WAR FOOTING

[Rough Hewn]

My mum was adopted at birth in 42.
60 odd years later...
She finally tracks down her mother, who had already passed away.
But finds 3 half sisters.
They inform my mum that her mother joined the SOE in 42 and worked behind enemy lines until the end of the war.
My mum has contacted MI6 to find out more, but got the usual "we can neither confirm nor deny" letter.
So yeah my grandma was a spy in ww2.[emoji13]
We are now waiting for the Kew archives to open the files.....
[emoji106]

[Rough Hewn]

Brilliant thread and stories guys [emoji106][emoji106][emoji106]

[daveatdave]

my dad missed d day by 2 days (under 18) he was in the engineers he and his mate were assigned to a Canadian reg they ended up at cologne rebuilding the bridges and he reckoned one day when they were under aireal attack Churchill was in the next pontoon boat to him

I also new someone that was on the Burma railway he would not talk about it he was about 6" 4 and thin as a rake     

[tree-fancier123]

On 16/04/2020 at 13:04, daveindales said:

I run a website about the WW2 Hunt class destroyer, HMS Wensleydale. I met a chap called Reg who served on the ship, and previously served on HMS Bulldog. In may 41 Bulldog along with a couple of other ships captured U-110. Reg was ordered into a boat and rowed over to U-110 before she finally sank. Below in the U-boat the found and recovered the boats enigma machine. The first time a U-boat had been boarded. Reg still had a few mementos he took from the boat. It's quite well documented what breaking the enigma codes did to shorten the war.

Interesting story. I've read some biographies of Turing online and watched some of the movies about Bletchley. The best imo is The Imitation Game. Many sources say getting that U boat enigma machine was crucial, as up to then only one of the land based ones had been recovered, a slightly different design and wouldn't have let them read U boat messages. Apparently even after they cracked the code it was not allowed to use the intercepts to attack all U-boats as it would have been too obvious to germans that codes were cracked. So Reg helped make D-day alot easier, the allies intercepted orders for german troop movements.

Edited April 18, 2020 by tree-fancier123

[difflock]

I read an account, recently too, that part of the logic of the disasterous Dippe raid, was to acquire shore based marine crypto material, and crucially this was why a later phase of the op that cost many lives(when it was clear that the simple military-force  objective had failed) was proceeded with, which to the men involved was wrong headed and preverse, but "orders from above".

The account based on recently declassified 30/50/80/100 year rule stuff (or whatever the various classifications are)  

[tree-fancier123]

37 minutes ago, difflock said:

Dippe raid

cryptography! just reading the Wiki entry for that now, it's hard reading about thousands of killed in action to quantify it without being in amongst it

[daveindales]

Interesting story. I've read some biographies of Turing online and watched some of the movies about Bletchley. The best imo is The Imitation Game. Many sources say getting that U boat enigma machine was crucial, as up to then only one of the land based ones had been recovered, a slightly different design and wouldn't have let them read U boat messages. Apparently even after they cracked the code it was not allowed to use the intercepts to attack all U-boats as it would have been too obvious to germans that codes were cracked. So Reg helped make D-day alot easier, the allies intercepted orders for german troop movements.

I was working at a caravan club site and the assistant warden told me he knew a bloke who served on HMS Wensleydale. I thought that was unlikely as it was only a small ship with a crew of around 160. And it was now nearly 60 years since the ship was in service. Anyhow, he gave me Reg's contact number and I went down to visit him.

Arriving at his house, I noticed a calender on the wall, it was still on the March page, even though it was now September. I asked Reg and his wife why they still had it on the March. They both said they liked the March photo so much they keep it on all year. Believe it or not, the photo was of the very small Yorkshire village of Thwaite, where I lived in at the time. Our house clearly visible on the photo.

I figured me and Reg were meant to meet.

[donnk]

great thread.

 

Ive vistied normandy a couple times now, the war graves, menin gate, incredibly moving. Gondola cafe at pegasus bridge still the same. This is just one of the smaller allied cemetaries, every so often there is a hand written note left at a grave by a relative, very moving.

 

There are only a couple of very large german cemetaries as the local wanted them all removed. You often pass just a dozen allied graves in the countryside, where men fell, all kept impeccibly tidy.

 

 

 

 

[Khriss]

@donnk went there meself last March, marvelous tour of Sword. French keep it nice even as they go abt their business. Oddly, now hugely visited by German families. Met Bill, 6th Para, who landed there 06.06.44 in Glider. Grandad died there so it was moving to walk / cycle around and that bloody long approach to 'Hillman'  bunker complex you can see how it took many British lives. K