What did your family do in WW2?

**Kaiser of Arabia** · 03-23-2005, 23:47

Great uncle served for the Vaterland on the western front in France, got captured and died after the war. No damn medals or nothin/

**PanzerJaeger** · 03-24-2005, 00:33

My paternal grandfather commanded a Panzer IV on the eastern front as part of the 11th panzer division of the Wehrmacht. He fought in battles to rescue the trapped soldiers of Stalingrad and then around Rostov where he recieved an iron cross with no specialties. He was killed at Kursk taking the high ground around Butovo.

My maternal grandfather was a low level supply officer for the Kriegsmarine. His brother was in the 3rd SS Totenkopf and all i know of him was that he was killed around Demyansk Pocket (he isnt spoken of very often

).

Various other members of the family were in the German armed forces, but nothing very special apparently as no one remembers too much about their history in the military.. or mabey they dont want to remember?

**IrishMike** · 03-24-2005, 01:05

One Grandfather was a medic, in the Western Europe Campaign for US. Was their from D-day to the end. The other one made tanks back in the states due to health problems. I know for sure, I wouldn't have wanted to be a medic.

**Red Harvest** · 03-24-2005, 02:05

One side of the family served as U.S Marines in the Pacific and all survived despite some near fatal wounds, the other side served primarily in the Royal Canadian Air Force (lost 2 distant relatives that way.)

**Togakure** · 03-24-2005, 05:48

My mom was a little girl in Sapporo, Japan. She didn't talk much about what happened during the war, but I do remember her saying that they were very, very hungry and cold much of the time. I also remember the distant and pained look on her face when she said that.

I honestly don't know what was going on on my father's side during WWII. My dad served in Japan after the Korean War (where I was conceived and born).

**soda** · 03-24-2005, 05:54

Both my grandfathers were part of the British Indian army. My maternal grandfather was a second leftanant at the start of the war and was promoted 2 steps to Captain because several men above him died. He served in Iraq (putting down a rebellion) and then went to North Africa. He was actually heading towards Singapore when secret messages were recieved overnight and his division (or whatever the group was called) was transferred to Iraq. Singapore was captured by the Japanse several days later and a few of his friends and I believe a somewhat distant cousin were killed or tortured.

My paternal grandfather was a bit younger but he was part of the airforce and served in Burma against the Japanse. I don't know if he saw combat since he died when my father (jet fighter accident) was a young boy so my knowledge of him is somewhat limited.

**hrvojej** · 03-24-2005, 05:55

Both of my grandfathers were mostly in jail. First imprisoned by the Nazis, then by the communists. Such is life.

**BalkanTourist** · 03-24-2005, 06:14

Bulgaria joined the Axis in 1941 as there was a 600,000 German army across the Danube in Romania. As a result Bulgaria declared war on Britain, the USA, and the USSR. When the Red Army entered NorthEastern Bulgaria in autumn of 1944, there was a millitary coup overnight and a new government was established that declared war on Germany while we were still technically at war with the other Great Powers. The German Army was already withdrawing from Bulgaria when the Red Army entered, but the Bulgarian Army was ordered to attack whatever German forces were left. My paternal great grandfather enlisted as a volunteer and fought the Germans all the way to Drava River in Hungary. My great great grandfather fought in WW1 against the Greeks, French and the English in Macedonia and Albania.

**Rosacrux redux** · 03-24-2005, 06:18

Both my grandfathers served in the Greek army during WW2. My maternal grandfather saw lots of action, he was a Lt. in a division that fought the Italians in the Albanian front. After the surrender to the Germans, he fled the country to the middle east and served as an officer in the Greek Army in Exile.

After the war, he returned to Greece and served in the mine clearing detachments - that's how he got killed - cleaning a minefield. He got a couple of medals for his actions.

My paternal grandfather didn't see much action, although he was drafted and served in a division near Trikala when the Germans entered Greece. During the occupation he joined the resistance and after the war he also was killed when cleaning a minefield (Greece was literally full of mines). Despite that, he got no medal. Not even post mortem.

A funny twist of fate, that both my grandparents died in a minefield, during peace times.