Remembrance Sunday....any war hero Grandads?

[Tinkerboo]

Mine weren't officially hero's, but thought it would be good to share all the stories in people's families.
One Grandad was at Dunkirk and rescued by the boats, Granny still didn't hear from him for 2yrs and 'presumed he'd gone down with all the rest.' Meanwhile he was sent to Italy and took part in the terrible battle for Monte Casino.
Other grandad Polish. Captured in first weeks of the war. Escaped couple of years later, recaptured and sent to Norway by Nazis. never returned to Poland.
Extraordinary stoies, but not unusual in that generation.
Anyone else want to remeber and honour their Grandad/Granny.

My paternal grandad was in the 6th Airborne division and was in one of the gliders that took Pegasus Bridge
He used to knit socks when they were flying out for a parachute drop as it was too noisy to talk in the planes. We have a very old and yellowed clipping from the Manchester Evening News where he was interviewed briefly by a war reporter - he had been on patrol looking for snipers in some woods in France and he said he'd rather be "at home, watching City play at Maine Road."

We also have a letter he wrote to Grandma in which he describes landing in a field, under heavy fire, and riding a motorbike through enemy lines - ds1 is very impressed by that. He tells Grandma not to worry about the French girls as "they all wear too much make-up and are not a patch on you" At the end of the letter he writes "and some special kisses for Michael XXX [my Dad, born in 1942]" That bit makes me cry.

It's hard to reconcile such heroics with the Grandad I knew - who was an old man (he died when I was 17)...but I'm very, very proud of what he did and think of him a lot at this time of year.

My maternal Grandad was in the Home Guard - his brother was killed at the Somme, aged 17 .

My grandad was a paratrooper who fought all over western europe. Also helped to liberate Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.
He is an absolute hero and still alive ( aged 89)!

My grandfather served on the Western front in ww1.

My father was conscriped to work in the mines in WW2.....they were called Bevin Boys, after Nye Bevin. If you lived in a coal working area you could becalled up into the RAF, navy, army or to work in the mines.

He ended up in the mines,, just as grim and dangerous, but in a different way.

My dh is a pilot in the RAF

Dh's grandfather was captured by the Japanise in Singapore, and went to the Railway of Death. He only survived because he was a doctor, and saved hundreds of lives but helping to treat people in awful conditions. He used to do amputations under hypnosis, as they had no pain relief or anaesthetics

My mum's dad! US Army. Can't remember which area of the Army, but he fought in Europe from 1942-1945.

He died in 1983.

All three of his brothers were active as well, one dying of typhoid fever at a POW camp in Poland, leaving behind a daughter and twin sons. His wife, RIP, never remarried.

Part of the story is in a published book called "Lancaster Down"

my granddad was a ypres. and my fil got a certificate thanking him for his part in the libereation of norway(not sure if certificate is the right word)
as someone said they are all heros.
and lets not forget the women who kept the home fires burning.

MarthaMoo - my uncle trained the glider pilots that took Pegasus Bridge - he would have known your Grandfather - my uncle is Wing Commander Ken Sidford and is still going strong !!

Aww..come over all emotional reading these.
My lovely dad died earlier this summer
He signed up at 18 in 1943.He never spoke much about what he had seen or done...and i didn't like to pry too much...but i know he had a difficult time when he came back home.
I'd like to find out more now.
They really don't make em like that anymore do they? ... that generation of men (and women) were amazing

My grandfather (now dead) lied about his age to go to the front in WW1. He refused to talk about it. The only thing he ever said was that when he got to the trenches and saw what was going on, he stopped believing in God from that moment on.

He survived, to manage an engineering firm during WW2.

ooh these are interesting. my fil was in the royal corps of signals and was sent to india, burma, north africa and berlin. we have loads of pictures that he took and sent home as postcards. some are in a berlin telephone exchange and there are nazi flags all around the walls, and german women on the phones. it's bizarre. he was nco and never talked about the war much, gave all his medals to the little boy next door unfortunately.

My DH is ex services (major in Royal Artillery - did his bit in Bosnia) anyway he's the secretary of our local branch of the British Legion and will be leading the parade in the Village on Sunday to the war memorial - but he's the youngest by at least 40 years - it always brings a massive lump to my throat to see the parade of lovely old men coming down the high street - bless 'em - backs straight, arms swinging marching still perfectly in time - remembering their comrades - I'm welling up as I type !! after the church service they all pile in to the pub and have a Sunday lunch and far too many beers than is good for them !!

DH is a fanatic WW1 military historian too and we have spent many times in the Somme area and in Ypres visiting the British War Cemetries - this year we went to the Menin Gate ceremony in Ypres - cried buckets it's so moving

DOn't know if you could call them heroes as I don't know their records, but my mum's mum lost 3 brothers and 2 cousins in WW1 . I still find that statistic mind-blowing. Mum took part in a christmas play that her school put on in a Home for wounded soldiers who had been invalided home in Chertsey during WWII. She later learnt that her cousin Michael had been in the home at the time and he died later - he had been so badly burned that he was covered in bandages and was too ill to see the play. They had played together as children .

that's so sad joelallie

That's really sad joelallie

It is. As mum gets olders she comes out with more and more of these stories about the past - maybe she thinks I'm finally old enough to know (at 41 ) or maybe she just wants to tell someone. I sometimes feel that none of us later generations can really understand what they went through - solders or civilians. It all seems incredible now.

My DHs Great Grandfather had three brothers who were killed in 1916, 17 & 18. They were all under 21 when they were killed. I often think of their mother and wonder how on earth she coped with it all.

We have visited northern France on several occasions. One such visit took us to the grave of the only brother they found. Now I am not one for getting weepy at the drop of a hat, but standing in the middle of a farmers field at Beaumont Hammel on a cold autumn day reduced me to tears. A truly moving experience.

Ashamed to say I don't know much about my paternal grandad He is still alive but very unapproachable, and not always all there now I know he went somewhere with pyramids at some point...

Maternal grandad left Poland and fought in the merchant navy (I think). Gran was in the land army.

did you see the BBC people's war pages

oooh yes. my grandad was there bless him. he still wont breathe a word of it to anyone.
he's great!

Both my grandparents are belgian and must have seen so many things that I cannot imagine . My maternal grandfather was in the resistance, as was my nan, but I really don't know much, like others have said, its not something that is talked about.
My paternal grandfather was a soldier operating anti aircraft missiles, and survived an attack where all his friends/group (sorry don't know the proper name) died. He was shot through the foot but the only one who survived.

remember also those who waited and worried, knitted things, found railings to be melted down, were fire wardens and dug for victory. I had relatives who were killed in the war, one who died of wounds later (and his wife brought up 3 children with no pension) and one who survived being in ships torpedoed 3 times. But they were not the only ones to suffer.

My Dad's Dad survived the 1st world war, my Mum's Dad survived the 2nd. He is now no longer with us but my GRandma has a German dagger. He was attacked by some Germans and went down, the German approached with a dagger to finish him off and my Grandad fought with him, killed him and took the dagger. It was him or the German

We will remember them.

Also dh's Grandma was French and was in teh resistance, she had a relationship with a German officer and was ostracised by her family She was actually working for the French resistance.