BF2S Forums Grandpa...

My Dad's Dad was a marine in korea, and he had a couple brothers in WW2. I wanted to join the marines for a while but then i thought about how Im not strong at all, and I love computer games.

btw... my other Grandfather was in the home guard. He wasn't fit to fight in the war and it broke his heart.

We should also remember those who didn't fight because they were consciencious objectors. They had to endure a hell of their own (if they weren't shot)
And those poor blokes who had Shell-Shock. It wasn't recognised as a condition for a long time. Too many men who weren't fit to hold a conversation, let alone a rifle, were shot for 'Cowardice'.

Only in the last year or two has the UK started to pull it's finger out and reinstate the honour of these men. About bloody time too.

Last edited by BladeRunner (2005-11-09 16:45:12)

My mother's father was in the Navy. I don't know much, but I know that he was shot in the chest during the battle for Midway. My father's father was not in the war do to medical exemption, but 2 of his brothers were. My great uncle brought back a swastika arm band that my father donated to the holocaust museum. His was Army. Infantry I believe, but we don't know enough. His wife doesn't talk about it much.

The new WWII monument in D.C. has a great database of the men who sereved. Make sure your relatives are in there!

I know everything about my grandfather from my mom, he died when I was 6.  I'm almost 100 percent sure he was in the 101st airborne, my mom doesn't know much about this stuff but she said he told her about the D-day invasion, parachuting out of the planes with the other paratroopers.  He also told my mom about the bocage with all of the hedgerows.  He told her about some of his experiences, he most likely had post-dramatic-stress-syndrome, he saw some stuff that he would never forget.  He told my mom about the Battle of the Bulge.  My mom also said he had earned some medals but they were sold when he died.  About a year ago I found a box with a bunch of his stuff from the Army in it, discharge papers and other stuff.  In it was a Screaming Eagle ring.  His discharge papers said that he was part of the Signal Company, 101st.  I've looked on the internet but have yet to find something about the Signal Company of the 101st.  If anyone knows anything about the Signal Company in the 101st just post please, it's been a real mystery to me because I never had the chance to speak to him about it face to face.


^^^ as they said above, fight for freedom and justice, not oil and cash

Last edited by Spearhead (2006-01-03 15:02:17)

Homeschtar wrote:

My Grandpa lived in Berlin during WWII. He did not believe in what the Nazis were doing, but he could not leave because of the Berlin Wall. Then the Nazis lost, and Russians moved into Berlin and treated Germans very badly. He has many stories from this Russian occupation time. He was strafed by a fighter on his way home from school one day, and had to jump off a bridge. He finally was able to escape Berlin via an underground railroad, and came to America and joined the USA army. He was never in war, but got to the rank of sergeant and operated the BAR. He also won many marksman awrds.

Oh, and @Spanktor: Holy crap. Your Grandpa is very courageous, and hopefully very respected and honored. Not to say that everyone else's Grandpa's shouldn't be respected.

Sorry pal but the Berlin Wall was build in 1961. WWII was from 1939-1945.

Guruz wrote:

My mom's dad was a field medic @ the Winter War (little Finland kicked big Russia's ass!)

Frontline medics were quite rare in here, so I'm proud
I even have some badge he gave me his last days..

But unfortunately he passed away at 1998.. no more stories..

HAKKAA PÄÄLLE SUOMIPOIKA !
I'll dedicaty my "medic day" (see sig) to him.

Yeah, my mothers father fought as a Swedish volounteer on the Finnish front, i've heard that he got quite a lot of kills.
Maybe they knew eachother

TrevorP wrote:

And I had another uncle on the Hood as well...also survived. And my dad also knew a british commando from ww2 who found a pair of german field binoculars in a locker. Ill even post some images of it when I find it.

Three men survived the sinking of the Hood out of 1700 or so. Your uncle must have been really lucky

Homeschtar wrote:

My Grandpa lived in Berlin during WWII. He did not believe in what the Nazis were doing, but he could not leave because of the Berlin Wall. Then the Nazis lost, and Russians moved into Berlin and treated Germans very badly. He has many stories from this Russian occupation time. He was strafed by a fighter on his way home from school one day, and had to jump off a bridge. He finally was able to escape Berlin via an underground railroad, and came to America and joined the USA army. He was never in war, but got to the rank of sergeant and operated the BAR. He also won many marksman awrds.

Oh, and @Spanktor: Holy crap. Your Grandpa is very courageous, and hopefully very respected and honored. Not to say that everyone else's Grandpa's shouldn't be respected.

