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Peanut3141 posted:War crimes are war crimes whether they're committed by the good guys or bad guys. you're worse than the sururov apologist hth My grandfather spent the war being a child and then lost a leg fighting for the fascists in Angola. Not as heroic as some stories here. Was waiting on this LP for a while, really happy to see you again GreyHunter. You're the best LPer by far.
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Jan 10, 2016 00:56
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Drone posted:Before the war even started? Yep, he joined the army, got TB in Cardiff, died. The state of the British army in both world wars was massively hamstrung by the incredibly poor health of the working class conscripts - one of the major reasons for the establishment of the NHS post-war was the metrics on childhood disease collected through wartime conscription. Edit: the real crime here is people somehow believing that the Catalina was the best floatplane of the war and not the majestic Sunderland. lenoon fucked around with this message at 01:56 on Jan 10, 2016 |
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Jan 10, 2016 01:52
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My paternal grandfather had just finished medical school when the war happened, and he acted as medic for a guerrilla as they operated in and around Manila during the occupation. He didn't talk about any specifics much, except for how out of a med school graduating class of 22, only him and three others got to see the end of the war. lenoon posted:Edit: the real crime here is people somehow believing that the Catalina was the best floatplane of the war and not the majestic Sunderland. Obviously the best floatplane is the Emily, made out of the finest folded Japanese steel.
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Jan 10, 2016 02:08
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lenoon posted:Edit: the real crime here is people somehow believing that the Catalina was the best floatplane of the war and not the majestic Sunderland. Tell me of this Sunderland, I lust to know more about boats that are planes of all kinds.
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Jan 10, 2016 02:13
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gradenko_2000 posted:Obviously the best floatplane is the Emily, made out of the finest folded Japanese steel. Perhaps even unironically? It was a pretty good plane by most accounts. Pretty much every flying boat was interesting in its own way. I'm fascinated by the BV 222, retracting float units and multiple decks. The Coronado could have been interesting but the deficient range prevented it from being a real Catalina replacement.
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Jan 10, 2016 02:18
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Flying boats are good and cool and I would like to have one.
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Jan 10, 2016 02:44
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goatface posted:Flying boats are good and cool and I would like to have one. Every lodge in MN and Canada flies one of these and they're awesome.
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Jan 10, 2016 03:01
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Those are floatplanes, which are fractionally less good. Flying boats are the ones that float on their hull rather than pontoon-y bits.
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Jan 10, 2016 03:06
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goatface posted:Those are floatplanes, which are fractionally less good. Flying boats are the ones that float on their hull rather than pontoon-y bits. I have learned a thing.
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Jan 10, 2016 04:03
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Who was the guy that said we should have had flying boat bombers instead of aircraft carriers? Was there any truth to his claims? Not that it matters, flying boat jet bombers are so much cooler than aircraft carriers. Oh, and my maternal grandfather stormed Normandy and got a bronze star for valor and retired a colonel but his favorite story was always about when they captured some kind of great German rifles and used the telephone poles for target practice but when they got back to base everyone thought the Germans had infiltrated the lines and taken out their communications, so he took his men back into the field to "intercept" them.
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Jan 10, 2016 05:13
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TildeATH posted:Who was the guy that said we should have had flying boat bombers instead of aircraft carriers? Was there any truth to his claims? This sounds like a joke someone made referring to how dangerous the flying boats could be, as seen at some point in Saros' thread. Could definitely be wrong though. Aircraft Carriers are much better than Flying Boats though.
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Jan 10, 2016 05:16
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My grandfather drove a sherman from Torch to the surrender of Rome, had it shot out from under him twice, got captured at Kasserine Pass and managed to escape. His brilliant method of escape was to look at his assistant driver and say, "There are too many prisoners here for them to keep track of. At the next turn in the road we'll just sit down and wait for everyone to pass by." Tey did just that, and when the last person passed they turned around and walked back to the American lines. His favorite story was keeping two jerry cans on the side of his tank in the Italy. One filled with red wine, the other white.
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Jan 10, 2016 05:21
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Wait, this nonsense? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utCTIEB_V3E
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Jan 10, 2016 05:25
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TildeATH posted:Who was the guy that said we should have had flying boat bombers instead of aircraft carriers? Was there any truth to his claims? There's really no way this can be true. You can't run a logistical operation afloat like you can on land. A carrier isn't just a place to launch planes from, it's an entire airport.
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Jan 10, 2016 05:34
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TildeATH posted:Who was the guy that said we should have had flying boat bombers instead of aircraft carriers? Was there any truth to his claims? Edit: Here's his main "article" on aircraft carriers. Starts off strong with this particular bit of  quote:The shocking truth is that Germany DID create and use atomic bombs and WE OVER-RAN THEM WITH GROUND MANEUVER NOT ONE SECOND TOO SOON. Not one second. The margin between them nuking New York city with long-range bombers was only a matter of DAYS. When Germany set off its first nuke in a test the German officers against Hitler set off a bomb trying to kill him in desperation, which slowed him down. We are talking critical days here. General Eisenhower said 6 months. 6 months of delay reaching Berlin and we'd all be speaking German now. 
