WWII: who did your family fight alongside?
 

I had family fighting for Britain and Canada. The ironic part about my Canadian family who fought is that they were of 95% ethnic German heritage (a drop of Polish and Russian way back being the remainder). I probably have some extended family that fought for the Wehrmacht as well.

A Grandfather who fought for the Americans in the Pacific, and the other fighting for the Regia Aeronautica (RA).

I had one grandfather who was in the Royal navy and another who was a sniper in the Royal marines (45 commando). I used to love listening to the stories they told when I were a kid :). Although the one in the marines rarely spoke of the war.

both my grandfathers were in the royal navy one on a frigate and the other serverd onboard a mine sweeper

i can allways remember when i was a nipper we were watching a film about some mine sweepers attacking a german held port (or something like that ) and my grandad jumping up and telling evryone how he was part of that raid :cool: other than that neither one of them talked much about the war

My granfather worked with the RAF, I don't think he did much flying (although he was a licensed pilot), but he worked around planes, building/maintaining them.

my paternal grandfather was a dispatch rider in the British army, yet seeing as grandma was half german, there's probably a few on the axis side too..

my maternal grandfather was an irish german sympathiser who was too
p!ssed to hold a conversation let alone a gun....muppet.



we are so blessed to live in the here and now!
________
Ferrari F2001

My dads-dad was in the Navy during the war as far as I know. And my mums-dad was in the Army in north africa, and then later either the RN or MN. As far as I can recall he got wounded and then discharged from the Army and then enlisted as a seamen.

Had a great grandpa who was a commander of an anti-tank infantry division for the U.S.S.R. Served from 1941 to 1945 on the frontlines with no break. Had over 50 medals and recognitions by the end of the war and personally designed the WWII war monument in Budapest :D. Told me some pretty graphic stories when I pestered him with questions when I was little, but probably the gentlest person I've ever met.

My great Grandad was in the RAF, he was quite high ranking, though im not sure what, but he wasnt a pilot, he was somebody or other, but hes long gone now, and ironically, as my nan is german, my other great grandad was in the SS...

I'm not too sure about WW2, all I know for certain is that my Nan was a night bus condutor during the Blitz, but she could also remember WW1 and the Titanic sinking. I think my Great-Grandfather was in the RAF, judging by an old photo we found of him the other day, but I don't know much else about him.

My paternal Grandfather didn't fight, he built landing craft fot the U.S. Navy. My Mom's Dad was a Navy gun crewman stationed on armed merchant vessels.

Same here, but he built Sunderland flying boats for Short Bros.:)

My great-grandad was a Sergeant, and he led a mission to liberate a concentration camp

Not quite WW2, but my mum's dad visited the remains of Belsen concentration camp in the 1950's during his national service with the army

That's awesome:D That was a helluva plane, I wish I could find a game with one in it.

My dad flew with 101 squadron flying lancasters in the war, he was trained as 2nd pilot, navigator and flight engineer, one night he couldnt fly because he was sick and his plane and aircrew didnt return so he flew with the canadians after that, i have his flying jacket and medals.

I had my great grandfather who fought in the Commonwealth for Canada. And three great uncles in the Wehrmacht, and one in the Kreigsmarine. My great uncle Heinz (Kreigsmarine) is now 86 and in great shape!

RAF and Luftwaffe! Got both types of blood in my veins :)

(Careful people don't start saying this thread is racist, there are some fragile people on here it seems, based on other posts I've read tonight)

YOU HAVE NAZI BLOOD!!!:evil: LOL Jk, my Italian Grandfather shot down both players on either of those sides. Were any of your grandfathers or more, in North Africa?

My grandfather was a field medic serving under patton in the battle of the bulge. He didn't talk much about it because he was a long time medic in Korea as well and just saw way too much action but one time when he was drinking he told the story of how he and about 200 guys were camped at night and were ambushed. Enemy slit the throats or gunned down at close range every guy except for him and one other dude. Don't remember if that occured in Korea or WW2, probably korea.

My Grandfather was a Panther Commander in the Waffen SS. He told the truth about the war and everything he has seen, He Passed away Just a Year ago during the Hollidays. Never seen so much WW2 vets togheter. thats all you get.
when i tell people that my Grandfather was a Member of the SS, ' Specially a Tanker, then they say ' Oh, then you must be a Nazi and all...' I hate that..

