 | Home > Off Topic > 6th June. |
 
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| Happyoldgit Member Since: 14 Sep 2007 Location: Norfolk Posts: 3471   
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 Click image to enlarge Steve. Owned numerous Land Rover vehicles of all shapes and sizes over the decades. Current Defender: A non tarts hand-bagged Puma 110 XS USW. [Insert something impressive here such as extensive list of previous Land Rovers or examples of your prestigeous and expensive items, trinkets, houses, bikes, vehicles etc] http://forums.lr4x4.com I used to be Miserable ...but now I'm ecstatic. |
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5th Jun 2017 11:21pm |
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| David T Member Since: 01 Sep 2016 Location: North Yorkshire Posts: 190 
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So sad that, 70odd years down the line, we're facing another threat to the free world from another extremist ideology who want to exterminate people who won't ascribe to their religion and whom they perceive as unworthy of life. |
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6th Jun 2017 9:01am |
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| Caterham Member Since: 06 Nov 2008 Location: Birmingham Posts: 6298  
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Can I just say..........
Ah best not as it might be deemed not to be pc. Thank you to all those mentioned / addressed in the letter above.  |
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6th Jun 2017 9:07am |
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| Rallymental Member Since: 17 Aug 2015 Location: The Garden of England Posts: 468 
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My Grandfather was landed on the 7th or 8th as part of the Royal Engineers follow up, he was a diver and was used to unblock the rivers and dykes that had been sabotaged as part of the German withdrawal from Belgium and The Netherlands.
Some of the explosives used did not go off so had to be defused underwater, several times he was trapped by falling debris under the water. I only know this from what my Grandmother (95) has told me, my Grandfather is now 96 but has never really talked about his wartime experiences. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results. Solihull, 1948 - "If we paint the chassis, it will last for years" Solihull, 2015 - "If we paint the chassis............................. |
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6th Jun 2017 9:41am |
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| Pickles Member Since: 26 May 2013 Location: Melbourne Posts: 3782  
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RESPECT to your Grandfather,......BIG TIME.
Pickles. |
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6th Jun 2017 11:40am |
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| andydef90 Member Since: 09 Feb 2015 Location: yorkshire Posts: 617 
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i am with pickles all those brave people deserve a lot of respect .my dad was 14 when he was at the pits he went to DONCASTER to join the army at 15 and sent home we need the coal he was told . he passed away last year i loved to hear is stories about the war years
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6th Jun 2017 12:22pm |
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| GREENI Member Since: 22 Aug 2010 Location: staffs Posts: 10379
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Ginjez's birthday too!!
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6th Jun 2017 3:38pm |
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| ginjez Member Since: 18 Sep 2011 Location: huddersfield Posts: 1760 
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Mine today, my wife's on VE Day.
It's 15 years since we toured the beaches, cemeteries and battle fields of the Normandy Landings. A must do for everyone. A very moving but worth while experience. This was followed up with a trip to Menin Gate at Ypres. A humbling experience. Click image to enlarge Doing it all again in September. |
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6th Jun 2017 4:16pm |
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| ARC99 Member Since: 19 Feb 2013 Location: North Yorkshire Posts: 1831 
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My Grandfather did not want to talk about his time during the war, it was only after he died did my brother and I find out what he did and how he was decorated and promoted in the field to and Officer and climbed the ranks. His own sons did not know about his experiences. They just put it all in a mental draw which they have kept closed. Don't make old people mad. We don't like being old in the first place, so it doesn't take much to  us off.
Richard |
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6th Jun 2017 6:44pm |
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| ginjez Member Since: 18 Sep 2011 Location: huddersfield Posts: 1760
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If anybody watched the Panorama Falklands revisited it's plain to see how young men thrown into combat are mentally affected for the rest of their lives. Under 20 years old with no combat experience (maybe some tours in NI) flung into battle in the middle of nowhere and then returned to civvy street. Unimaginable.
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6th Jun 2017 7:26pm |
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| Siwynne Member Since: 04 Nov 2016 Location: West lancs Posts: 578
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My grandfather was 3rd battalion scots guards a wartime only battalion. He went on D24. And drove a tank through France and Belgium into holland and was involved in some of the more infamous tank battles toward the end of the war. Before leaving he was involved in testing some of the "funnies" like the floating tanks and tanks that could be driven underwater escaping from a dead one during testing. Again he did not talk much about it all and I have learned more from the regimental diaries than I did from him. Just the account of the crossing was horrific with tanks breaking loose aboard the American landing craft and men hanging on the outside of the boat to avoid be crushed in rough seas.
I am planning a trip following the route he took from Salisbury plain to holland stopping at the places named in the diaries. It will be in my defender and if and when it happens I'll post some pics on here. Some awesome brave men with stories they wanted to forget but we must remember and tell our children |
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6th Jun 2017 7:48pm |
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| rockster57 Member Since: 15 Nov 2014 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 937 
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A very worthy reminder. Thank you Pickles.
My Dad was too young to serve in WWII but I have tremendous pride in a sadly departed grandfather who fought in the Somme trenches and a highly decorated late uncle who rode despatch motorcycles in wartime, commanded a tank in the desert fighting Rommel's forces, served on Gibraltar and Malta and survived the lot. He finally passed away doing what he loved, in his overalls working away under his meticulously maintained elderly Volvo. I have toured the battlefields, cemeteries and memorials of both world wars and have been privileged to have sung in a male voice choir at the Menin Gate Last Post ceremony. A very moving and humbling experience. Servicemen and women, past and present, I salute you all. |
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6th Jun 2017 10:02pm |
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| leeds Member Since: 28 Dec 2009 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 8580
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The Menin Gate is a very thought provoking memorial. I would suggest that people have a close look at where the soldiers come from who's names and regiments are on the Gate.
The allied war cemeteries are peppered with graves of soldiers who's name are only know to God. Many of those graves contains the remains of more then one soldier. Also take a walk around the German War Cemeteries and look carefully at the religious symbols on the graves especially from WW1 We have come across Commonwealth War Cemeteries in many different parts of the world. The one thing which always strike us is how well they are tended to. Brendan |
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6th Jun 2017 10:40pm |
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| Rallymental Member Since: 17 Aug 2015 Location: The Garden of England Posts: 468
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We stopped in Ypres last year on the way home from holiday in France.
We visited one of the cemeteries near the Hooge Crater. i spent an hour with tears in my eyes. I was shocked by what I didn't realise before I visited, all of the pristine white headstones bear the names of at least 4 soldiers. The beautiful condition of the cemetery is testament to the respect and hard work of the Commonwealth Wargraves Commission. I do sometimes wonder that if the situation ever arose again like it did in 1914 and 1939 would our young people of today stand up like their grandfathers and great grandfathers did? The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results. Solihull, 1948 - "If we paint the chassis, it will last for years" Solihull, 2015 - "If we paint the chassis............................. |
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7th Jun 2017 7:58am |
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