V.E

[Pasquale for King]

6 hours ago, Jeff said:

I know it's meant to be a positive day but you can't help but think about how many people died a day or two before the 8th of May 1945. Devastating

And after 

[Sharpie]

Have been reading a Regimental History 1919 to 1955, which my sister gave me for Christmas 1955. There is a lot about the Italian and African campaigns, and they are just about to go into the European theatre. What I find compelling is the ease with which they talk about sergeant or guardsman  being killed n this action. About the heroism of the officers and men who just looked at it as being what they trained for. Sometimes it wold mention an inividual who was killed and comment that he had ben awarded a medal for gallantry in a previous action. There were names of some with whom I served, knew they had the medal ribbons from the war, but regret after all these years that I didn't show them the respect I should have at the time. Just ordinary men and sometimes boys, and I thank them now. Just so I don't get pulled up for not mentioning the women who served, the men who served during that time certainly had the greatest appreciation for the nurses who treated their wounds and illnesses and supply ladies and girls who kept them fed and provided many other services my thanks to all of them also, many of whom also paid the highest price possible.

 

[Debut 4]

1 hour ago, hmfcbilly said:

Absolutely this. A lot of Germans and other eastern Europeans were forced in to serving or be shot so its no surprise many of them were happy to be captured as POW's. My late grandfather was from a czech town that borders Germany and he was forced to join. He ended up as a POW in Scotland and put to labour on a midlothian farm where he met my Gran and the rest is history. I was only 3 when he passed but my mum always says he never spoke of the war as he was embarrassed and ashamed at having had to fight for the Germans. Some folk may have refused and taken a bullet but I reckon the majority would take their chances, sign up to fight in the hope of surviving the whole horrible situation and getting free. I will always be grateful to the brave millions who fought to give us our freedom and life as we know it. Covid has stalled that temporarily but I'm fairly sure we will, in the not too distant year or years, be free to travel where we want and enjoy the things we almost all took for granted up until this point again and that's thanks to the people who defended our country 75 years ago.  It is also my son's 1st birthday today and tonight when he's in bed I will raise a special glass to the fallen and also the future. Hope you are all coping fellow jambos 

Nice post, mate. Enjoy yer tipple 👍🏻

[Governor Tarkin]

2 hours ago, hmfcbilly said:

Absolutely this. A lot of Germans and other eastern Europeans were forced in to serving or be shot so its no surprise many of them were happy to be captured as POW's. My late grandfather was from a czech town that borders Germany and he was forced to join. He ended up as a POW in Scotland and put to labour on a midlothian farm where he met my Gran and the rest is history. I was only 3 when he passed but my mum always says he never spoke of the war as he was embarrassed and ashamed at having had to fight for the Germans. Some folk may have refused and taken a bullet but I reckon the majority would take their chances, sign up to fight in the hope of surviving the whole horrible situation and getting free. I will always be grateful to the brave millions who fought to give us our freedom and life as we know it. Covid has stalled that temporarily but I'm fairly sure we will, in the not too distant year or years, be free to travel where we want and enjoy the things we almost all took for granted up until this point again and that's thanks to the people who defended our country 75 years ago.  It is also my son's 1st birthday today and tonight when he's in bed I will raise a special glass to the fallen and also the future. Hope you are all coping fellow jambos 

 

Happy birthday to your wee man, mate. Enjoy every minute. 

Onwards and upwards.

[hmfcbilly]

1 hour ago, Debut 4 said:

Nice post, mate. Enjoy yer tipple 👍🏻

Cheers mate 👍

[hmfcbilly]

44 minutes ago, Governor Tarkin said:

 

Happy birthday to your wee man, mate. Enjoy every minute. 

Onwards and upwards.

Cheers GT. All the best 

[Sharpie]

3 hours ago, hmfcbilly said:

Absolutely this. A lot of Germans and other eastern Europeans were forced in to serving or be shot so its no surprise many of them were happy to be captured as POW's. My late grandfather was from a czech town that borders Germany and he was forced to join. He ended up as a POW in Scotland and put to labour on a midlothian farm where he met my Gran and the rest is history. I was only 3 when he passed but my mum always says he never spoke of the war as he was embarrassed and ashamed at having had to fight for the Germans. Some folk may have refused and taken a bullet but I reckon the majority would take their chances, sign up to fight in the hope of surviving the whole horrible situation and getting free. I will always be grateful to the brave millions who fought to give us our freedom and life as we know it. Covid has stalled that temporarily but I'm fairly sure we will, in the not too distant year or years, be free to travel where we want and enjoy the things we almost all took for granted up until this point again and that's thanks to the people who defended our country 75 years ago.  It is also my son's 1st birthday today and tonight when he's in bed I will raise a special glass to the fallen and also the future. Hope you are all coping fellow jambos 

 

We had relatives who lived in Mid Calder during and after the war. We often went out for walks and would see German prisoners in the fields. Quite often one or sometimes more and speaking English would ask my mother if they could talk to my sister and I. They would comment that they had children some around our age and just wanted   to see what it would be like talking to them. Like many of our own men and women they had been away from home for a considerable number of years and missed so much of their childrens growth. I am sure like our own men they were tough fighters and ready to kill the enemy, but in their present state they were definitely not the monsters they were reputed to be.  War is such a tragic thing and despite declarations of we won, in reality there is no real winner.

