VE Day

[Spudulike]

I haven't been able to trace any family members that served in WWII. Parents too young, Grandparents too old. Closest is my brother-in-laws father who fought his way through Italy and a veteran of Monte Casino. Plenty of stories from my parents about Leicester getting bombed the night that Coventry was devastated.

 

Anyone have serving family members?

[Sol thewall Bamba]

Paternal grandfather was in the Royal Tank Regiment, fought in North Africa and Normandy before he was wounded and went home. Maternal grandfather was a Royal Commando but don't know much more than that. 

[hejammy]

Both Grandfathers - one was an engineer fixing tanks etc and the other I have no idea about as he passed away when I was fairly young. - not that this is relevant when I hear "get outta my country you brown bastard"

Edited 8 May 2025 by hejammy

[Soar Fox]

Desford village did a cracking VE Day festival at the weekend.

[Izzy]

13 minutes ago, Spudulike said:

I haven't been able to trace any family members that served in WWII. Parents too young, Grandparents too old. Closest is my brother-in-laws father who fought his way through Italy and a veteran of Monte Casino. Plenty of stories from my parents about Leicester getting bombed the night that Coventry was devastated.

 

Anyone have serving family members?

One of my Grandad's couldn't serve as he had poor health so he made ball bearings for the Spitfire's.

 

My other Grandad was in India building runways during WW11. He worked alongside the Gurkhas and I've still got a Gurkha knife that he bought back - a thing of beauty.

 

He died the month before I was born in '73 and my Gran remarried years later to a soldier who was part of the D-Day landings. A proper war hero by all accounts but whenever we tried asking him about it he changed the subject. I suspect he saw some horrors and just didn't want to be reminded about it 

 

[Foxdiamond]

23 minutes ago, Spudulike said:

I haven't been able to trace any family members that served in WWII. Parents too young, Grandparents too old. Closest is my brother-in-laws father who fought his way through Italy and a veteran of Monte Casino. Plenty of stories from my parents about Leicester getting bombed the night that Coventry was devastated.

 

Anyone have serving family members?

Dad was a despatch rider  badly injured in accident which was a blessing in disguise as a lot of his mates were lost later in Normandy and Germany. Uncle was at Dunkirk. Another Uncle died in a Japanese pow camp in June 1945 so after VE day but before VJ day. Other Uncles survived after fighting in Italy and Far East. Grandad was shipyard worker on Tyneside and worked on ships like HMS Kelly. Other grandparents bombed out in London blitz but ok

[Footballwipe]

Both my grandads fought in WWII, were based in the middle east and Burma rather than mainland Europe.

 

I was too young when they died (they both had my parents really old (47 & 37)) but my mum always said they never ever spoke about it unless they were together and only then would they share stories/memories. She said once one of them spoke a ship of people being sent back to somewhere and he was certain they would be killed on their end destination.

 

My great grandad fought in WWI but not sure where, I should research.

[jgtuk]

Grandad served in WW2 alongside his brothers. Grandad survived, 3 brothers killed 
Traced great uncles/uncles who were killed in the Great War and WW2 and several are named at the Thiepval Memorial Cemetery and Ypres. 
If you’ve never been to the French war memorials and cemeteries and have even a faint interest, then do it.
Incredibly moving. 

[Bellend Sebastian]

My Grandpa was in the RAF Military Police, highlights of his I'm sure illustrious service including asking a prisoner he was escorting to "bugger off down the lane" for a bit while he had a quick chat with his girlfriend (my Gran) and drawing his service weapon once and once only (to threaten an American)

[The Fox Covert]

1 hour ago, Spudulike said:

I haven't been able to trace any family members that served in WWII. Parents too young, Grandparents too old. Closest is my brother-in-laws father who fought his way through Italy and a veteran of Monte Casino. Plenty of stories from my parents about Leicester getting bombed the night that Coventry was devastated.

 

Anyone have serving family members?

My uncle was also a veteran of Monte Cassino. My father was too young. Joe was hit by gunfire and, walking wounded, went to the dressing station. He was checked over, the bullet wound dressed, and then he was discharged later. Decades later, in Canada, he had an operation and the doctor told him they had done an x-ray and found a bullet in his upper leg. Whoever attended to him failed to check whether there was an exit wound! I have a few stories about both world wars.

[bovril]

My Sileby-born grandfather was a desert rat in N. Africa. He was captured by Axis troops and spent some time in Italian prisoner of war camps. He escaped and lived with a partisan family in Le Marche until the war was over. We kept in touch with the family and visited them from time to time. 

 

Great reading these posts. A whole generation of men with the most remarkable stories to tell, but who rarely wanted to tell them. 

[Lionator]

Maternal Grandfather landed on Juno beach as a marine on 6th June 1944, still as a teenager. Only in his last few months did he reveal that after D-day, he was part of another mission around Belgium where most of his compatriots were killed. Needless to say he lived a tough life but he’s one of my heroes. 

[ClaphamFox]

My granddad was in the RAF and worked at a base in the Cotswolds. The base was regularly subject to raids by the Luftwaffe, during which everybody would pile into an underground bomb shelter accessible by a ladder down from a hatch door. One of my granddad's comrades was severely claustrophobic and used to stand at the top of the ladder with his head above ground during raids as he was too scared to go further down. During one raid a plane was shot down and the debris scattered across the airfield at great speed, decapitating the poor chap at the top of the ladder. On another occasion my granndad was among a group sent to locate a German pilot who had parachuted from his burning plane. They did find him, but unfortunately he was just a smouldering corpse when they got there.

