I Don't Know About You...

...but I'm bawling like a baby:

More than a moving story: a true life lesson.Thank you Francine. #WhatMakesUsHUMAN

Posted by HUMAN on Friday, September 25, 2015

Somber Anniversary

Nagasaki bombing anniversary: Japan and the world remember the last use of nuclear weapons in war 70 years on

What Nagasaki looked like before and after the bomb

 

Wanna Watch...

...an hour and a half of gruesomeness?



This is a sympathetic view of what happened to German civilians, primarily in Dresden, during WWII. Illustrates clearly the old adage that war is hell.

I Love The WWII Era...

...music. It always reminds me of my parents - the greatest generation.

Pow! Zap! Kaboom!

Funeral Home Posts the Greatest Sign About American Troops Ever

"There is a story that dates back to World War II about a French soldier captured by the Nazi’s. Just before morning roll call began, the Commandant of Colditz Castle, a castle turned POW camp announced that by order of Hitler, any POW who had a special trade before the war could be relocated to Germany to live out the war in peace and work as they did before the war.

Immediately, a French soldier volunteered his services in front of nearly 1000 POWs from a mixture of nations including the U.S., Britain, Australia, Poland, and many others. As you can imagine a lot of boos and probably a ton of language was directed at this poor French soldier who just wanted to make it through the war. Upon quieting the multitude of prisoners down, the shocked commandant asked the Frenchman why he is volunteering. The Frenchman responded that he was tired of fighting and truly wanted to do something he enjoyed before the war. He was trained and ready to work for the Germans. But there was one condition the Frenchman told the German officer and that was to keep him as busy as possible because they more work he gets, the less he will think about getting in trouble.

Elated, the Commandant asked the man, “Sir, your wish is my command. Now what was your job before the war?” Not missing a beat, the Frenchman responded, “Sir, I was an undertaker.”"

I Want My Daddy

Whenever I hear/read a story about WWII vets, I think of my dad:

70 years after WWII service, Shoals man receives high school diploma


Canadian soldier’s World War Two remains finally laid to rest

Wow!!

German soldiers preserved in World War I shelter discovered after nearly 100 years

"The men were part of a larger group of 34 who were buried alive when an Allied shell exploded above the tunnel during World War One causing it to cave in."

[---]

"Many of the skeletal remains were found in the same positions the men had been in at the time of the collapse, prompting experts to liken the scene to Pompeii.

A number of the soldiers were discovered sitting upright on a bench, one was lying in his bed and another was in the foetal position having been thrown down a flight of stairs."

[---]

"Archaeologists believe the items were so well preserved because hardly any air, water or lights had penetrated the trench.

The 300ft long tunnel was located 18ft beneath the surface near the small town of Carspach in the Alsace region in France.

Michael Landolt, the archaeologist leading the dig, said: "It's a bit like Pompeii."

[---]

"The dead soldiers were part of the 6th Company, 94th Reserve Infantry Regiment.

Their names are all known. They include Musketeer Martin Heidrich, 20, Private Harry Bierkamp, 22, and Lieutenant August Hutten, 37.

Their names are inscribed on a memorial in the nearby German war cemetery of Illfurth.

The bodies have been handed over to the German War Graves Commission but unless relatives can be found and they request the remains to be repatriated, it is planned that the men will be buried at Illfurth."

[---]

"It is estimated that over 165,000 Commonwealth soldiers are still unaccounted for on the Western Front"

Sweet Revenge

How three Jewish teenagers exacted justice without really trying.

The day a Holocaust survivor got revenge on his tormentor

D-Day

UPDATED AND BUMPED:

I will always remember my father.

Haunting Memorial

"...reminder of millions of lives lost in war as artists stencil 9,000 bodies onto Normandy beach to mark Peace Day."

"The shapes were then left to the mercy of the tide which washed away the 'fallen' after around four and a half hours."

And speaking of which:

Was a Canadian soldier mistakenly given a Nazi burial? Hopes that DNA testing will finally reveal whether remains of this private were laid to rest in a German war cemetery

Oh Canada!

2 Canadian warships collide en route to Hawaii

I'll bet you there's a lot of Canadian WWII naval men rolling in their graves.

I Guess It's Not Too Late

D-Day:

"In a statement from Ottawa, Prime Minister Stephen Harper called on Canadians to pause to recall and honour the noble sacrifices of the heroes who turned the tide of the war on June 6, 1944.

"By the evening of June 6, 1944, Canadian troops had progressed further inland than any of their Allies — a proud and remarkable accomplishment," Harper said.

"The day took a heavy toll. To secure victory on D-Day, 340 Canadians gave their lives, 574 were wounded and 47 taken prisoner," he said."

Sixty-nine years ago!

For My Daddy And His Generation

I Wonder...

