anybody writing vets NOW ?

Erich,

No problem,i intend to do a full interview with him on this visit and was going to get as much detail as i could from him on the Fighting in Hungary as i'm also very interested in these last Battles of the war.At that time he was commander of the Regt Motorcycle Recce platoon until he was wounded for the third time.

Signed photos unfortunately are no good i'm afraid,he has no pictures himself as they were taken from him on his capture and all the family photos etc were destroyed when his parents home was bombed and destroyed.

Paul

 

Paul, this would be great. ok another option. can you get a pic of the two of U together ?

E

 

Will do Erich no problem,

Paul

 

Hey all, looks like the computer bug that has knocked me off this site has finally been cured.

Anyway, yes, I write vets. My main areas are GI's and Soldats, European Theater, combat men (infantry, tank, para, etc).

Every week I send out 3 letters to German vets, and 20-25 letters to US vets. Then, if another "interesting" vet shows up, regardless of country, I'll send them a letter.

This is mostly using the postal service, but email has helped tremendously.

To date just over 8,000 vets contacted.

Any leads on German infantry, armor, Heer, Fallschirm, or SS troops, give me a holler!

Wm.T. Ripley
snafu947@yahoo.com

 

Glad to have you back.

 

Thanks Carl,
Good to be back. I've missed this site.

 

I keep in touch with two WWII vets daily....My grandfather and my great-uncle They're always more than willing to tell me about the battles.

If anyone would like to ask them some questions, let me know.

Ciao,
DUCE

 

Duce :

Can you please give us some basic background info on their service record......ie unit, theater and years in action for examples ?

thanks !

E

 

Definately quite welcome William. Plus--I hope your having more success on unpacking than I am

 

I'm writing to RKT's and one VC winner at the moment, although it is difficult for me to decide which one's to write to, I'm mostly interested in group troops i.e. SS, GD, Para, Pz etc. So far I've had about 16 replies although I'm going to start writing like mad over the next few months as the number of RKT's who are passing away are alarming.

This forum is great for researching RKT's which is my new interest.

Regards
Phil

 

That would be great E.....Duce forgive me if I am incorrect but I take it they and yourself are Italian?

I'll wait for you to respond to E, but the Italian vet is not someone we hear a lot from, funny though as they served all over Africa north and east, Med, Russia France etc...Would love to hear the Italian views of things.

 

Today I sent a letter to Remy Schrijnen, the flemissh waffen-ss volunteer. I think most visitors here know about him. I noticed that he only lives 200 km from my house.

 

Great going Volkbert!--I hope that you will ask him to see about a possible visit with him and Joanna. You would love it there--spending the day with them at their flat.

In his livingroom--there are many large fotos on his walls. Leon Degrelle for one--and a few other Waffen SS personalities. Plus a few of Remy of course. As soon as you enter his livingroom from the doorway-to your immediate left is his couch--just past it is his bookshelf--to the right of his books is his display area--where all his awards are. Go out on his balcony and look to the left and you will see a Cathedral--off to the right--just more old buildings. At 6PM--I heard all the church bells around the city ringing--it was a very nice experiance.

 

Sorry for such a delayed reply...

Yes Urgh, I am Italian...born here in Calgary, moved to Italy when I was 3 months old, and lived in Rovigo (just outside of Milan and about 25 minutes from Mussolini's grave) until I was 6. Now I live here in Calgary but go back every two years.

But back to what this thread is about....

My Nonno (Grandfather) joined the army shortly after Italy surrendered to the Allies and after only one week of fighting was captured by the Germans and held as a POW for 23 months, after which he escaped and fled back to Rovigo. In all of our talks he has never told me which division he was in etc, but he was originally employed as someone who would make horseshoes for the Calvary (yep, there was a calvary). His most vivid memory of the war is during the time when he was a POW, he was caught trying to steal a sack of potatoes for the rest of the Italians in the camp and had his left index finger cut off.

My Great-Grandfather (who, I just recently found out was not my real great grandfather at all) was one of the original members of the Fasci di Combattemento (started in 1919). In fact, he was one of Mussolini's earliest supporters, knowing him since about 1915. Throughout Mussolini's rule, he did everything from traveling around Italy with IL DUCE to even having dinner with him once. He was supposed to be executed with Mussolini, but ended up escaping. He came to Canada in 1948 where he and his wife both became extremely important people to both the Italians who came to Canada as well as the Canadian Government. His daughter in law has a wide collection of letters he wrote to his family while he was held 'prisoner' in Kananaskis as well as many memorabilia, including the Fascist flag that was draped over his casket for his funeral. (I'll try to photocopy them or take picutres) When the Queen of England came to Calgary to be the 'Parade Marshal' of the Calgary Stambede in 1953(?), he was not allowed to go and view the parade and the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) kept him in the kitchen of his house until well after the Queem had passed, apparently he was still a threat even though he was well into his 60s by then.

If you have any questions for my nonno or about my great grandfather, just let me know. Although he was in the war, my nonno would hardly be able to tell any of you about the actuall fighting, seeing as he was captured almost right away, but if you have any questions as to what they were treated like, he says that he wouldn't mind if any of you wrote to me, and then I'd translate and respond back for him. Or just post a message and it'll serve the same purpose....

DUCE

 

Carl - I will ask Remy to visit him after some letters. In this letter I introduce myself and tell him something about a docu about flemish volunteers that I saw on Belgium tv. I end with asking if it's ok to write him another letter. So after some letters maybe I ask him if it's ok to visit him. Just want to see how he reacts to my letters.

 

Hi Volkbert, Remy loves the visits. I can almost bet he is one of the most visited RKTs today--compared to the likes of Erich Topp, and a few others.

 

not a problem urgh.
Just let me know what you're interested in and I'll do my best to tell you what I know

DUCE

 

Carl - If he likes visits I will try to visit him. Then I will bring the video tapes with the docu about flemish volunteers. He will like to see that. Man that docu has some nice shots and stories.

 

Hi Volkbert--that sounds great. I think he will enjoy watching the tape--I just do not recall if he has a VCR player or not. I know he has a stereo and I know he has a TV, but not sure on the VCR.