He never spoke about the war to my mum or her siblings, but was happy to tell these stories to his grandchildren. We were utterly fascinated by them.

[FoxesDeb]

My maternal grandfather served in WWII but would never talk about it, the only thing I do know is that he was taken prisoner by the Japanese and forced to work on the railway they were building, and absolutely refused to buy anything he thought was made in Japan for the rest of his life.

[foxy boxing]

Brother in law is a Royal Marine, he's been Iraq and Afghanistan. My Cousin is in the RAF.

[PAULCFC]

2 hours ago, Spudulike said:

I haven't been able to trace any family members that served in WWII. Parents too young, Grandparents too old. Closest is my brother-in-laws father who fought his way through Italy and a veteran of Monte Casino. Plenty of stories from my parents about Leicester getting bombed the night that Coventry was devastated.

 

Anyone have serving family members?

My Grandad was at Monte Casino too.

[Spudulike]

My mother and grandparents were living on Flint Street, just off Charnwood Street, during WWII. She had stories about black out blinds, seeing flares in the sky, and having to spend hours in a cold, damp bomb shelter in the back yard. They were envious of a family up the road with a cellar that was equipped with the niceties to comfortably spend a night during raids. On one night when the Luftwaffe bombed Humberstone Road railway station, their house was hit fracturing a water main. The family drowned in the cellar. She also remembered as a 7-year old going out the next morning and seeing items such as bedsheets and clothes hanging in trees and on roofs.

[pSinatra]

My paternal grandfather served on HMS Suffolk during WW2. 

 

A heavy cruiser that patrolled the Denmark Strait, Norwegian Sea & Scapa Flow.

 

 

He died when I was about 8 years old, so I never got the chance to speak him about it.  We still have all his paperwork, photos, medals, etc kept in an old munitions case.  He was a Stoker working in the engine room.  I can't imagine what it would have been like trapped down below whilst all hell was breaking loose up above.  And if it was going down, he was going down with it.

 

For years, I didn't really know too much about it & all I did know was that it was involved in the Battle of the Denmark Strait with the sinking of HMS Hood & the Bismarck.  There used to be an old boy down the local pub that everyone used to call 'Major'.  He used to tell his war stories & all I would say is "my Grandad sunk the Bismarck".

[Foxdiamond]

1 hour ago, FoxesDeb said:

My maternal grandfather served in WWII but would never talk about it, the only thing I do know is that he was taken prisoner by the Japanese and forced to work on the railway they were building, and absolutely refused to buy anything he thought was made in Japan for the rest of his life.

My first job was in a shop. A chap came in looking to buy a toaster. Showed him one and he asked where it was made. Made in Japan. Immediately said no as he was a former pow 

[Skidmark]

Grandfather on D-Day was behind the wheel of an LCT's dropping Canadians onto Juno Beach. 

 

He recounted a story about how his vessel dropped a tank into too deep water and that another tank drove straight over the top of this tank storming the beach. I've since read about this specific event in a very famous Historian's work on D-day. 

 

He had a long involvement in the conflict, serving on the Arctic convoys too. My great grandfather also was involved in bomb disposal in Africa. I've got a great picture of him sat on a 500kg German bomb he'd diffused around El Alamein. 

 

[Izzy]

Great thread. Great stories.

[The Year Of The Fox]

It really brings it all closer to home reading these anecdotes from other FT members.

 

Lest We Forget.

[leicsmac]

Both grandads saw action. Paternal one was in the Royal Engineers, he was with the BEF evacuated at Dunkirk and then saw action in North Africa, Eighth Army. Maternal one was Navy, was based in the Far East for the most of the war.

 

Neither of them wanted to talk much about what they saw and did, which I think is entirely justifiable.

 

Never Again.

[Guest worth_the_wait]

My grandmother was a field nurse in WW1. 

 

If ever I hurt myself when I was little (which was often, as I was always falling off my bike) ... she'd comfort me by saying "come here, my little wounded soldier" 

 

It was only years later I realised the poignancy of what she used to say.    The things she must've seen 1914-18, don't bear thinking about.

[Parafox]

My late father, born in Romania, was conscripted into the army aged 20 and sent off to fight the Russians who were the enemy as at that time Romania were German allies having been neutral before the war.

 

Anyway, long story short.

 

He was assigned to a platoon to move into Russian controlled territory. Bearing in mind the conscripts were very poorly trained, basically given a rifle and some kit and told to fujk off and fight.

 

At some point during the days of conflict and confusion, my dad got separated from his platoon and found himself alone. He managed somehow, by various means, to make his way to northern France/Belgium. In his memoirs he says he obtained shelter and food by working in various roles, in a bakery, sometimes posing as a mechanic and doing work for farmers and a general handyman, as he made his way across northern Europe.

 

Eventually he made it and was considered a war refugee and was given two options. Evacuation and patriation to either the UK or Australia.

 

He chose the UK.

 

He was sent to work as a gardener/farmhand at Ingarsby Hall where the owner was very generous and helped my dad to learn English and provided him with free accommodation and later getting him references for work in Leicester.

 

He finished up working as a toolmaker at Wadkins for many years.

 

And here I am.