...if she could have a little talk with that bloke across the channel who I affectionately call Chucky-Pooh? Do us a little favour, can you luv? After all, we gave you sanctuary during WWII. Those tulips we get every year are lovely and all, but living way out in the hinterland, as I do, I never get to enjoy them:

Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands abdicates in favour of son

Oh yeah, and my dad helped liberate your country. That should count for something.

Wow!!

How did that get there?

"Until this week, proof of a sunken Nazi submarine in Labrador was confined to old rumours of dark shadows in the Churchill River.

The stories go back decades, suggesting that German U-boats had snaked along the river bottom and deep into Labrador.

Now newly released sonar images depicting a mysterious submerged shape near Happy Valley-Goose Bay have generated excitement among those who believe the old tales and skepticism among those who don’t."

I wonder if there are/were bodies in it.

Wouldn't that be something!? Would they be left where they are or taken home and given a burial on German soil?

My Dad - Part II

Part I

More stories from the family history book:

"During the winter Gordie's job was to haul water and manure while Buzz hauled straw - each wishing he had the others job!

As twins, Gordon and Buzz had an advantage in that they always had a playmate. They loved to play pranks on each other and anyone else who came along. For instance, they both remembered that one winter:

"...a Mr. Salter came to the house selling stuff. He had cases of dried prunes, peaches and other fruit which he left in his sleigh out in front of the old log stable. We got into the dried fruit, taking out the goodies and replacing them with dry horse turds".

They claimed it was Jeff Vidal's idea.....poor Mr. Salter never came back.

Buzz joined the R.C.M.P. in 1931 and Kenelm (an older brother) married in 1935 making Gordon the only single man on the farm. In 1936, their 30th birthday, he wrote in Buzz's autograph book:

"Thirty years upon the plains,
Thirty years a twin,
Thirty snows and thirty rains,
And thirty years of sin.
And may we have many more."

Truer words were never written.

A few years later my dad, was on the front lines, slogging through The Netherlands, helping to liberate the Dutch from German occupation.

In one of his letters home, he wrote:

"As I write there are jerry shells whizzing around and landing quite close. About five minutes ago, just as I was finished writing to Punch (another brother) one the few remaining doors was knocked off by shrapnel. The windows are, of course, all blown in and there are several holes in the roof. Before we came in the old man and old lady (between 70 and 80 years old) were both killed in the house, they chose not to evacuate and that was the result. All of the civies have evacuated, quite a few dead jerries lying around.

We have a grandstand view of the battle up ahead. We have wonderful artillery barrage and swell support from the typhoons and Spits of the R.A.F and R.C.A.F. They sure make a grand sight with their rockets, bombs and cannon."

[---]

"Had a lively time in Belgium a while ago: between street fighting, constant shelling and the odd four hour pass into Antwerp, there was never a dull moment. Antwerp is some joint. Lots if American movies, cabarets, street cars, wine and women. Ice cream joints and brothels for those who want them....back in N.E.France we got a lot of eggs off the farmers for a can or two of bully or a package of cigarettes. One could get anything there but not so here, we have to stay pretty close to our digs and anyway the farms, and the chickens, are all looted and smashed up."

No wonder he had nightmares for years afterward. Mom told us about his kicking and yelling in his sleep. This was long before there was such a diagnosis as PTSD, but I'm pretty sure he must have suffered from it. I am amazed he could remain so up-beat in his letters home. But I guess that's why they were known as the "Greatest Generation".

In the next post, stories from my Dad's civilian life, prior to the war, highlights from those "thirty years of sin".

Part III

Sixty-Six Years On!!

WWII bomb in Rhine near Koblenz successfully defused

"Bomb disposal experts in the German city of Koblenz have successfully defused two bombs from World War II found in the riverbed of the Rhine."

[---]

"The bigger of the two bombs weighed 1.8 tonnes and was dropped by the Royal Air Force between 1943 and 1945.

Nearly half the city's population - 45,000 - has been evacuated, including the inhabitants of two hospitals, seven nursing homes and a prison.

It is the biggest bomb disposal operation in Germany since 1945."

[---]

"About 600 tonnes of unexploded ordnance are discovered in Germany every year"

Wow!!

Speak For Yourselves, Assholes

Royal military link slammed as colonial throwback

"Restoring the "royal" designation to Canada's air force and navy is a regressive and unnecessary move that will backfire on the Conservative government, say critics of the decision.

"We've had gradual, incremental changes toward putting our colonialist symbols into the dustbin of history, and this is the first time a government has taken steps to restore it," says Tom Freda, co-founder and director of Citizens for a Canadian Republic.

"I believe they're wrong-headed and they're making a mistake. The public will remember this and see this is as a party of the past. Canadians don't think the monarchy is appropriate for the 21st century.""

Colonialist symbols???!!! I welcome this move because it honours the sacrifice made by my Dad and his brother (Canadian Army), my mom's oldest brother (Royal Canadian Navy) and her younger brother (Royal Canadian Air Force). My Air Force uncle, BTW, was also a POW. I only regret none of these men lived long enough to see this happen.