[Class of 75]

5 hours ago, Jeff said:

One day my grandson said to me, grandpa were you a hero in the war? And i said to him no I'm not a hero, but I have served in a company full of them.

 

 

always gets me

Brilliant quote. Thanks for that. 

[Class of 75]

5 hours ago, Jeff said:

One day my grandson said to me, grandpa were you a hero in the war? And i said to him no I'm not a hero, but I have served in a company full of them.

 

 

always gets me

Brilliant quote. Thanks for that. 

[Jeff]

2 minutes ago, Class of 75 said:

Brilliant quote. Thanks for that. 

 

Here's the original

 

 

 

[Nucky Thompson]

Great speech by Her Majesty. Gave me goosebumps 

[Ray Gin]

9 hours ago, Nucky Thompson said:

I went to Auschwitz when I was on holiday in Krakow. I also went to Dachau Concentration Camp when I was in Munich.

Both humbling experiences, more so Auschwitz.

 

My old mum who is 95 was a land girl during WW2. They were meant to be having a week of celebration in her care home this week, but Covid was discovered last Friday so they are all locked down in their rooms

 

Yeah I did this and it was a harrowing experience but really glad I went. That room full of human hair.  Horrific.

 

Did you do the Schindler Museum while in Krakow? We did a guided tour that was really interesting. More of a history of Poland during the war than specifically all about Schindler. 

Edited May 8, 2020 by Ray Gin

[Nucky Thompson]

50 minutes ago, Ray Gin said:

 

Yeah I did this and it was a harrowing experience but really glad I went. That room full of human hair.  Horrific.

 

Did you do the Schindler Museum while in Krakow? We did a guided tour that was really interesting. More of a history of Poland during the war than specifically all about Schindler. 

I did a walking tour that took in Schindler's house and the Jewish quarter. 

I also did a communist tour in a suburb of Krakow called Nowa Huta. That was really interesting. A place like Niddrie with a soviet tank and a statue of Lenin in the streets. We finished at a back street bar drinking Polish vodka, ended up with the worst hangover ever

[hmfcbilly]

4 hours ago, Sharpie said:

 

We had relatives who lived in Mid Calder during and after the war. We often went out for walks and would see German prisoners in the fields. Quite often one or sometimes more and speaking English would ask my mother if they could talk to my sister and I. They would comment that they had children some around our age and just wanted   to see what it would be like talking to them. Like many of our own men and women they had been away from home for a considerable number of years and missed so much of their childrens growth. I am sure like our own men they were tough fighters and ready to kill the enemy, but in their present state they were definitely not the monsters they were reputed to be.  War is such a tragic thing and despite declarations of we won, in reality there is no real winner.

I take your point and, after listening to what the queen said earlier tonight, I found it quite poignant that she specifically mentioned how all the countries involved in WW2 have worked together to ensure it's never repeated. Quite a feat when they were once enemies. I guess it just goes to show what a profound impact the devastation of that war had on all countries concerned. Really does put in to perspective our present day situation. It's a horrible time and not without its pressures whether you are still working or at home regardless of your circumstances but compare to what it mustve been like during war time I dont think theres much of a comparison IMO. Dont think I've ever seen someone of that generation complain much, not just about that time but life in general. 

[Class of 75]

11 hours ago, Jeff said:

 

Here's the original

 

 

 

Thanks pal. Very moving 👍

[Maple Leaf]

On 08/05/2020 at 02:51, Nucky Thompson said:

That would have been some party 75 years ago today 

 

They were dancing in the streets of Royston Mains, with bonfires everywhere.  Ships in Leith docks were firing salutes and, at night-time searchlights were flashing all over the sky.  I was too young to appreciate the significance of it all, but I did realise that we'd beaten the filthy Jerries, which I had assumed was a foregone conclusion.  btw, ordinary folk didn't call them Nazis in those days. 

 

Similar scenes erupted a few months later when people were running around in the streets shouting, "The **** have surrendered!"