Berlin wall... WW2? Makes no sense.

Also my fathers father was in the danish resistance, and he got shot a few times, but he's all fine today. Turning 90 in a week actually!

My stepfathers father (phew) was believe it or not in the USMC and fought on the Phillipines and Iwo Jima. I didn't know this until we found an M1 Garand and a japanese Bayonett in his garage in Halmstad in the south of sweden Pretty cool.

Last edited by Sh1fty2k5 (2006-01-10 05:22:54)

my dad's dad fought for the germans on the western front, mum's dad fought for the australian's in africa, a family made of enemies

I think I've related what war tales my family has, but for those who missed out:
I've had some very distant great great uncles or something in World War One, both died at Gallipoli.

The closest war story to me would be my great uncle Mike. He trained as a pilot of Spitfires for World War Two, and when ready, was shipped to England. However, while adrift, the war ended, so they gave him a medal and sent him home.

That's pretty much it.

Okay, yeah I'm sick of my family's cowardly military history so I'm going to adopt Charles Upham as my grandfather temporarily. My dfetails may not be 100% correct because I read the book a while ago now, but I'll do the best I can from memory.

Charles Upham served under General Freyburg, (VC winner, Old Boy of my old school, and Governor General of New Zealand,) and Major General Sir Howard Kippenberger, (strangely enough, the grandfather of Karl Kippenberger, Shihad's bass player.)

He started out as a rough-as-guts kind of bastard. Actually, that didn't really change. He didn't really respect rank, only people, (Kippenberger and Freyberg were luckily both people Upham respected,) but was given command of a squad. He proved himself amny times, some examples of this:

- In Africa while his squad was taking cover from German machinegun fire, Upham noted that the guns could only fire  above a certain height, so he climbed up on top of a truck and managed to shoot the gunners without them being able to shoot him.

- Was ordered to basicly charge a large machinegun post. He and his squad led the charge, (with Upham in front,) and although the NZ troops lost many men, the objective was accomplished with Up[ham reaching the enemy guns first and dispatching the enemy troops, (either causing them to flee, get shot or be taken prisoner.)

- By this stage I'm pretty sure he was awarded the Victoria Cross, which is the highest military honour for Valour. A shy man, he refused to talk to anyone about it, and only wore it when Freyberg demanded it of him once.

- In Crete he was shot many times while fleeing enemy troops. With only one arm working whe crawled into a field and played dead. Two enemy soldiers approached him. He quickly put his rifle in the fork of a tree and shot the first one. With one hand he managed to pull back the bolt, chamber another round and shoot the second soldier before he had managed to get off a shot. The second soldier fell right on top of him.

- Also in Crete, when NZ troops were falling back, Upham, (severly sick and wounded,) climbed a steep cliff with his squad and a machinegun. He managed to set it up so he was hanging over the edge of the cliff facing straight down and firing the gun from directly above the enemy troops, forcing them to retreat and letting the NZ troops get off Crete safely. Unfortunatly the boats couldn't accomodate for all the troops, and Upham had to stay behind on Crete and became a prisoner of war.

- He was taken to a prisoner of war camp where he repeatedly tried to escape. The most classic example of this is when he fell into the rolled barbed wire on the other side of the fence and got tangled in it. A  young Corporal found him and lowered his rifle at him. Upham lit himslef a cigarette and told the Corporal "Go get an officer, I refuse to be shot by anyone but an officer." the corporal went and got the commanding officer of the camp who smiled at Upham and said "Get up mr. Upham, you are a very brave man."

- After causing too much trouble in the small camp, it was decided that Upham was to be taken to Colditz Castle - a POW camp that was impossible to escape from. In the train on the way over, he used the bathroom on the train, which had a tiny window. He managed to get it open and climb out. He than jumped from a moving train without his guard knowing. He knocked himself out on the sleepers of the paralelle track, but woke up before another train came. he followed the tracks in the opposite direction to where the train was going, but noticed someone following. He kept walking until nightfall, where he tried to make a runner throught he dark bush. He was captured again and taken on his way to Colditz - and wasn't given any bathroom breaks.

- The war ended while Upham was in Colditz, and after he got out, was informed that he was to be given another VC for his actions on Crete. He wasn't happy with this as he didn't like the publicity the first one had brought. He is one of only three to ever be awarded the VC and Bar, and came from Christchurch in New Zealand. After the war heset up a farm in canterbury and lived there until his death in I think 1996, but I could be wrong.

Captain Charles Upham was the man, and made up for all the wars that my family 'missed out' on.