WAR FOOTING

[topchippyles]

12 minutes ago, PeteB said:

My Uncle, David Barrowcliff, joined the army as it was coming to an end. On a training exercise near Northampton, the man behind him slipped and stabbed him in the backside with his bayonet. The war was done by the time he was passed fit for duty. He got his truck licence in the Army and did driving jobs in Austria before being demobbed. Using various machines in post war Austria was a valuable experience for his future as after a few years with the BRS, then working on the construction of Ratcliffe Power Station, he went back into the tree game.

Went into the correct job (construction) with the name barrow 

 

[Jcarbor]

Why wasn't anyone's Grandad a farrier/clerk/truck driver during the war?
 
Most people's Grandads were Snipers/Commando's/LRDG/SAS etc.
 
With that many killers on our side I wonder how the war could jave lasted 5 years?
 
My Grandad was actually a founding member of the Deep sea sky diving Battalion after killing all the undersea Japanese in the North Sea he went on to chase Rommel out of North Africa as a member of the Long range desert windsurfing squadron. 
 
But he never liked to boast.
 

Mike this is my g grandfather his name is on the pic, he served in the African campaign and the boer war, he was demobbed and joined up at 35 years old in the Great War, he was a Sarg’t major, he was posted to a training unit in Kent, but volunteered to go to France , he died there and was never recovered he is commemorated at theipval. My father was a commando and so was I. Respect to all people who serve the crown no matter their job or rank.

[Mike Hill]

My Grandfather was a Aircraft Mechanic and Pilot as far as he took the Aircraft up after they had been repaired.

 

He left NZ in 1939 and came home in 1946.He served in Europe,the Pacific and guarded prisoners in Malta before he came home.His Son was nearly 7 before they reunited.

 

Colonial Soldiers,Sailors and Airmen were treated like shit.

 

His father served in Galiopoli and Ypres before being gassed.

 

His Father served in the Boer war because despite being a new immigrant to NZ he still owed the fare and taking the Queens Shilling was going to pay that off.

 

Aircraft Mechanic

Rifleman

Mounted Infantry 

[Will C]

My grandpa was a volunteer after being kept on the family farm, got sent to North Africa as far as I know, on the way to the front line victory in Europe happened and he was sent home! He only ever said “I got close enough to smell it and it stunk” my grandma has told me since he died he never forgave himself for not joining up when his best friend and his younger cousin joined up to look after them ( neither of them made it home)

[The avantgardener]

3 hours ago, PeteB said:

My Uncle, David Barrowcliff, joined the army as it was coming to an end. On a training exercise near Northampton, the man behind him slipped and stabbed him in the backside with his bayonet. The war was done by the time he was passed fit for duty. He got his truck licence in the Army and did driving jobs in Austria before being demobbed. Using various machines in post war Austria was a valuable experience for his future as after a few years with the BRS, then working on the construction of Ratcliffe Power Station, he went back into the tree game.

I had to retrieve and replace Peregrine Falcon eggs from a nest on a outbuilding at Ratcliffe Power Station whilst they blew up the Cooling Towers.

Both my grandads worked down the pit so didn't fight in WW2. 
One sneaked off to fight Franco as part of the International Brigade. He shot himself in the foot whilst being trained by the Spanish partisans, there he met my grandmother who was a nurse with the Red Cross. Back home and married within a month, I attended their Diamond Wedding Anniversary.

Edited April 12, 2020 by The avantgardener

[topchippyles]

Thanks for sharing some fond memories guys ?

[Billhook]

My father went off to war in 1940 very much against the wishes of his father who had been seriously wounded at Arras in WW1 and had a leg amputated as a result.  That was meant to be .the war to end all wars..  

Father trained at Anstey with the RAF and received his Wings there and was then sent to  Newfoundland, followed by Edmonton near Calgary followed by Pensacola where he trained on Catalinas under the Towers scheme.  He was trained as a pilot,  a navigator and a wireless operator and after a couple of years was sent back across Atlantic in 1943 in an unescorted ship with 1600 others who had been fully trained over the same period.  imagine it might have changed the course of the War if that ship had been sunk by a U Boat..!

He ended up at Davidstow in Cornwall in 280 Squadron on Coastal Command flying Wellingtons and later Warwicks dropping huge lifeboats and dingys to people in the Channel and Atlantic.  I still have his log books, his bubble sextant and a large compass taken out of a Wellington at the end of the War.

Mother was taken out of school at 17 in 1941 and joined the WRNS and was based at nearby Treligga near Port Isaac where they had a practice target field for rocket training for Typhoon pilots.  The WRNS had to run out from behind a bunker and replace the target before the Typhoon came around again ( before the days of 'Elf an Safety!)

They all went drinking at the King Arthur's Arms Hotel at Tintagel and that it where Ma and Pa met and they were married for 63 years.

I was amazed to find not only all the records of father's operations but also photos of my mother driving an ambulance and fire tender, all at the Davidstow museum.

In her last year in her nineties, she had dementia but the one story she kept repeating was the time when a B17 Fortress came around the airfield at Treligga in foggy conditions.  The airstrip there was grass and only about six hundred yards long and was only meant as an emergency strip for the Hawker Typhoons to land in the event of their rockets throwing up debris and damaging the engine.  

The B17 circled with its wheels down and the leading officer fired a flare to warn it away, but it came in and landed quite easily being a tail dragger and a good pilot.  The WRNS went out to greet it and they turned all the guns on them.  They had no idea where they were and thought that they were still in France!

