WW2 stories thread

[Lord]

WW2 has always been a topic that interested me, and I was wondering if anyone had any stories they wouldn't mind sharing about their granddad/ great granddad or whatever.

For example here; Ireland had no involvement in WW2 but my dad told me a story of how his dad witnessed Nazi bombers flying over Ireland on Jan 1st 1941. They dropped a bomb by accident in Duleek.

During World War II, or The Emergency, German bombers accidentally struck the village on January 1, 1941; minor damage was caused and there were no casualties. - Wikipedia

Anything else anyone would be willing to share?

[Daniël]

My granddad has been in a concentration camp, but he never shared anything about the war.

[neilhavkin]

Both my grandfathers fought in the second world war. Grandad on dad's side was a tank mechanic. He was living in what is now Israel which then belonged to the Brits, so he joined up with the Brits and fixed tanks. That same grandad later fought against the British for Israeli independence as a member of the Haganah, an Israeli paramilitary group which later became the IDF. When he was in the Haganah, he had a code name, Dan. He met my grandma during that time so for three years she only knew him as Dan, and she called him Dan for the rest of his life (she's still alive).

Grandad on mom's side (American) was some sort of communications officer. He was two years into ROTC and the draft started; he either had the option of fighting then as an officer or waiting and then being drafted as an enlisted man, so he finished ROTC and then fought in the Pacific theater.

My uncle's (not really an uncle, just my dad's best friend but you get the point) dad was in Auschwitz and survived, but he recently died.

Now that I think of it, all of the people I've mentioned thus far have died, aside from my grandma.

[Koolcid]

FUN FACT, if it wasn't for WWII, I wouldn't be here right now. My great grandfather was in the military and my great grandmother was in the navy, they met that way and now here I am.

Also, my great grandfather was a sergeant so he was like 'in charge'. Well a bunch of rookies were sneaking in alcohol and partying. My grandfather came and yelled at them and what not, then proceeded to pour the alcohol into a drain. This is actually how my great grandfather met my OTHER great grandfather (They became best friends and their kids are my grandparents). Anyway, they poured out all the alcohol into a drain and sent the rookies to bed. After that he opened the bottom of the sink with my other Great grandfather and lo and behold, there's a bucket filled with the confiscated alcohol he poured down the drain. They brought it back to the other sergeants and captains and partied all night. Lol. So yeah, if it wasn't for those two stories I wouldn't be here.

[tuna]

fun fact: i have hitler to thank for my existence
my granddad was jewish, he fled austria because hitler was being a faggot and met my grandma.
thank you hitler

[Marvilicious]

fun fact: i have hitler to thank for my existence
my granddad was jewish, he fled austria because hitler was being a faggot and met my grandma.
thank you hitler

Come back to Austria, it's really nice here now!

[tuna]

i'd love to one day <3

[Daniël]

As someone who's been skiing there several times, Austria can be pretty rad.

[Marvilicious]

i'd love to one day <3

Be sure to visit the Wachau in Lower Austria. It is really beautiful there. I am there as well, which makes it even more beautiful.

Story Time!
To contribute to the initial topic here. I have been working at the Red Cross for almost 3 months now and I have met lots of people already, mostly old people. A couple of them were so nice to tell their stories from WW2 times and one in particular was exciting:

We transported an old man a rather long distance, so we had a lot of time to talk. As we got into our carriage he immediately started talking about his past. He grew up in Lower Austria but when Hitler invaded Austria in 1938 he had to join the Hitler Youth. He said that the feeling in those youth groups was amazing. Never did he feel so in unity with other people as in the HJ. They went on hikes, sang next to a bonfire, visited places in germany and so on. Everything was done together. All that was part of training humans to fight to their deaths for Hitler but how should a kid like him know this? It was a great time for him.

He then went to war in 1944(Eastern front in Russia), but he didn't want to talk much about what he did there. There proabably weren't many nice things to talk about there, so he skipped a bit. He took a grenade shrapnel to the leg and thus was allowed to leave the frontline. That was really good for him personally, because he could escape the frontline while the other soldiers got overrun by the soviet army. He spent the next time in an hospital near Berlin, I think. His leg turned out alright by the way.

In 1945 when the war was over and the allies controlled germany he was locked into an american POW camp with other former german soldiers. I don't know the details here, but I think it was that only people with a fitting pass could leave the camp. Some friend of him got him such a pass, so he could escape the camp. He was always a communicative, social man which was definitely a big plus for him.

He then worked at a friends farm in Germany for some months. It was a nice time, he said, but he grew homesick over time. He and an austrian friend of him then started to walk towards Austria. Getting there was hard because the borders between american and russian territory were guarded well. The first try failed and he got sent back but the second time they could slip past the guards and now they were in Austria again.

He reunited with his family there and he still lives today, which makes me happy because he is a really decent human being.

[tenks]

im german and i find this thread offensive

[Marvilicious]

im german and i find this thread offensive

I think this needs a laughing smiley.


No seriously. You've got no stories, tenksi?

[Daniël]

I'm from the rest of the world and I find Germany offensive.

[Lukas]

what holocaust

[Daniël]

I'm talking about weinerschnitzels, man, holocaust is a conspiracy.

[bernard02]

I really love reading WW2 stories. I admire so much most of the weapons they were using and the brave soldier who defend the country and the people also.