I'm thinking abauth Joining the German Tank Corps Next Year. Hope I'll make it!;)

(If ya havent Noticed, I'm a Tanker. I know Squat of Airplanes. ' cept ME's, those are German...)

I have two cousins who were on Liberators in WWII. One was a navigator who flew "carpetbagger" missions dropping secret agents in Europe, was shotdown and rescued by the OSS. The other was a pilot in the Pacific,and was almost killed when his top-turrets gus warped and fired into the cockpit.

i had a grandfather who fought in crete with the canterbury div, NZ infantry, sadly he's still there

i had a grand grand dad (not sure wtf he was) he was a U Boat commander in WW1 & WW2.

and some other one was on omaha defending it ( Sorry america )

The funny thing is the fact most people back in those days were anti-semetic. My family in Scotland were pretty opposed to the Jews. My great-grandfather (from Glasgow) used to have books of all the Jewish owned businesses (to avoid), Zionist conspiracy stuff, etc... However, my German family does have some offshoots born in 1946-1948 in Paraguay. Now that's a much worse sign than anyone being in the SS lol... There was some Evas, a couple Adolfs, and a Heinrich, if memory serves me.

Had a grandfather who was a paratrooper in the British army. Fought in North Africa and Arnhem

My father was in the Atlantic campaign and was a Captain in the Naval Air. He didn't see much action as he was in commisioned ranks by the time WWII started. His name was originally Echterbecker to which he changed to his step dad's name (Black) before he went into boot camp. Many did this if they we're say of German heritage. The most action he saw was when they were crossing the atlantic in troop carriers and the wolfpack had downed a number of ships that had his buddies on them. He teared up telling that story. He also was a key administrator in the Berlin airlift after the war. He used to tell me how good the food was in the German families houses he had stayed in after the war. My father was a good, honest upright dude, and not some macho shithead. It was awesome to hear his stories. I remember them all!

Wow. Talk about blessed and cursed at the same time. I feel so badly for vets that happened to view stuff like that, that of course have a hard time getting over it. My father was lucky in the fact that he didn't see as much action, but was more involded with administrative tasks. He was still a war vet, but at least had the chance to live the rest of his life without having visions.

I was in the Navy and the purple heart winners are all in the barraks, all dead, and all medics from what I saw. Great heros!

I had three relatives in WWII + one in WWI

Grandpa who was a Radio operator Gunner for 2 years on a Catalina (RAAF) rescuing downed pilots in the pacific. Earned the DFM and has some great photo's log books, stories and other collectables from his 2 years service in the pacific. Passed away 5 years ago but a great man who worked tirelessly for legacy helping widows who lost partners in WWII.

Another Uncle (Australian army) who was an Infantry man in WWII fought in Egypt through to New Guinea against the Japanese at Kakoda. 4 years front line service against the Germans and Japanese without getting injured. For obvious reasons didn't like to talk about his experiences. Passed away this year.

Another was a Gunner navigator on Lancasters in WWII right at the end of the war with the RAAF and flew 6 missions before the war ended. He was pretty young and is still alive today.

I also had a great great grandpa on my wife's side the was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) in WWI for action at the BATTLE OF POZIERES. A number of more junior officers (which he was) were awarded the DSO, and this was often regarded as an acknowledgement that the officer had only just missed out on the award of the Victoria Cross. He crawled out over an 8 hr period in to no mans land under heavy machine gun fire to rescue 6 wounded fellow soldiers. Our family has an amazing leather bound citation hand written from his commanding officer describing his actions over a 3 day period. He was later nighted and awarded a OBE post WWI.

Well, during world war II, my grand mother/father/uncles were in very different places...

My grand father fought for the free french in northern Africa, but he never really spoke about that. My grand mother was just a civilian in southern France (Nice), and when the allied arrived, made portraits of soldiers.

My other grand father was a soldier in the french army but was made prisoner soon after the beginning of the war in May 1940 I think...
He was sent to Berlin, where he met my grandmother, which had been sent there because of the Service du Travail Obligatoire (Forced Work Service), which forced french people to go to Germany to contribute against their will to the german war effort. They married in Berlin in 1944...I still have at home this frightening wedding certificate with an eagle/swastika stamp on it...

And finally, the shame in the family, my grand uncle, who died last year, volunteered in the SS in the last months of the war.... I first knew about that a couple of years ago...