The next day they had taken all the bombs , ammo and anything that could be taken off and lined the B17  up at the start of the runway.  At Treligga there is quite a steep cliff going down to the sea.   All the WRNS held their breath while the four engines roared and the machine headed off towards the cliff.  It lumbered over the cliff and disappeared from sight and everyone held their breath waiting for the explosion but started to breathe again when the plane roared into sight again climbing fast!

The extraordinary thing was exactly the same thing happened on the same date a year later!

 

Jcarbor and Mike Hill talking of South Africa reminds me that my Mother's father, a Scotsman, was brought up in Bloemfontein and at the age of sixteen joined the Brand's Horse to put down the 1915 Boer rebellion there. He then went on with them to defeat the Germans in Namibia (Deutch Sud Vest).  In 1916 he caught measles and was sick for most of the year so missed the carnage of the Somme but he joined the Royal Field Artillery in 1917 and went on to fight at Ypres.  He had his horse shot from under him twice and gained an MC  gazetted in 1918 and survived the war unscathed.

 

Amazing I now have the time in this lock down to write all this!!

Edited April 13, 2020 by Billhook

[Commando]

My father went off to war in 1940 very much against the wishes of his father who had been seriously wounded at Arras in WW1 and had a leg amputated as a result.  That was meant to be .the war to end all wars..  
Father trained at Anstey with the RAF and received his Wings there and was then sent to  Newfoundland, followed by Edmonton near Calgary followed by Pensacola where he trained on Catalinas under the Towers scheme.  He was trained as a pilot,  a navigator and a wireless operator and after a couple of years was sent back across Atlantic in 1943 in an unescorted ship with 1600 others who had been fully trained over the same period.  imagine it might have changed the course of the War if that ship had been sunk by a U Boat..!
He ended up at Davidstow in Cornwall in 280 Squadron on Coastal Command flying Wellingtons and later Warwicks dropping huge lifeboats and dingys to people in the Channel and Atlantic.  I still have his log books, his bubble sextant and a large compass taken out of a Wellington at the end of the War.
Mother was taken out of school at 17 in 1941 and joined the WRNS and was based at nearby Treligga near Port Isaac where they had a practice target field for rocket training for Typhoon pilots.  The WRNS had to run out from behind a bunker and replace the target before the Typhoon came around again ( before the days of 'Elf an Safety!)
They all went drinking at the King Arthur's Arms Hotel at Tintagel and that it where Ma and Pa met and they were married for 63 years.
I was amazed to find not only all the records of father's operations but also photos of my mother driving an ambulance and fire tender, all at the Davidstow museum.
In her last year in her nineties, she had dementia but the one story she kept repeating was the time when a B17 Fortress came around the airfield at Treligga in foggy conditions.  The airstrip there was grass and only about six hundred yards long and was only meant as an emergency strip for the Hawker Typhoons to land in the event of their rockets throwing up debris and damaging the engine.  
The B17 circled with its wheels down and the leading officer fired a flare to warn it away, but it came in and landed quite easily being a tail dragger and a good pilot.  The WRNS went out to greet it and they turned all the guns on them.  They had no idea where they were and thought that they were still in France!
The next day they had taken all the bombs , ammo and anything that could be taken off and lined the B17  up at the start of the runway.  At Treligga there is quite a steep cliff going down to the sea.   All the WRNS held their breath while the four engines roared and the machine headed off towards the cliff.  It lumbered over the cliff and disappeared from sight and everyone held their breath waiting for the explosion but started to breathe again when the plane roared into sight again climbing fast!
The extraordinary thing was exactly the same thing happened on the same date a year later!
 
Jcarbor and Mike Hill talking of South Africa reminds me that my Mother's father, a Scotsman, was brought up in Bloemfontein and at the age of sixteen joined the Brand's Horse to put down the 1915 Boer rebellion there. He then went on with them to defeat the Germans in Namibia (Deutch Sud Vest).  In 1916 he caught measles and was sick for most of the year so missed the carnage of the Somme but he joined the Royal Field Artillery in 1917 and went on to fight at Ypres.  He had his horse shot from under him twice and gained an MC  gazetted in 1918 and survived the war unscathed.
 
Amazing I now have the time in this lock down to write all this!!

Fantastic!

[David Cropper]

On 11/04/2020 at 21:19, Jcarbor said:

My family are all military up to me, my great grandfather was killed at the Somme he was a career soldier in the Cameroonian Highlanders he also served in the South Africa campaign and the Boer war. My father served in Aden and suez, I served in the Royal Marines. My son has no interest whatsoever in being in the forces, to tell you the truth I don’t blame him.

 

Jcarbor, Commando, Jesse etc. This is for the Bootnecks on here. This is a tribute left in our local town in honour of the Cockleshell Heroes who ended up getting to Ruffec after the action near Bordeaux. Spirited away by the local Resistance.  Fascinating story, The Royal Marines are rightly  proud of their exploits. If you don't know the story, non Marines, Google it. 

[Khriss]

22 hours ago, Mike Hill said:

Why wasn't anyone's Grandad a farrier/clerk/truck driver during the war?

 

Most people's Grandads were Snipers/Commando's/LRDG/SAS etc.

 

With that many killers on our side I wonder how the war could jave lasted 5 years?

 

My Grandad was actually a founding member of the Deep sea sky diving Battalion after killing all the undersea Japanese in the North Sea he went on to chase Rommel out of North Africa as a member of the Long range desert windsurfing squadron. 

 

But he never liked to boast.

 

Yr right the Mike, there were tens of thousands of men and women being bored behind the scenes making ammo, building Shermans ( shite!) and Spitfires ( superb)  who helped make it a success. Most ended the war n got on with life. Hats off to the lot of them the long and the short and the tall. K