Hello Mart, excellent posting! I take it you had a family member fight at that bridge. If so, which side was he on?

he was one of the six Dutch marines that were hiding/holding the bridge for 4 days and one of the two that did pay for this action with their lives.

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*** We shall not retreat, nor shall we surrender. If we cannot stay here alive, we shall stay here dead***

Dear Mart, sorry for your loss. Do you know much about his service in the Dutch Marines?

he had served the Marine Corps for 6 years. It was his first combat experience and also his last. Thx for your compassion, but there was/is no sadness over his death, just proudness.

Seeing the conditions under which the dutch marines held Rotterdam until the capitulation of the state, it was a formidable achievement. rifles from just after ww1, 2 machineguns for the whole rotterdam area, 1 armored car at the waalhaven airport, and 1 battery of light artillery hidden in the central park in Kralingen.
Troops : conscripts of the army with specialties such as cooks, administrators and drivers, about 200 marines of which majority was still in training. Orders were issued to obtain as much german weapons as possible during the fights. raids were made on german posts with the sole purpose of getting their hands on ammo and mg 34 machineguns and mortars.

Do not forget that the invasion of Holland was the first and last big operation of the Fallschirm jaeger(except Crete). over 300 Ju52's were shot down/destroyed during landings on blocked highways and many paras killed and captured when they tried to drop into fortress Holland.



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*** We shall not retreat, nor shall we surrender. If we cannot stay here alive, we shall stay here dead***

Dear Mart, I had zero knowledge at how bad off the Dutch forces were, when the Fallschirm "dropped" by. They did put up one hell of a defense. It also just goes to show you that ALL Marines the world around, are made of the same molds. I am one who does admire tough soldiers from wherever they come from.

Hello, I'm a brand-new member to the forum, although I have been posting at other forums for awhile. My father served in the Luftwaffe FLAK as an 88 gunner, stationed primarily on Crete. His twin brother was in the Luftwaffe feldgendarmerie. His older brother was in the Heer on both fronts, regular infantry (He is the only one still living). His father was drafted into the Volkssturm in 1945 and died in late April, 1945, southeast of Berlin. On my Mom's side: her dad, a WW1 vet, served briefly in 1939 in a reserve unit in Poland (took some great candid shots of Warsaw right after the capitulation)and then was drafted into the Volkssturm late in the war, POW of the US and French. My Mom's brother was in the Waffen SS. Her first cousins were all in the Luftwaffe (sadly the last cousin passed away just past October)One served as a Luftwaffe telefunker at the U-boat base at LaRochelle, France. Another was a Stuka pilot, named Klaus Stover, who died in battle (still searching for info on him). I guess it's easier just to go to my webpage (it's still under construction though) at:
www.geocities.com/rfogt2001/WW2.html

Dear R.Fogt: Thats most excellent! Do you think your relative might tell you his story and let you post if and any photos on this forum? It would be a big help.

I am in the process of trying to get some info from a Waffen SS Knights Cross Recipient and to have his stuff posted here. Also I am working on about 12 U-Boat vets about having their stuff posted here too.

I tried your link but it would not open, can you let me know if you have any problems I would like to check your site out.

Thanks for the great info and glad to see you here. Take care--Carl.

Dear C. Evans,

I have finished the webpage link that I emailed you earlier (the one that wasn't working) and hopefully it is now online:

http://www.ww2picturz.homestead.com/1.html

Also, does anyone know if it is possible (or legal) to convert an MP3 music file to a format which can be uploaded onto a website? I downloaded Lale Anderson's "Lilli Marlene" from Napster (just in the nick of time) but since it is in MP3 format it can not be added to any of the free personal webpage services I use.

Dear R.Fogt: Many thanks for reposting the link, it worked just great. Thank you for the photos of the funeral et el.

My wife's grandfather served in the army during the war. Sorry don't have many details. He was a forward observer and according to my wife was at the Battle of the Bulge. He recently passed away. Unfortunately (but not suprisingly) he didn't like to talk about his experiences...other than the wine and women. I am trying to find out more info about him. Where he served and who he served with. I hate that his legacy has fallen on my shoulders. I surely want my children to know what their great-grandfather had done. What things he must have seen.

I was away yesterday attending my Uncles funeral in San Antonio. My uncle served under General Simon Bolivar Buckner on Okinawa with the 80th I.D.

I had made a mistake about some of my info on him in another posting. I believe I had said he was the sole survivor of his Company from WW2, thankfully I was wrong, apparently there are at least 3. I met these men at his funeral and I hope to talk them into sharing their Okinawa experiances with me to post here. Apparently, these 3 men had been wounded and evacuated from where the Company positions were, sometime before the Japanese infiltrated the Companies positions. Tha Command Chaplain of Kelly AFB was a big help.

I've been trawling through past posts and found this one. I don't know if you're still interested but I'll post the reply anyway.
My father, Thomas Ray, served from 1935-45 with the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry. He served in India until 1942, apart from volunteering as a signaler in Abyssinia during 1940/1, before going into action in Libya during 1942. He was captured on June 4th 1942 having held of an armoured assault for four days as part of an anti-tank crew. He was sent as a POW to Italy where, in 1943, he escaped. He looked Italian, spoke the language fluently and was at large for 6 months before being picked up as a suspected Italian deserter! Sent to Germany, he was imprisoned in a Straffe Lager for several months before being sent to Stalg 11B. In 1945 he was released by the Americans who issued him with small arms to police the area. He dies in 1988.

I had an uncle who served in a field artillery battery of the british army starting in North Africa to the end of the war.
I had another uncle who served in the Royal Navy. He was on 3 different ships that were torpedoed was on the Ark Royal when she was sunk, and served aboard the Hood (before she met up with the Bismark thank god)
Had another cousin who served as a motorcycle dispatch rider in the 3rd Canadian Inf Div in France before being wounded, thats all I know about.