 

A big shout out to my dad, Sapper Bill Ross of the Royal Engineers, who was liberated from a Prisoner of War camp in Austria, by the magnificent British 8th Army, the Desert Rats, 75 years ago on May 8th 1945.  He had been captured in Greece in 1941, along with most of the British Expeditionary Force, in an ill-fated attempt to help Yugoslavia fight Italy. He had four tough years as a POW, so May 8th was a more important day to him than his birthday.  

 

He was also the most dyed-in-the-wool Hearts supporter I ever knew.  Thanks for everything, Dad.

 

 

[Tazio]

1 hour ago, Maple Leaf said:

 

They were dancing in the streets of Royston Mains, with bonfires everywhere.  Ships in Leith docks were firing salutes and, at night-time searchlights were flashing all over the sky.  I was too young to appreciate the significance of it all, but I did realise that we'd beaten the filthy Jerries, which I had assumed was a foregone conclusion.  btw, ordinary folk didn't call them Nazis in those days. 

 

Similar scenes erupted a few months later when people were running around in the streets shouting, "The **** have surrendered!"

 

A big shout out to my dad, Sapper Bill Ross of the Royal Engineers, who was liberated from a Prisoner of War camp in Austria, by the magnificent British 8th Army, the Desert Rats, 75 years ago on May 8th 1945.  He had been captured in Greece in 1941, along with most of the British Expeditionary Force, in an ill-fated attempt to help Yugoslavia fight Italy. He had four tough years as a POW, so May 8th was a more important day to him than his birthday.  

 

He was also the most dyed-in-the-wool Hearts supporter I ever knew.  Thanks for everything, Dad.

 

 

I was talking to my old mum about it last night and she mentioned all the navy ships in Granton harbour sounding their horns when the announcement was made and everyone in wardieburn shouting out their windows and meeting up in the back greens. 

[Sharpie]

40 minutes ago, Tazio said:

I was talking to my old mum about it last night and she mentioned all the navy ships in Granton harbour sounding their horns when the announcement was made and everyone in wardieburn shouting out their windows and meeting up in the back greens. 

I was ten went to a shop on Nicolson Street and got a wee flag that I put in the what was in those days the parlour window. My sister who was sixteen was allowed to go to Princes Street and join in the celebrations there. My father a WW1 vet just accepted it as seen it all before. My mother just got on with what she always dome got the tea ready. We kids cheered and hollered like we really understood what it was all about. The woman next door who still had two sons in I think Burma was happy but still had concerns. It was though a great day. 

[Maple Leaf]

49 minutes ago, Tazio said:

I was talking to my old mum about it last night and she mentioned all the navy ships in Granton harbour sounding their horns when the announcement was made and everyone in wardieburn shouting out their windows and meeting up in the back greens. 

Yes, Granton was a bustling wee harbour in those days.

 

I remember trying to scrounge chewing gum off American sailors. Unsuccessfully!

[Tazio]

1 minute ago, Maple Leaf said:

Yes, Granton was a bustling wee harbour in those days.

 

I remember trying to scrounge chewing gum off American sailors. Unsuccessfully!

My mum spent a fair part of the war in Oban as a lot of the Granton trawlers were moved there after the harbour was requisitioned by the navy and my grandad was a chief engineer on one. 

[Sharpie]

2 hours ago, Maple Leaf said:

Yes, Granton was a bustling wee harbour in those days.

 

I remember trying to scrounge chewing gum off American sailors. Unsuccessfully!

 

We strolled Princes Street, "any gum chum",  aye thats awright if ye havenae gum the candy will do, we would have taken rocks if thats all they had. The American Servicemens Club in what I think had been the Royal Hotel was a target, but often there were bigger laddies who soon dispatched us well out of the way.  On one trip over to visit family in Windygates on the train were a bunch of Canadian soldiers. I now realise although then we thought they were Chinese I now realise they were members of Canadas indigenous community.  As seemed to happen to us they were men who had children, and enjoyed speaking to us in the absence of their own, my sister and I left with enough chocolate bars, Lifesavers, and other candy to open a store. One always thinks of the danger faced by soldiers, but reflecting I realise now the immense feeling of loss men felt having been removed from their family for many years with no end in sight. That took a certain brand of courage.

[John mcCartney]

great reading Sharpie,thank you

id be interested in hearing of your fathers service in the great war and did he speak about his experiences ?
send me a pm if so ,dont want to mess up a good thread.

[Morgan]

27 minutes ago, John mcCartney said:

great reading Sharpie,thank you

id be interested in hearing of your fathers service in the great war and did he speak about his experiences ?
send me a pm if so ,dont want to mess up a good thread.

I’d be interested in that too, John.

 

I hope that if @Sharpie sends you a PM, I can get one also?