Trust the CBC to play up a negative angle on this story. Most other media coverage of it does not emphasize the nay-sayers. Much of the coverage deals with how pleased veterans are to see this long-ago mistake corrected. Now, if we could just can the CBC, that would be another mistake corrected.

In Search of Glorious Moments

Further to my commentary in the posting below, I think I might have found a "glorious moment" in Canadian history that doesn't involve burning down buildings in Washington.

I have an old photo album of my father's, with pictures of him and his army buddies in uniform at various places in Europe and Britain during WWII and in Camp Shilo, in Manitoba, where he trained before being shipped overseas.

It's a typical old photo album from that era, with black pages held together between two ornate covers with thick, black string (like shoestrings). Most of the photos are glued onto the pages, but some are held in place by insertion into little "corners", which are also black and are glued onto the pages.

In these pictures, Shilo is indeed a camp. There are rows and rows of tents that look like teepees in a big, flat field.  There's even a picture with of a bunch of naked soldiers in the distance preparing to take a dip in the Assiniboine River. The handwritten caption below reads "Swimming in "undress" uniform" and then others of what is probably the same group standing chest deep in the water, posing for a picture.

Aside from the black and white photos there are a few other tokens, war memorabilia, from that era. For example, there's an old faded French Franc (a 20 francs bill, to be specific) and a couple of Deutschmarks glued to one of the pages. There's a "War Department Driving Permit" issued in my father's name by the Secretary of State for War. (Can you imagine having a "war department" or a Secretary of State for War in Canada today? Oh the horrors!!) And a few other documents such as a record of inoculations, a record of Small Arms Range Courses which, I presume, indicated the courses Dad completed, a record of his rank and date of appointment, and so on. There's also a Pass, issued on 1/2/42 good until 23:59 (and not a minute later, apparently) 1/2/42. There is a stern warning printed across the top as follows:

If a calling-out of the whole Army Reserve is ordered every soldier on pass must return immediately to his unit without waiting for instructions.

The dates that appear handwritten in the album and on the few documents found in it range from 1939 to 1944. But perhaps the most interesting document is a newspaper clipping, undated, but with various dates in the article up to and including 1945. There is no indication of the name of the paper, but I suspect it was a Regina paper.  If the Regina Leader existed back then, perhaps that's where the article came from.  In any case, the article's title sums it up:

They got four Nazi tanks in 10 minutes
Brilliant record compiled by Regina's 18th battery

That would be my Dad's group.

The article begins:

"Regina has good reason to be proud of her 18th Anti-Tank battery, which returns to the city noon Friday with an enviable record of enemy kills to its credit.

The entire regiment of four batteries has 26 enemy tanks confirmed and the 18th knocked out 13 of these itself"

It continues: 

"Maj. B. C. Thomson saw a German Panther tank nose out ahead of them. Holding his fire in order to draw other tanks out of cover due to a feeling of false security he and his men were rewarded as three other tanks followed the leader into the open.  The tanks rumbled closer and closer until there was no doubt about hitting them. In 10 minutes these four tanks were smouldering heaps of twisted metal.

These are the boys Reginans will be welcoming home noon Friday!"

That's right. No mention of how many members of the 18th Battery had been killed. Just a proud retelling of how they had slaughtered the other guys. Wow!! How refreshing! The article is actually quite long, and goes into considerable detail about the 18th Battery and their record in the war, but I thought that little bit about them taking out so many enemy tanks is worth crowing about. You see, we do have our heroes and our heroic moments. We just don't know about them, much less celebrate them. Damn it!

And BTW, here's a ten part series about the War of 1812-1814 told from an American perspective that is really good. You can start here:

Part 1

The rest are right there, too.

Here's to letting bygones be bygones and to people who can actually get along despite past differences, or for that matter, ongoing differences as determined by having taken two separate paths in our history.

I think we should supply a box of Laura Secord Chocolates to every Yank who steps on Canadian soil in 2012.

Being a History Buff...

...I have to say I hate this "could have", "should have", "would have" notion:

Britain could have 'crushed Germany within three years' if RAF had not REJECTED inventor's plans for world's first jet fighter

"The Allies would have crushed Nazi Germany 'within three years' if the RAF had not rejected plans by a British inventor to build the world's first jet-powered fighter planes, according to new research.

Inventor Sir Frank Whittle was told his designs for a 500mph jet were 'totally unrealistic' and RAF chiefs refused to invest a penny in their development.

It meant the RAF engineer was forced to circulate his patent internationally in the hope of finding a private investor.

But the document fell into enemy hands and was used as the blueprint for Germany's own jet development programme."

You can't rewind history based on hindsight. No one can know how things could have, should have or would have turned out if a different decision/tack had been taken. Every war is won or lost based on responses to initiatives of the enemy. If the allies had had better planes, who can know how the Axis would have responded?