Hi from California!

[soulrebelandrea]

Hi everyone!

My "link" to WW2 lies in my mother's side of the family. Her father and uncle were both in the German military; my grandfather survived WW2, was a prisoner of war in both Tennessee, U.S. and French camps, and has since passed away. My great-uncle died at the age of 19 in the sinking of the U-644 by the HMS Tuna (of which I was able to read about from another thread). During the late 70s, my mom came from Hamm, Germany to the U.S., and she's full of great stories pertaining to herself, her family, and her parents' WW2 experiences.

I suppose that my family's "on the other side," sotospeak, but the history is really amazing to me! I've always been interested in my mother's heritage, and it's actually given me a great perspective in reference to the opposing side during war, the idea that people are all just people---something like that! If anyone has any added information relating to these topics, I would be very interested to hear!

[bigfun]

Originally Posted by soulrebelandrea

... but th*963.
e history is really amazing to me!

Me too!

Welcome! I would love to hear some of those stories, uf you wish to share!

[dgmitchell]

Welcome!

[Slipdigit]

Howdy SoulRebelAndrea,

Tell us some of the stories your Mom tells, we'd like to hear them.

Anything you have to offer would be good to read.

[krieg]

Welcome aboard mate
you will enjoy your time spent here on the forum .. Krieg

[Skipper]

Welcome, enjoy your stay on this fine place.

[PzJgr]

Howdy and welcome to the forum. You will find many of us here have similar backgrounds with plenty of interesting stories that we have posted. Glad to have you aboard.

[ghost_of_war]

Greetings.

[soulrebelandrea]

Well, pardon my references to certain dates and events, as they'll most likely be inaccurate!
My grandfather, Helmut, was born in 1921, his brother, Hans, in 1924. My grandfather's "job" in the army had something to do with accounting, as he was injured in an attack that killed several of his fellow soldiers. In 1943 while Helmut was in northern Africa as part of Rommel's army, he received word that his brother had died in the sinking of his U-boat. Helmut was given leave-time to return to Germany and see his family. While changing planes at an airport in southern Italy, he was captured by Americans; the Americans had taken over most of the southern tip of Italy, including the airports. For a short period of time, they pretended to be regular airport officials, running things as usual. Whenever enemy soldiers were identified, they were captured as POWs. After being captured, Helmut was sent to Tullahoma, Tennessee ("Camp Forrest," I believe) where he spent the next three years doing farm work, watching a movie every Saturday, and apparently actually enjoyed his "stay in the U.S." The responsibilities, regulations, guards, and just about everything about the camp was relatively lax. He learned English, got hooked on "Popeye," and throughout his life claimed that he wouldn't have minded returning to the states if he hadn't felt obligated to stay in Germany to take care of his family (being the only son still alive). My mom remembers hearing him tell about Hitler's birthday in 1944, when the "commander" of the prisoners went to the heads of the camp, demanding the day off from work. When the guards laughed at such an idea, the POW threatened to initiate a strike/riot from the over 4000 prisoners. Realizing that they didn't have the resources to deal with such an incident, the prisoners were allowed the holiday. She also remembers my grandfather claiming that he hated "Wonder Bread," and other common American foods. Many of the American staff of the camp even preferred the German foods, thus the cooking staff was usually replaced by prisoners. In 1946, my grandfather was sent to a POW camp in France, and needless to say, it was much less enjoyable than the U.S. camp. After another two years, he was finally released and returned to Germany. Several years later, he met my grandmother, Irmgard, who had also survived WW2 in her own way. Also having grown up in Hamm, Germany, she experienced constant, violent bombings as Hamm was a major railroad hub. They've both since passed away, and it's so unfortunate that I never got to know either one, or hear about their experiences firsthand!

[Skipper]

Very interesting story; your grandfather travelled quite a lot , even as a pow. I like the food aspect. I can see those guys used to Cabbage and potatoes with saussages, "having to" eat wonderbread. No wonder the guards enjoyed a Sauerkraut fro time to time. Do you happen to know where your grandad stayed in France, maybe i could find information about this place for you?