Hello

I have an assignment for my history class and I'd really appreciate it if you could answer some questions for me.

Did you witness firsthand the horrors of the holocaust?

Were you able to contact your family?
Were you treated well as a soldier?
Did you go to war voluntarily?
What was the nationality of the majority of soldiers?
Were you confident that the Allies would prevail?
Were you able to maintain traditions or holidays while at war?

Thanks in advance!

Rosabell,

Some of the gentlemen will be able to answer, some will not. There are about 4 or 5 WWII veterans active in the forum, but they don't all hit it every day. If you don't get answers soon, contact me directly and I can point you to some searches you can do here and maybe find what you are looking for already posted by those fine, brave men.

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Best Regards,
JW

1. A simple NO, my war finished in Northern Italy.
2. It was a rare week when we did not write home but mail coming from home was sometimes held up for weeks.
3. I thought so but there would always be the odd "moaner"
4. I was what was known as a "Conscript" and was called up at the age of 19. As quite a lot of my peer group had already been called to serve I couldn't wait to join up, to the despair of my mother !
5. In my case, 100% British
6. Always
7. As a British Jew I always appreciated the fact that efforts were made to allow me, whenever possible, to partake in religious festivals

Hope this has been of some help

Ron

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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.

Hello rosabell,

1. No

2. Only by mail.

3. Yes.

4. Voluntarily however we were half was across the Pacific in a convoy
when the U.S. declared war.

5. American, native American, Australian.

6. No one was certain in the early part of '42, '43 on it seemed to be a
matter of time as long as your luck held out.

7. Yes and no, we had religious services, Dec. 25, 1942 we were under
fire in combat at Buna, New Guinea. Worst Christmas day in my life.

Take care,
time,

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All the Best
Jack

Rosabell
As a postscript to my earlier response and to expand on my response to Question 7, I went back to my family's book where I remembered writing about a Jewish Passover service I had attended just south of Cassino.

"By February we were at Cassino, where the regiment gave up its anti-aircraft role to act as "smoke layers" for the troops involved in the eventual taking of the monastery. I have seen still photos and movies of the actual fighting that took place round the area, but in my mind's eye I can still see the monastery staring down at us all the time. I can recall vividly visiting one of our outposts during a storm and being bemused by the fact that one could not easily distinguish between lightning and shellfire.
We settled in around the Cassino area and I remember attending a Passover service organised by a South African unit. The marquee that had been set up was decorated with a huge Magen David made out of camouflage material called "scrim" and I felt that most of those praying that evening gave an extra fervour to their devotions, knowing that after the service they were going back into the line.

__________________
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.

Thank you so much for your help! I really appreciate it, we got all the information we needed.

Thanks to both of you veterans!! It's great to see you pass on some of your personal history! Warms my heart to see the young people asking those "in the know"!

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Scott

I am looking for a WWII veteran who is available and interesting in answering some questions for my History class project. My teacher insists that it not be done by email but by telephone and in person is acceptable. I will try to take up as little of your time as possible. If anyone is interested please contact me via my email divastar0916@yahoo.com ASAP!!! This is urgent as I need to get the interview as soon as possible. Thank you so much!

Dear Bethany
I could do a lot worse than repeat a posting I made not all that long ago under the title of "So you want to interview a Veteran?"

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


So Bethany,
I can see that your approach is slightly different.
Sorry young lady, but I don't rush to give my telephone number to strangers and I would suggest that your teacher is being a tad unreasonable in his/her demands

My original offer to answer any specific question still stands for you and any other student wishing to know more about WW2.

Best wishes in your studies

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.

Ron.

When you fought in Italy, did you (the soldiers) feel that it was a sideshow as historians have branded it later?

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'We march. The enemy is retreating in transport. We follow on foot.' Lt.Neil McCallum 5/7 Gordons 19th November 1942

Hi Jaegar

The short answer is never, up until D-Day in Europe.

Don't forget that when we landed in Sicily (in the leadup to landing in Italy) we were taking the fight to the enemy and regarded ourselves as the spearpoint of the Allied forces.

It was not until D-Day, on June 6th 1944 (when the 2nd Front opened) that we felt ouselves to be in a subsiduary role.

I would also remind you that when one was in a slit-trench (foxhole to my American friends) being shelled or mortared one felt that all the enemy's forces were being directed solely against one's self

Hope this answers your query

Regards

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.

Thank you for the reply Ron.

I guess it was pretty much the answer I expected. It must have been a sort of signal to see Monty taking some of his "old hands" with him back to Britain. But then again life at the sharp end is all about now.

Jaeger

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'We march. The enemy is retreating in transport. We follow on foot.' Lt.Neil McCallum 5/7 Gordons 19th November 1942