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#31
09-07-05, 05:11
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Many of us know that the O.S.S.(now CIA) had teams
through out Europe during the war. Many of these people were people discharged from the military and were sent in to wreak their havoc,We never knew that actual military personnal were dropped in and we had no idea that my father was sent to recover aircrew mend their wounds and start them on there way back home. As I understand most of this was just declassified recently, so his silence was more than just not being able to talk about these things. We also have in our possession the Gas Mask of a german air officer,and the same officers walther pistol Wado Patrick 
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#32
03-08-05, 06:14
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Quote:
 It must be so amazing to find out, so late in the day, about things he actually did.  Karmen
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#33
03-08-05, 08:23
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well I have a couple of things. One funny another a little sad. One refers to my mothers eldest brother 'Pat' who was a sargent in one of the New Zealand Vickers Machine gun battalions and the other about my dad 'Harry' who passed away in 1998.
this was related to me by my mother who was 13 at the time After training Pat came home to the family for 2 weeks leave before being sent overseas he carried full equipment which included his 303 lee enfield rifle. After a few days his younger brother convinced him to let him have a shot with the rifle so they decided to shoot up the outhouse in the field next to the house. Now this outhouse was also shared at the time by the landlady who lived a few yards further down the road. Yes you are correct the poor old dear was in the outhouse as Pat and his brother took potshots at it. Luckily she was not hurt but I guess it cured any constipation she had.  My dad almost never talked about his military time. During the war itself he had a reserve occupation as a market gardener (growing vege's) and while he enlisted in 1939 he was released to grow food which we all know is a vital occupation for military and civilian alike. In 1945 when VJ day came he heard they needed troops to occupy Japan and enlisted again. He did his training and was shipped to Japan. The only things he ever said that I can remember was that at night you patroled back to back with your mate as the 12 year old kids would stab you in the back if they could and also they used grenades to do 'fishing' in the paddy fields. A long time ago I collected firearms and had a collectors licence. I purchased a de-activated Bren gun and when I showed him he got real exited as it appears that it was this weapon that he used to carry around. He was bitter at the New Zealand goverment as the 'J' Force personnel were never recognised as being on active service. It was only after he died that I asked for and recieved for the family a medal struck only a few years before his death for these 'J' force vetrans. He refused to apply for his as the bitterness was there right to the end. I also got a copy of his service records and only then discovered he was repatriated back to New Zealand with tropical ulcers which would not heal and spent 18 months in a rehab centre/hospital in Rotorua NZ. It was here he met my mother and got married. Just before he died he was in hospital and I was asked to get a document from one of his drawers in the bedroom at home and while looking I found his paybook and a small chocolate box of box brownie photos he took while in Japan. Some were of a military nature but most were scenery. These became mine in the end, although I gave the photo album to a niece in NZ as I have no one to pass it onto and she, at least, will treasure it. I did offer it to the AWM in Canberra only to be told 'We have enough of those type of pictures'. So there we are. What makes a man who is deeply disapointed and bitter with his goverment over his service keep his paybook right to the bitter end? Other stories by my late mother (who was 13 years old) include ones of US service men turning up at her home with helmets full of fresh eggs for 'Ma Casey' my mothers mother to cook breakfast for them in their 'home away from home'. like others writting there storys this has brought tears to my eyes remembering my folk and the fact that I never really talked to my dad about this and a lot of other things and now I wish I had. so to my Dad and uncle and all the other Vetrans out there both the living and the departed I salute you all
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#34
04-08-05, 02:41
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Quote:
I talk to my Mom and Dad, and others, anyways ...as if they are listening. Just from the mind and heart and somehow that feels like a communication and if not fully satisfactory, it's the next best thing I have to communicate my thoughts and feelings ... I'll never know many stories about the war years. for my relations, or after ... but the ones I DO know, I pass on to my kids and relatives ... writing them down is good. I've even written "letters" to important people who have passed on, pouring out my heart as if they would read them ... that also helped me express some of my deepest personal thoughts and wishes, and yes, regrets. It all helps me. I hope ... somehow that my "communications" get through to their spirits. I like to imagine they do  I salute your father and Uncle ... and you ... for telling us some of this story.PS: I LOVED the constipation cure story! Glad to know everything came out all right for the old dear!Karmen
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#35
05-08-05, 01:18
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Re: My uncle
One of the Hampdens, L6055 GX-D, carrying a torpedo was shot down by the ships' anti-aircraft fire. The crew were killed, with only the body of the pilot being found, washed up on shore some considerable time after. That man was my uncle.
Quite a moving story. We are all aware of the trials faced by our soldiers on the front lines....we don't always see the effects of a brave man's sacrifice on the home front. I used to live in Langley, B.C. and was a member of the Canadian Museum of Flight and Transportation. We are very proud of the Hampden and it is the centre piece of the museum's collection, being only one of two Hampdens left. This particular Hampden was lost during a practice torpedo drop near Pat Bay on Vancouver Island. The Hampden had an aerodynamic flaw, if the aircraft was side slipped too much, the airflow over the elevator was blanked by the rudders. The portion of the rudders projecting below the fuselage was by necessity quite small so as to not contact the earth when landing. These two flaws created a condition whereby the aircraft would first yaw and then roll over onto it's back. Not a plane for ham-handed pilots! I couldn't imagine flying one in combat. Your uncle was a very brave man. I'll email you some pics I have of the Hampden...I can never get them small enough to load onto MLU. Perhaps you can and share them with the rest. God bless! Derek
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#36
05-08-05, 01:44
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Re: My uncle
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Keith Webb
May 17th, 1943 is famous for being the night of the Dambuster raids by 617 Squadron, RAF, but another much smaller raid occured on the same night, carried out in Hampden aircraft by 415 "Swordfish" squadron, RCAF which was to have a far more personal effect on my family. Just f.y.i. 415 Squadron soldiers on at C.F.B. Greenwood in Nova Scotia. They fly Lockheed CP-140 Aurora aircraft and their mission is A.S.W., search and rescue, and sovereignty patrols.
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#37
10-08-05, 06:04
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Re: Re: My uncle
Quote:
 just be sure you give me the right thread to post them in ... Karmen Ma 
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