Seventy Years Ago ...

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Master of Master Baiters Joined: 13 Jan 2014 Posts: 698

70 years ago, Europe rejoiced. That monstrous demon, Hitler, was dead and his forces were at last put to flight. In 1945 I was 7, and had known of nothing but War and the struggles that it created. There has rarely been a day since when a memory of those times does not bubble to the surface ....

The air being filled with the roar of hundreds of Rolls Royce Merlin engines as the squadrons mustered over my home Town, Cambridge, on their way to do the business .... the alien drone of the Nazi bombers as they made their way to cities such as Birmingham and Coventry .... the harsh, terrifying thump of bombs aimed at the marshalling yards less than a mile from the hole in the ground which served as my protection and watching the next morning as the rescue squads carefully cleared away the rubble of a house close to the yards that had taken a direct hit, looking for the missing occupier .... standing in line at school, waiting to have my Mickey-Mouse gas mask checked for leaks ... a Spitfire doing a victory roll directly above my school as we emerged from an afternoon in the school shelter .... seeing the red glow in the sky 50 miles South of Cambridge and hearing my Mother saying, "See that red, Michael? That's London burning..."

I was lucky - I, and indeed all of my family - made it through, but to this day when I hear the sound of a wartime air-raid siren, I shudder and grow cold. The scars are still here.

Then, at last, happier memories: memories of my father walking all the way from Thetford to Cambridge with a Christmas tree on his shoulder that he had stolen from Thetford Forest on his way to a spot of home leave one Christmas ... parties and events and celebrations at the end ... burning effigies of Hitler .... the far friendlier bang, crack and flash from celebratory fireworks .... my very first banana - eight years into my life.

-And still I remember with such deep and abiding gratitude those who died so that I may live on to write this ..... Seventy years later.

Posted: Wed May 06, 2015 2:47 pm

Posted: Wed May 06, 2015 2:50 pm

Wow. What an amazing recollection of events from seventy years ago.

For most of us, WWII is something that we read about in history books, so it's always interesting to hear the thoughts and memories of someone who lived through it. Then, for those of us in the US, the only attack we suffered was at Pearl Harbor which (being in Hawaii) is almost as far away from the mainland US as Europe is.

I can't even imagine what it would be like going to school with the thought that this could realistically be the last time I would ever see my parents again. It really makes you feel for all the people living in war zones across the world and all of the uncertainty they need to deal with.

Go and have a nice scotch on me, AhGee -- you deserve it!

05/29/15

God Bless you and yours, AhGee ... I am so glad that you survived that horror, and lived to write your story so that we may be blessed by reading them.
Some historical events must NOT be allowed to be repeated. The Holocaust was one of them.

Posted: Wed May 06, 2015 6:38 pm

Well said.....AG clapping

Posted: Wed May 06, 2015 9:23 pm

Glad you are still here and can share that story! Certainly a lot of things there that could have kept you from even making your 8th year!

Master of Master Baiters Joined: 13 Jan 2014 Posts: 698

Thanks for all the kind comments, guys.

TLH, I'll certainly find time for that celebratory drink - but not tonight. I'm actually well into the required fasting period prior to blood tests early tomorrow, so it must wait. Smile

My niece visited on Saturday and brought with her a small Birthday present - four bottles of English ale brewed in a micro-brewery in Cambridge (I now live 40 miles SW of my home town) so when the time comes one of those little beauties will, I think, be just right .... followed, of course by a wee drop of Scotland's finest Laughing

Incidentally, Hitler inadvertently gave me the best Birthday present of all; soon after midday on 30th April 1945 he put a gun to his head and blew his wicked brain out - the day after my 7th birthday!

TLH wrote:

Quote:

.... It really makes you feel for all the people living in war zones across the world and all of the uncertainty they need to deal with.