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Ain't no rocket scientists in the firehall

Thanks for sharinw what you could, im always interested in these stories. Sorry for your loss.

If you both think about it, send Otto an email and see if he can create a section on your relatives, including copies of photos if possible. Otto is working on something for me, which is to do with the crew of U 181, and will have some interesting photos, plus a few additions I just recieved this morning as a matter of fact.

Also, I firmly believe that that would be a great way to honor your relatives, and a good way to have a constant memory of them.

Take care--Carl.

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Lost are only those, who abandon themselves) Hans-Ulrich Rudel.

I also had an uncle on my mother's side of the family who served with the Royal Artillery. He escaped from Dunkirk but was sent to Singapore where he was captured. He died in a Japanese POW camp on Jave in November 1942.
My grandfather, again on my mother's side, was in the Royal Worcestershire Regiment during WWI and was one of the original "Contemptables" having joined up in 1913. He was wounded at Golipoli in 1915 and invlided out.

Chris Ray

My late Grandfather (Died in 1998) was a officer in the Kings Own Royal East Kents (The Buffs), he began the war in the Officer training corps at school and ended as a Captain, Acting Major commanding a company in Germany. His Record is very interesting because of the number of posts within his unit he was assigned to, from PTI to Weapons Training Instructor. He was also the first British soldier to cross a river in Italy Called the Dvina or something (I will check on that if you are interested, there is an odd story to it). While he served in the BOAR his commanding officer was Joe Vandeleur (sp) of the Irish Guards, as played by Michael Cain in 'A Bridge too Far'. My Grandmother was in the ATS as a signals operator, she has loads of stories about her experiences particularly when she was with the Americans in the 1st Allies Airborn and is far more willing to talk about it than my grandfather was.

My other Grandfather was a Bevan Boy (a coal miner) and his wife worked at Lidney Ply, making Gliders. This is an odd coincidence because her brother Thomas was a Pilot in the RAF flying Stirlings and Halifaxes normaly acting as a glider tug. He is wonderful to talk to and has lots of stories, as well as his log book and a french Franc signed by the stick of Paratroopers he dropped on D-Day (I am not sure if it was D-Day, I think it was).

My Great Grandfather was a Sniper in WW1, another was a Lewis gunner and another was a Vickers MG Gunner though he also served in the London Hackney Rifles (a volunteer unit of the Rifle Brigade). He was blown up by a shell, he survived without a scratch on his body but was deaf in one ear for the rest of his life. This was a shame because he used to be a chorister. My other Grandfather was a fireman in the Sussex area.

As a final note my mother was a Nurse in the QARANC serving in Canada and in Germany during the 70's, at some of the same places as my Grandfather.

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There's no honorable way to kill, no gentle way to destroy. There is nothing good in war. Except its ending.

I had two relatives who fought in ww2. One was my great uncle on my father side and one on my mothers. The one on my fathers side served in the 101st and was killed in the Battle of the Bulge. The one on my mothers side was in I think the 97 divison in the 3rd army. He fought in the Bulge too and fought until the end of the war. He has told me many stories and showed me pictures he took of Captured germans and other stuff.

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"Front leaning rest position"
"Move"
"In cadence, exercise....1, 2, 3" (My favorite thing to hear at 5 in the morning.)

Thanks for the stories, sorry for the losses.

One of my uncles was also in the 101st at Bastonge. As far as I know he was my only relative in that battle, unless my dad was part of a bomber crew that flew missions over the area when the weather cleared.

Also anyone serving with Joe Vandeleur, was lucky. Not only a great commander, but well liked.

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Lost are only those, who abandon themselves) Hans-Ulrich Rudel.

I am trying to find out more about my uncle who died in the 101, but my family won't talk about it

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"Front leaning rest position"
"Move"
"In cadence, exercise....1, 2, 3" (My favorite thing to hear at 5 in the morning.)

Sorry about that but, if you do ever find something out, I an we are always interested in hearing about it. [img]smile.gif[/img]

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Lost are only those, who abandon themselves) Hans-Ulrich Rudel.

My Grandfather served in the AIF from c1940-c1946.
He was fighting in the Pacific in c1942 when he was captured by the Japanese, and held as a POW until the end of the war.

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"GARRY OWEN"-Traditional war-cry of the US 7th Cavalry.
"CURRAHEE"-War-cry of the US 506th PIR.
"Everybody thinks that they are going to get the chance to punch some Nazi in the face at Normandy-and those days are over, they are long gone"-Lt Chris Burnett

I had two great uncles (yes great uncles, remember im only friggin' 14) 1 of which served in the 15 AF in Italy. As a bombardier in a B17. He was shot down in 1943. He was in a PoW camp until the italians switched to the allies (or was liberated, not sure)

My other great-uncle had the un-enviable task of being a landing craft pilot at Iwo Jima. He told my father later how he dreaded going back to the ships to load up more men, knowing that he was delivering them to their doom.

I also recently found out that i am related to 2 men that died during the battle of britain. 1 was a canadian, the other, british. One was in the 1st squadron, the other the 234 (i believe). One was shot down on August 11, the other one, November 11th.

My best friend's grandfather was one of the engineers at remagen. He was one of the men that drew up the blue prints for the new bridge.

CvM

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My Grandpa trained for desert warfare in 1940 and had one more month before he was released from the Army when Pearl was bombed. He then experienced the Aluetian Islands, Philippines, and Attu doing ground fighting and was a flame thrower. He never went to the desert. He got out in 1945.

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"It won't be long now until I come home, darling."
(Donald B. Greenwood - 'grampa' - in a letter home to his wife in Oct. 1943 - he came home in Sep. 1945)