades later as part of the celebrations by the Danes.
Mother was in the WAAF, as a telephonist on air bases, which is how she met dad. They married in uniform in 1943.

Not an awful lot, but my last grandparent died when I was little.

I know that they were involved on the home front, my grandfather was in a reserved occupation and took part in Operation Fish.

My mother was born in 1939. Fortunately her dad came home from the war. Her mother somehow knew which train her husband would be on. They lived in a village with a station….you could hear the (steam) trains at their house and time the 5 minute walk. My mum can remember being sent in her Sunday best to the garden gate to meet her dad for the first time. She remembers him coming up the hill in his uniform, bending down to say to her “ You must be X…..I’m your pa”.

My Grandad was in the Navy, Grandma was a nurse. They met in Gibraltar during the war, married when home on leave. She became a teacher, he worked on Concord. They only had my mum.

On my dad’s side, Granny worked in Boots from age 16, met my Grandad during the war, married him in 1945 and stopped working. He was in the Army, was invalided out and became a sommelier. They only had my dad.