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Old April 16th, 2008, 05:07 AM
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Ron GoldsteinWWII Veteran Ron Goldstein is offline
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Location: London
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Default Re: So you want to interview a “Veteran”?

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1. Where did you live during the war?
I was living in London until the day before war broke out (Sept 2nd 1939) when my my father sent my mother, two sisters and I to Hove on the Sussez Coast. By 1942 I was living in a small village called Houghton Regis, near Dunstable from where I was called up.
2. How old were you when the war started?
I had just turned 16
3. In which branch of the armed forces did you serve?
Royal Artillery (49th LAA) & Royal Armoured Corps (4th Queen's Own Hussars)
4. Where were you stationed during the war?
England, North Africa, Sicily, Italy, Egypt, Austria & Germany
5. What were your duties? (Or what was your title?)
Always a wireless operator, with the rank of Gunner in the RA & Trooper in the RAC. By the time I was de-mobbed I had worked my way up to the giddy rank of Corporal
6. How was the morale in your unit(s)?
Always good (or so it seemed to me)
7. How was the food? (I know this is sort of an innocent question, but I'm curious)
I am tempted to answer "Don't ask" but with the odd exception I never went hungry
8. How were your living quarters?
Varying between holes in the ground and a mansion in the Florence area.
9. Were any aspects of your war experience "boring" or "monotonous"? In other words, did you ever feel like an automaton?
In percentage terms I would estimate that my life in the Army was 50% routine verging on boredom, 30 % hard work leading at times to exhaustion, 15 % excitement & 5% actual fear. The longest my unit ever stayed at one time was at Monte Cassino
10. When were you most afraid during the war?
Only when I was being shelled, bombed or mortared.
11. When did you start feeling sure about the end of the war (as in who will win the war)?
From D-Day onward (6th June 1944)
12. What did you think, at the time, about: FDR, Churchill, Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini, the Japanese, the Germans, the Italians, the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
Have a heart ! Too much to answer in one go
13. Have any of those opinions in 12. changed now?
I think not, in fact they have solidified
14. Where were you when you heard about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, D Day, VE Day, VJ Day, and the death of FDR? (I know some of these events may not be that important considering you are not American, so I'd appreciate it if you could answer just as many as you could).
I suggest you look at my diaries for that, check the chronology here:
BBC - h2g2 - Ron Goldstein's War - U520216

15. When you came home from the war did you have trouble finding a job?

No, I chickened out and went to work in my father's clothing factory

16. Do you remember any other problems returning soldiers faced?
This will have to keep for another time
17. Do you still see any of the men in your former unit(s)?
Almost every week I go to teach the computer to my friend Lew (Larry Fox) with whom I served from March 1943 until September 1944
__________________
During the period October 1942 to January 1947 my wartime "Cook's Tour" took me to the following places:
North Africa, Sicily, Italy, Austria, Egypt & Germany.
My units were the: 49th Light Ack Ack Rgt.RA and
The 4th Queen's Own Hussars.

Last edited by Ron Goldstein; April 16th, 2008 at 06:27 AM. Reason: Added link
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