- Which prompts me to say, it certainly does, but the evil ones at work now in so many of those places are like a bunch of squabbling schoolboys compared to the ones who were active during the years I've described, and therefore could easily be swept away, if only there was the universal political will to do so - but they are indeed a diabolical and dangerous scourge on Humanity and sweep them away, we must ... sooner, rather than later.

Posted: Thu May 07, 2015 12:11 am

Happy birthday, AG. In your case, older=wiser, no?

Posted: Thu May 07, 2015 12:27 am

Here's an appropriate mug for that celebratory drink:

In honour of all those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country Thumbs up

Posted: Thu May 07, 2015 3:37 am

Thank you for the post AhGee! It is so special to hear from someone who was there. I had a firend who was on a ship during WW II and every time the "buzzer" went off, he said he had to really resit the urge to hit the deck.

My respect to you and all who served to drive back the horror and monster. Blessings to you and all of the people who have such memories.

Thank you to those who served too.

*** BANNED *** Joined: 26 Jul 2012 Posts: 1116

Very nice post and I would love to hear more if there is more to tell. My favourite area of history to study is WWII as that was a war that changed the game of modern warfare. Technology met with the times to form one of the most brutal wars this world has ever seen to date. While I enjoy all fronts the Eastern Front is one area that I find of interest. Neither front was pleasant but that one was by far the most intense in the war. I also enjoy collecting and even sometimes shooting old WWII weapons (mostly Russian and older Soviet era types). I am looking to obtain an Enfield, a Tokarev, a Mauser/Gewehr, a Garand, and Luger should I come by them. I may end up collecting a few Pacific front weapons at some point but turned my nose up at the offer of a nambu pistol and an Arisaka. Both were in good condition hence too pricey and munitions if you want to put rounds through them are impossible to find.

As the saying goes: those who do not study history are doomed to repeat it. Happy belated VE day and thank you for this post.

Posted: Tue May 12, 2015 3:24 am

Add my thanks for your post to the others, AG.

@TheLoneHaranguer: actually a few more civilian casualties were inflicted by a Japanese balloon bomb in Oregon. See http://www.wired.com/2010/05/0505japanese-balloon-kills-oregon/. Undoubtedly, more casualties were inflicted by single German bombs on London during the blitz.

Master of Master Baiters Joined: 13 Jan 2014 Posts: 698

It's great to read all the other posts - Thanks to all of you.

@Joker - There is a lot more I could tell, but space is precious. Here, however (at the risk of boring everybody) is just a small snippet:

Many years ago, I was chatting to my Mother and other family members. I happened to mention a recurring dream of mine which went something like this:

"I occasionally have a dream; well it's more like a snapshot - a fleeting image .... in this dream I see lots of soldiers, but they are not behaving like the soldiers I'm used to seeing .... they are not clean and smart and 'on parade' but dirty and dishevelled and sombre .... and some have bandages ... and they are sitting and lying down in the streets around our house ... just sitting and lying and leaning ... nothing more than that."

My mother looked at me strangely and then said "That's not a dream - you saw that. You saw troops that had been rescued from the beach at Dunkirk. When they got them back, they put them on trains and sent the trains up-country. Where the train stopped, that's where they got off. Then Officers called at houses to see how many people had spare beds and could temporarily billet them until they could return to their units."

The Dunkirk Evacuation took place between 27 May and 4 June 1940. I was born on 29 April 1938.

ETA: It's all very well me meandering on in this way telling mild tales of childhood memories, but really - they are nothing when compared with the truly horrible, terrifying and brutal memories of others less fortunate than me. As I said earlier - the scars are still here ..... for so many. We must stop this from happening!

ETA (again) On a slightly lighter note - Look! I've got a medal:

It arrived earlier today - and it was free (well, the little holder cost £2.50, with 50p of that going to The Royal British Legion, so what the heck!) Every household in UK is entitled to one of these, but you have to send off for it.

Posted: Wed May 13, 2015 1:43 am

Missed this post, but a belated Happy Victory Day to everyone here!!