Where would YOU serve in WW2?

The thrill and danger of being a belly or nose gunner on a B-17.

 

Venuatu

 

I would love to be in the Luftwaffe. I can just imagine myself riding a Messerschmitt Me 262 and being the baddest dog around. :ac_me262: :evil2:

 

The german jet planes were unreliable and dangerous as hell, even the Me 262. Only U-Boats were more dangerous and less comfortable.
As a german soldier, you could expect the best life while occupying France, Denmark, Norway etc. You could buy everything and lead a peaceful life as a "Herrenmensch". And there were hardly any Partisans compared to Russia, Greece or Yugoslawia...

A german auxiliary cruiser would may have been a nice place, you travel around the world and most of them weren't sunk or scuttled by the crew, and then PoW in a british camp. Could be worse,

 

I think this was more of a personal preference than an actual, historical reason for a choice. Think many are choosing the excitement and danger aspect.

 

Bartender in the officer's club at Fort Hamilton, New York City.

 

I was thinking about that one the other day! I didn't think anyone would get it. How sweet would that be?

 

Very. Booze and broads in the big town, baby.

 

coastwatcher, Pacific.... if, not that, SubPac.......the Subs had good food, but it did get a little hot sometimes

 

Id be a paratrooper or an 0311 in the USMC

 

i woud like to be one of the 30 Dutch soldiers who defended the bridges of Maastricht against the whole German 4th Panzer Division.

 

I would like to be a clerk in our consulate in Marseilles, expending almost legal spanish passports to refugees... I don't like mud.

 

I like the idea of serving aboard the USS Tuscaloosa (CA-37), as she led a charmed life in WW2, never being damaged in battle, and the position I'm interested in is manning a Bofors 40mm.

 

Unlike her sisters - three sunk, three badly damaged in the Guadalcanal campaign - she spent most of the war in the Atlantic, only going to the Pacific after the invasions of France. My grandfather who lived in Brooklyn made a model of her which I have, I imagine she was in and out of New York quite a bit.

 

(1)Indeed, in the Atlantic German surface forces were pretty much contained by that point following the loss of the Bismarck, so the main threat came from German aircraft and U-boats, though Tuscaloosa did get to see surface combat against the Vichy French fleet off Casablanca, which was a fairly one-sided battle in our favor.
(2)Does Tuscaloosa have some sentimental value to you, since you have a model of her made by your grandfather?

 

Well I'm a sucker for the airborne so I would join the Paratroopers. It's the concept that attracts me the most.
But if I wouldn't get through their extreme training I would join the Rangers.

If I were a German, same story.
I'm not really into tanks, too claustrophobic, I don't like navy ships that can sink, or flying a plane that can crash at any second.
I rather jump from the plane and walk on foot.

Preferable rank would be Sgt.

 

Well, the model and several others he made have sentimental value. I wouldn't say that I'm any more or less interested in Tuscaloosa than other ships. Ships in general have a sentimental appeal to me, almost like old friends. Hopefully none of my old friends are reading this!

 

Okay, I was just curious. :cheers:

 

How about being a guard for Italian POWs in New York and sharing in all the delicious food their American relatives in NYC brought them?

Camp Shanks was in my home town. This link has a picture of Italian POWs enjoying a picnic with their American families.

http://www.hvmag.com/Hudson-Valley-Magazine/September-2010/Remembering-Camp-Shanks/

 

Where would you serve?