AceRimmer fucked around with this message at 05:45 on Jan 10, 2016 |
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Jan 10, 2016 05:38
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AceRimmer posted:You may be thinking of this, by the M113 Gavin crazy person. Hah, I was just about to post that. I suppose the Aerogavin wasn't enough for his obsession with nonsensical flying machines!
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Jan 10, 2016 05:43
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Is this also the guy that keeps insisting the M103 is named the Longstreet?
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Jan 10, 2016 05:58
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No, it's the Gavin guy. And the aerogavin is a thing of pure beauty. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwHqLtK_TpY
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Jan 10, 2016 06:00
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gradenko_2000 posted:Is this also the guy that keeps insisting the M103 is named the Longstreet? I think the M103 renaming is actually a ~Goon Project~
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Jan 10, 2016 06:01
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Yeah, I think that one is thanks to the World of Tanks thread.
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Jan 10, 2016 06:14
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It was less of a project, more of a guy editing Wikipedia to piss off the ultra-sperg core of the World of Tanks forums.
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Jan 10, 2016 06:44
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I've heard a few war stories from my grandfathers but most of the cool stuff I heard about after they passed and we were looking at their old pictures. Best one was looking at pictures taken during the island hoping campaign. Saw one picture of the platoon with a little annotation that said, "Lost three men during the invasion of XXX. XX 1945." Next ones were a bunch of pictures of Japanese soldiers sitting around smiling. Two or three images into the series you finally see an American joe in the background smiling with a rifle at a relaxed position. I was pretty young so I had to ask who they were and what was going on. Dad said something along, "Oh, those are Dad's [granddad] prisoners. Someone was telling a joke or acting stupid, you know, normal stuff and Dad decided to grab a photo. Those guys all thought there were going to be shot and pretty much thrilled they're not about to die. All those 'Japanese' guys were conscripted from all over and told they can either fight the Americans or get shot right now." So I guess it was kinda a happy ending for them 
acidia fucked around with this message at 07:20 on Jan 10, 2016 |
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Jan 10, 2016 07:15
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My granddad was in the Canadian artillery in Italy and the Low Countries. His two favourite war stories to tell: -Hearing lots of movement in a nearby wood at night and shelling the gently caress out of it because the Germans were expected to attack from that direction, only to find a blasted wood with dozens of dead cattle in it the next morning -Accidentally flipping a tank over on a hillside facing the enemy
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Jan 10, 2016 07:36
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gradenko_2000 posted:There's really no way this can be true. You can't run a logistical operation afloat like you can on land. A carrier isn't just a place to launch planes from, it's an entire airport. It would work just fine if you had a Flying Boat Aircraft Carrier.
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Jan 10, 2016 07:38
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Luigi's Discount Porn Bin posted:-Accidentally flipping a tank over on a hillside facing the enemy A Great Uncle of mine was one of the 'lucky' New Zealanders who got to storm Monte Cassino. I'll have to transcribe his oral history of it sometime becuase it was 100%  Ardeem posted:Wait, this nonsense? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8Nu94khHoo
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Jan 10, 2016 07:51
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pthighs posted:It would work just fine if you had a Flying Boat Aircraft Carrier. Well, there were always such fine ideas as the F9C Sparrowhawk or XF-85 Goblin. Because why bother with ships when you can just mount your fighters on other planes(or airships, as the case may be)? 
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Jan 10, 2016 07:52
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Lord Koth posted:Well, there were always such fine ideas as the F9C Sparrowhawk or XF-85 Goblin. Because why bother with ships when you can just mount your fighters on other planes(or airships, as the case may be)? TB-3 or bust 
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Jan 10, 2016 07:56
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Neither of my grandfathers served: interned on the one side, Mennonite on the other. Both safe in the contiguous US for the duration. Best boatplane is obviously the Boeing 314. Rest in peace, President Coolaid. You were too beautiful for this world. I am considering reposting my ship write-ups from the previous edition of this thread/writing some new ones. Very much an "if I feel like it" thing, though, as they're a lot of 
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Jan 10, 2016 08:35
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Maternal grandfather flew bombers for the Luftwaffe around the Mediterranean. Unlike most people, he actually wrote poo poo down. Highlights of his service included: * Initially getting drafted into an infantry reserve unit for the invasion of Poland. Due to supply mismanagement, they crossed the border and spent the first few days on enemy territory without any ammunition at all. * Grabbing his abusive drill instructor by the lapels and tossing him into a latrine pit. Mysteriously enough, no one had heard or seen anything and the incident wasn't even reported. * Frying breakfast eggs on the aircraft wings in the desert heat. * Peeing in glass bottles during long flight missions. After returning to base, they put the bottles on the ground somewhere to dispose of them later. At one time, an Italian serviceman happened by and thought "Sweet, free wine!"... * Outmanuevering a Bristol Beaufighter by diving steeply and then pulling up, causing the pursuing plane to splash into to the ocean. * Trading schedules with a friend so he could go home for the holidays. One night while he was away, the airbase was bombed and a lot of his squadmates were killed. Apparently a bomb had struck the building right on top of where his bunk used to be. * Almost getting shot on the spot after being captured by GI's in Germany because they mistook his Luftwaffe insignia for some sort of SS markings. Thankfully, he spoke fluent English and could clear things up.
