Dear “X”

I would start by admitting that I have lost count of the number of requests I have had in the past from young people who asked me to fill in a questionnaire and I have no doubt at all that my fellow ex-servicemen have been faced with the same request.

The request, always put most politely, is usually prefaced by a little flattery addressed to "Vets" in general and an announcement that the writer has this important exam coming up that needs my input to assure good grades.

The trouble with reaching a certain age group is that we, the “veterans” on this site, have heard it all before and much as we appreciate the fact that the young are interested in what happened in WW2 we really have reached a time when constant repetition is something that we could do without.

May I make a suggestion that will satisfy all our needs?

Read the “stuff” we have already written on this site, using the links that we and other site members have provided and see whether or not your particular interests are covered by what we may have written in the past.

Then, if you have any questions regarding a particular episode, event or even era that we have discussed in any of our articles, ask away to your hearts content and we will try to be as truthful as our memories will allow.

One final point

Despite the, perhaps, rather acidic tone of my comments, I really do thank you for taking the trouble to write to me/us on this site and I am encouraged to know that there are still young people around who are interested in the events of the past.

With all good wishes

Ron

__________________
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.

If anyone wants to know what Ron did.
Check this out.
>> Ron Goldstein's Actual Army Album

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Great post Ron! This thread will be pinned and all members who join for the sole purpose of talking to a veteran will be directed here.

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"The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance." Socrates

Thankyou for the link WW I have never seen this before, it is very interesting, and thankyou Ron for taking the time to 'album' the war and thankyou for putting it where all of us can see.

I shall now spend the next few days\weeks going through it all. thankyou.

__________________
They shall grow not old as we that are left grow old Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We shall remember them. Lest We Forget

Hello, I am glad I stumbled upon this site. I just registered a second ago.

When I was growing up I was always told, "Don't talk to Grandpa about the War." It was something he didn't want to think about. And now that I have really come to read about the War and what he and all the other people like him had gone through for the current generation I regret not talking to him.
Sometimes I wonder if he just needed someone to talk to him and take an interest. If you don't know much about your grandpa's, uncle's, or whomever else's service ask yourself why? Is it because they don't want to talk about it, or because no one has taken the time and interest in what they did? Whether it was WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm or the other wars they might have been involved in their story needs to be heard, remembered and retold. Don't let their memories die with them. This is why I really want to appreciate this forum, and talk about a few things with those who are still alive.

I did go through part of Mr. Goldstein's Album. A remarkable blog, I must say, and I'll definitely go through it in detail over the weekend.

I have a couple of sincere questions for anyone who wishes to answer them.
Now since you mentioned you posted answers to a couple of the repetitive questions, if anyone could provide a link to those, I'd like to go through them first before I post my questions.

Thank you for your time!

Great idea Ron!!
Try the search feature here as well!!

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...this army made up of ex-resistence men and named by the Prince Himself, became known as the STOOTTROEPEN(Stormtroopers).
Nulli Cedo = I'll give way to no one.

Scott

Hi Feed

You say:
Most of the questionaires that I completed were subsequently done through e-mails (a practice that I am not over keen on since it takes further discussion away from this site).

The other point that I would mention, is that questions asked were those that were pertinent to the person who was asking the questions and therefore, in your case, would be those that were of particular interest to you.

So "Feed", I'm afraid there's no easy ride for you......

You have to read a lot of vet's stories including the irrepressible Sapper's heart-rending tales of life at the sharp end and then you can ask for clarification of details.

Come back here any time

Ron

__________________
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.

a double thanks from another ozzie..... best krieg

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for thow . will be ours someday .we shall have it all
. . und mear

Greetings!
I understand completely how irksome it must be for you to answer the same questions over and over again!

The interest I have in WWII has just recently been sparked because we started studying about WWII only about two weeks ago in History Class. Before that, all I had was a misty perception of this big disastrous event during the course of history.
Our teacher has encouraged us to explore the War on our own, and read, listen, and watch as much information about it as we can.
I have always wanted to interview a Veteran, and that's why I was thinking I should ask a couple of questions from a WWII Veteran and share it with my whole class.

I assure you that I will most certainly go through Sapper's Story and your own album in some time. You see, those are long posts, and I don't want to just scan through them or look over them. I want to experience them both in detail. At the moment, I am trying to find a WWII Veteran because we are studying WWII in class, and I think it'd be appropriate to share a Veteran's experience. I am sorry because you must get my kind of requests numerous times a day, but will you please answer a few of my questions if I post them here?
I could make a new topic about it, and hence we would not have to move away from the discussions, as you do not like doing that as mentioned earlier in your post.

Other than that, thank you for the warm welcome and for taking out time to view (and reply to) my post!
Feed

Here are some more, in addtion to Sapper and Ron Goldstein's:

Alex Campbell, Canadian, Lancaster crewman in Europe

Lancaster Bomber 514 Squadron

Jack, US Soldier, Southwest Pacific

HOLLANDIA (JAYAPURA) in 1944

Hello to all!

Otto and any long-term members, are their any others that you can think of that I missed or didn't know about?

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Best Regards,
Not Slipdigit

Feed

You argue your case well so I think it would be churlish to make you wait until you have ploughed through all the vet's stories

Stay on this thread and ask your questions

Ron

__________________
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.

I truly appreciate this a lot, good sir.

I tried to come up with some of my own questions paired with a few of the conventional ones. Here are the (I hope not too repetitive) questions:

1. Where did you live during the war?
2. How old were you when the war started?
3. In which branch of the armed forces did you serve?
4. Where were you stationed during the war?
5. What were your duties? (Or what was your title?)
6. How was the morale in your unit(s)?
7. How was the food? (I know this is sort of an innocent question, but I'm curious)
8. How were your living quarters?
9. Were any aspects of your war experience "boring" or "monotonous"? In other words, did you ever feel like an automaton?
10. When were you most afraid during the war?
11. When did you start feeling sure about the end of the war (as in who will win the war)?
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?
13. Have any of those opinions in 12. changed now?
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).
15. When you came home from the war did you have trouble finding a job?
16. Do you remember any other problems returning soldiers faced?
17. Do you still see any of the men in your former unit(s)?

I also understand if you do not wish to answer some of the above questions.

Thank you for your precious time!
God bless you,
Feed

I'm interested in this one from all of you veterans. My grandfather said he felt we would win by about 1944, but just hoped he would live to see the end.

__________________
Best Regards,
Not Slipdigit

Feed

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.

I noticed that you 'dodged' a few questions Mr Ron, hard ones to answer, or to personal?

__________________
They shall grow not old as we that are left grow old Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We shall remember them. Lest We Forget

Tomcat

Who's this Mr.Ron you refer to ?

Is he related to this other Mr.Goldstein that you and others keep on referring to ?

And just in case you're addressing me, if I duck a question, it's only because the questions too long winded or I need time to think about my answer.

Cheers

Ron

__________________
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.

Is he a good learner? Will we ever see him here?

Tomcat, Ron beat me over the head with that word "Mr." that I also used to hang in front of his name. He's persistent about it, old veterans get like that. But I guess we'll love him anyway.

__________________
Best Regards,
Not Slipdigit

Of course we love him!!!

First Jeff said:
Then Gotthard said:
All I ever asked for was equity in style of address but here I finish up with blokes saying they love me !

I only hope my dear wife of 56 years doesn't spot this !

Ron

__________________
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.