My great grandfather and his younger brother served Germany. Grandpa being a Wermacht grunt. and his brother flew.. a JU87 nonetheless. He was how ever KIA somewhere in the east. my great grandfather survived though. He fought in Paris :D no SS in my family how ever

one for Luftwaffe, the other in Regio Esercito.

My paternal grandfather and his three brothers all served in WWII. My grandpa was a sailor in the US Navy aboard the USS Sumter (an amphibious transport) in the Pacific. He started off driving the landing craft, but wound up as the assistant radio operator aboard the ship. He had some neat stories. At one landing he stopped the boat to lean over the side and pluck a pack of cigarettes out of the water while some bullets splashed nearby. At Okinawa, his ship shot down a kamikaze, but he slept through the whole thing! Another time a kamikaze flew toward his ship, but veered away at the last moment and struck the ship in front of them, knocking it out of the column.

His younger brother was also in the Pacific aboard a destroyer. I believe he was a loader. He eventually got transferred to a battleship as a loader in one of the 16" gun turrets. The only story of his I remember is when a shell came loose from the conveyor system and crushed some poor guy's legs.

My grandpa's eldest brother was in the infantry in Europe. I don't know much about what he did, apart from capturing a German arms factory that used forced labor. They made Mausers there. Him and his buddies took some of the pieces off the lines and assembled them themselves. He brought home two Mausers & two MP-40s (he took those off the battlefield.) He gave my grandpa one Mauser (I have it now) and kept the rest. His son has the other Mauser now, but no one knows what happened to the MP-40s. Someone in Oklahoma's got himself a nice set of illegal MGs, I guess! My grandpa gave the Mauser stock a really nice finish, much better than it would have gotten in the factory!

His youngest brother was only able to enlist at the very end of the war & didn't make it to Europe 'til it was over. He was an MP and got to do the neatest stuff of all. He was one of the men who took possession of the sail training ship Horst Wessel. (which is now the Coast Guard academy's sail training vessel Eagle) He was also one of the guards at the Nuremburg trials, where he was actually handcuffed to Rudolf Hess to escort him to court one day. I keep trying to find him in old Nuremburg footage. So far, no luck.

RE
 

My grandfather was a gunner on a B24 during the Burma campagne He told me that him and his best buddy flipped a coin one day to determine which plane/mission they would go on. Both planes were shot down that day. My grandpa survived, his buddy didnt.

My grandfather is still alive today. He loves to talk about his time in Burma and I love to listen.

It sounds crazy, but I had a great uncle fighting against the Germans. I had extended family fighting FOR the Germans. My family were german immigrants who arrived just before WWI.

My grandfather was in the Corps of Engineers and fought in the pacific. He died in 1999, but brought home a Japanese flag and Arisaka that my grandma has hidden in the attic.

I own a Mauser K98k. It is dated with the code BYF 1940. I am very interested in German war history and I am proud of my German heritage. My grandma's dad was the first of the family to speak perfect english.

It just goes to show that, no matter what our differences, we are all tied together in one way or another. I am an American, and being one makes me hated in many parts of the world....but I cant let that bother me. Most Americans are simply a mixture like I am.

EDIT: My gf is Russian and her family fought against the Germans of course. Her mom was born in Germany during the Soviet occupation.

Grandad was a rear gunner on lancaster bombers and also halifax bombers, doing 2 tours with the RAF.

Other grandad (not seen seen i was born) was in the merchant navy, but i know vry little of him.

MY girlfriends, Grandfather was a pilot in the RAF in the battle for France, lost a finger, not sure about what he did after although I presume he featured in the battle over Southern England.
My Great Grandfather faught at the Battle of the Somme as an 18 year old, sadly passed away when i was born in 1982..., one of the lucky ones to come home.

my gramps was a navigator in the Lanocaster. He never did see the war, because his training finished just after, but he did get to do some recon missions over Germany after the war.

My Grandad, who just passed away aged 90, fought with the British Royal Artillery as a spotter. He served in North Africa and Italy and was the first man to inform artillery where shells were landing, and where they weren't. He had many interesting stories to tell, including the shelling of an SS headquarters in Italy.

One Grandfather in the Pacific, and one who fought in the Korean War.

Neighter side, civillians in the city doing what they did before and after the war