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Jan 10, 2016 11:04
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lenoon posted:Edit: the real crime here is people somehow believing that the Catalina was the best floatplane of the war and not the majestic Sunderland. The Sunderland - an experiment in how many .303s you can mount on a boatplane.
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Jan 10, 2016 11:12
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Veloxyll posted:The Sunderland - an experiment in how many .303s you can mount on a boatplane. If they were 20mm's we'd have something to talk about. H8K 
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Jan 10, 2016 11:56
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Should we not make some space for mr. GH now?
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Jan 10, 2016 13:26
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fredleander posted:Should we not make some space for mr. GH now? 
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Jan 10, 2016 13:41
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take your meds, grandpa
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Jan 10, 2016 14:02
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Both grandfathers were just important enough to the functioning of the coal mine they worked at to not get dragged into labour units but also not important enough to get replaced by Germans(head of human resources and underground machinist). Maternal grandmother was at the Dutch-German border when the invasion happened, border "defences" were a bunch of local national-socialists doing Hitler salutes along the side of the road. Hometown almost completely avoided fighting by being overrun before the Dutch army could do much about it in the initial invasion and Germans abandoning it in favour of the Siegfried line just past it the second time round.
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Jan 10, 2016 14:47
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One grandfather worked in a Coal mine in Scotland, no war stories there. The other one was in the Danish Resistance, handling "transportation", which was the fancy codeword for "Weapons drops by the British/Americans". Spend a lot of time running around in the dark somewhere around Northern Fyn. Lost a fair few friends apparently, when he died, we found the, strangely normal, rifles and guns in his attic, normal for his generation really.
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Jan 10, 2016 15:23
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Grey Hunter posted:
S-39, too! What are all the S-boats doing up there when the real action is around the Pilippines? I'm waiting for the S-37 to step in.
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Jan 10, 2016 15:28
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HerraS posted:take your meds, grandpa I could say the same, considering your snotty attitude. How old are you? Ritalin could possibly help you. If anything.
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Jan 10, 2016 15:31
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My maternal grandfather was with the army in Burma but never talked about it and he died when I was a baby. My paternal grandfather was a coal miner so reserved occupation kept him out of the fighting. My paternal grandmother worked in a munitions factory inserting explosives into ammunition and declined to use the provided safety equipment because it slowed the process down and 'Our Boys needed those shells' Night10194 posted:Tell me of this Sunderland, I lust to know more about boats that are planes of all kinds.  While we have established that the Sunderland was a flying boat rather than a floatplane, here is an example of it being absurdly awesome: Wikipedia posted:The aircraft's capacity to defend itself was demonstrated in an air battle between eight Junkers Ju 88C long range heavy fighters and a single Sunderland Mark III of No. 461 Squadron RAAF on 2 June 1943. This was one of several stories of the type's operations related by author Ivan Southall, who flew in Sunderlands during the war. There were 11 crewmen on board the Sunderland: nine Australians and two British. The aircraft was on an anti-submarine patrol and also searching for remains of BOAC Flight 777, an airliner that had left Lisbon the day before and had subsequently been shot down over the Bay of Biscay, killing 17, among them, the actor Leslie Howard. In the late afternoon, one of the crew spotted the eight Ju 88s. Bombs and depth charges were dumped and the engines brought to maximum power. Two Ju 88s made passes at the flying boat, one from each side, scoring hits and disabling one engine while the Sunderland went through wild "corkscrew" evasive manoeuvres. On the third pass, the dorsal turret gunner shot down a Ju 88. Another Ju 88 disabled the tail turret, but the next one that made a pass was hit by both the dorsal and nose turrets and shot down. Another destroyed the Sunderland's radio gear, wounding most of the crew to varying degrees and mortally wounding one of the side gunners. A Ju 88 tried to attack from the rear, but the tail turret gunner had regained some control over the turret and shot it down. The surviving Ju 88s continued to attack, but the nose gunner damaged one of these, setting its engines on fire. Two more of the attackers were also hit and the final pair disengaged and departed, the only two to make it back to base. The Sunderland had been heavily damaged. The crew threw everything they could overboard and nursed the aircraft back to the Cornish coast, where pilot Colin Walker managed to land and beach the aircraft at Praa Sands. The crew waded ashore, carrying their dead comrade, while the surf broke the Sunderland up. Walker received the Distinguished Service Order and several of the other crew members also received medals.    
Roller Coast Guard fucked around with this message at 16:25 on Jan 10, 2016 |
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Jan 10, 2016 16:23
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Paternal grandfather was a tank sergeant? (drove a tank) but arrived near the end of the war and didn't see combat. Maternal grandfather was an MP, continuing a long tradition of policemen on my mother's side.
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Jan 10, 2016 16:54
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