D-Day is coming up (6. June 1944)

[johnnytapia]

My dad’s uncle died on HMS Ardent, sunk in June 1940 off Norway whilst trying to protect HMS Glorious. All on board were lost except one man picked up by a German plane.
My dad was given his uncle’s medals but lost them. I contacted the MOD and they rather brilliantly sent two replacements.
The Arctic Star and Arctic Emblem.
My Grandad fought in Egypt and was in charge of German POW Camp. A German soldier who was in the camp continued writing to my Grandad after the war, thanking him for the way my Grandad treated him in the camp.

 

[mexico1970]

My dad’s uncle died on HMS Ardent, sunk in June 1940 off Norway whilst trying to protect HMS Glorious. All on board were lost except one man picked up by a German plane.
My dad was given his uncle’s medals but lost them. I contacted the MOD and they rather brilliantly sent two replacements.
The Arctic Star and Arctic Emblem.
My Grandad fought in Egypt and was in charge of German POW Camp. A German soldier who was in the camp continued writing to my Grandad after the war, thanking him for the way my Grandad treated him in the camp.

Brilliant stuff mate, these stories are more important year after year IMHO.

 

[johnnytapia]

My dad’s uncle died on HMS Ardent, sunk in June 1940 off Norway whilst trying to protect HMS Glorious. All on board were lost except one man picked up by a German plane.
My dad was given his uncle’s medals but lost them. I contacted the MOD and they rather brilliantly sent two replacements.
The Arctic Star and Arctic Emblem.
My Grandad fought in Egypt and was in charge of German POW Camp. A German soldier who was in the camp continued writing to my Grandad after the war, thanking him for the way my Grandad treated him in the camp.

My Great Uncle, Robert Coe. Moston lad.
Killed in Action 1940. My dad recalled there being a great sense of grief when the news came of Robert’s death. He said his Aunty Doris (Robert’s wife) never got over his death.

I managed to get his medals replaced through a brilliant guy (from Oldham) who runs the GLARAC memorial site.

HMS Ardent | glarac.co.uk

www.glarac.co.uk

He advised me on who / how to contact the MOD. Handing the medals to my dad (now 86 and the oldest surviving member of his family) was something I will never ever ever forget. Ever.

 

[jimharri]

If the opening part of Saving Private Ryan is anywhere remotely close to being historically accurate (and Hollywood does like to embellish such stories), then what those guys went through was hell on earth. The bravest of the brave.




Even if it was only the Americans, according to said film!

 

[Rascal]

Familiar with this as my Dad was a D-Day Dodger. He didn't talk much about the war but I don't think being in the 8th was quite the holiday in the sun some might have thought. I have a few of the things he brought back, along with his campaign medals, much of it standard issue but a few personal things too such as a number of delicate Italian prayer cards that were somehow still intact on the floor of a bombed out house they found themselves in at Casino. As a Catholic he was upset by the idea of the Virgin Mary being trampled underfoot so he rescued them and carried them with him for the rest of the war. I didn't really push him to talk about his experiences partly because I was too busy running around living the type of life he and so many others fought for us to have. I sometimes wish I had asked more but in reality I don't think he wanted to discuss it either. I'm not sure I ever even explicitly said thank you to him, though doubtless any direct expression of emotion would have meant he would have just muttered something and then hid behind his Evening News :-)

My Grandad never spoke about it either and i was a very inquisitive young lad fascinated by history.

All i have is his baccy tin and inside is a piccy of him in Italy with his truck. Whats nice is painted on the side of his truck is the name of my nanna.

I had no intention of demeaning the bravery of the lads who were at D-Day BTW.

 

[johnnytapia]

My Grandad never spoke about it either and i was a very inquisitive young lad fascinated by history.

All i have is his baccy tin and inside is a piccy of him in Italy with his truck. Whats nice is painted on the side of his truck is the name of my nanna.

I had no intention of demeaning the bravery of the lads who were at D-Day BTW.

They really were made of different stuff.

 

[Rascal]

 

[threespires]

My father hardly ever spoke about the war, and my uncle, who was out in Burma, still less.

They had both seen dreadful things with their own eyes, and I think they just wanted to forget. My father never wore his medals, and they seemed to be just junk in his eyes, discarded in an old tin. You would never get him near any sort of ceremony or parade, that's for sure. It was as if it was all a horrible nightmare that they did not want to dwell on. My Dad was at Belsen for starters. God alone knows what my uncle saw.

Very similar with my Dad. Didn't even see his medals when he was alive, let alone see him wear them. He didn't watch parades and the like on the TV let alone go in person and for whatever reason he really wasn't keen on the British Legion.

To your point it was something they endured and felt little need to revisit or relive. Can't imagine what your Dad and Uncle must have witnessed, another level again.

 

[threespires]

My Grandad never spoke about it either and i was a very inquisitive young lad fascinated by history.

All i have is his baccy tin and inside is a piccy of him in Italy with his truck. Whats nice is painted on the side of his truck is the name of my nanna.

I had no intention of demeaning the bravery of the lads who were at D-Day BTW.

I have a few bits that are quite interesting, the point and grunt language books they were issued with are quite random in their content! I've got the order of service for the thanksgiving services that were held across the 8th army at the end of hostilities and a few other of the comms they were issued with. He kept some family letters too. Possibly most illuminating is the short reference from his commanding officer included with his demob papers. Whilst the reference is positive it almost reads like a livestock report of some description. You can see in it's language quite how ingrained the class system was at the time.

 

[Gaylord du Bois]

It's a shame this thread is in the sub forum but hey ho...
Received a message from my son-in-law today. He's in Normandy with my grandson. He's sent some very moving pictures and videos, including videos of a piper on the shore of Juno beach. Which I'm not able to upload, unfortunately.
He also went to the Canadian war graves, where a British guide was giving a tour and chatting with those in attendance. The next part I found extremely powerful and moving. (It's in his words with my grandsons name hidden)

"What a surreal moment at the Canadian war graves. Our tour guide speaks about the only 3 brothers to be buried in same war cemetery and a voice from behind says that's my family and he was here with 3 generations visiting. They even took time out to talk to us afterwards. ***** was helping out at that time. Totally emotional day, that's for sure ..God bless them".

There's also a very moving video of the guide talking to the family above. To which the eldest told him of the fact that the two other brothers, (the son of one is talking to the guide) had tried to sign up, after their brother's deaths but were told, by the Prime Ministers office that their "family had given enough already" and couldn't go.
The fact that people sacrificed themselves in the name of freedom is absolutely incredible.
God bless them all indeed.