Where would YOU serve in WW2?

Thanks for the info. I have never been lucky enough to sit inside a WWII era german tank, and I understnd that they where quite cramped. Thanks also for the despcriptions of the inside. I already have a mental image of what it was like. But as I said before, if I were a German tanker, I would be fanactically loyal to my homeland, and thus I would not care if I was uncomfortable in my postion. Just as long as I was serving my country in its gloroius fight, and I would be happy. Now, I am not a Nazi, I am jsut saying that no matter where i am from I would serve my country to the death. Being a US citizen, I am proud to say that if I ever had to join the military I would be proud to and I hope I die running into a pack of terrorists, so I can sacrifice my ife for my homeland. Long Live the USA!

 

oh boy.

 

I wonder if this is what you would have felt like on 27 December 42', upon finding out that Armeegoupe Hoth failed to breach an encirlced city and was forced to retreat by a more fantical adversary truly fighting for his homeland. Leaving you and your men now freezing and starving in a foreign country with out any hope of relief at the mercy of an enemy who was now very anxious to show his hospitality to the uninvited guests.

 

Accepting the Surrender of Soviet forces in Stalingrad.

 

For all the would be tankers: Just remember, at the end of the day, you are just starting. You still have to maintain your tank. This means you get to check the tracks for correct tightness. Make sure all the links and pins are intact and in good conditon, replacing any that are worn or damaged. The engine will need a check and likely oil and gas. Ammunition will have to be replinished. Overall, there are a hundred and one things to do after your day should already have ended.
Then there other things to do each day as well. Eating. Finding a reasonable place to sleep. Getting orders and mission requrements for the next day. Briefings. Standing your turn as guard. You are lucky if it is just a 16 hour day!
Also, tanks are not known for their creature comforts. In the summer they are sweat boxes of heated steel. In the winter colder than a freezer. Then there is the dust that gets everywhere. Mud is worse. Crossing a river or stream means likely flooding the inside of the vehicle to some degree, tanks are not watertight contrary to what the engineers who built them say.
Wearing headphones for hours really wears on you too. Your ears get hot and itchy. They are uncomfortable. The static and cacophony of voices in them drives you nuts. It's even worse when someone gets hit and you can listen to the terrified panic.

 

This was my original post on this subject several years back.

It too would have been little fun.

While I would have had a stateroom or cabin on board ship (as a junior officer one with several other officers or as a senior officer one with one other officer or by myself) there would be little creature comforts there. Being at sea is alot like being in jail.
I would have had responsibility for my part of the ship's plant. I would have to spend several hours a day just scheduling work and seeing that maintenance was getting done. The material condition of my spaces would have been critical.
Then there is actual combat. General quarters is mostly a bore. You sit there and do a job you have done a thousand times before. That is, right up until you are actually in the fight. Then it is terrifying. Fire and flooding on a ship is a major, major problem. You have to get both under control NOW or there will be no later.
While as an officer I would not be "on scene" in an emergancy it is really worse sitting in some space only getting messages and sound-powered phone talk to let you know what's going on. The worst is when things on scene go wrong. And, they can in an instant. Been there, seen that.
On top of all this there are wardroom politics to deal with, the crew to deal with, and my fellow (having previously been one) Chiefs to deal with. While my having been promoted from "the ranks" will buy me alot with those below me it hurts politically dealing with my peers and superiors. Never mind my education or other background. The fact I was enlisted and senior enlisted works against me with the "brass." They expect it both ways. I am expected to be an expert at everything technical and a social ass regardless of the truth.
I'm not good enough for the regular officers but am expected to not make a mistake on the job at the same time.
You see, there are really few "easy" jobs in the military....then or now.

 

I'd Serve in the Desert Rats at El Alamein the first battle we won!! be part of something brilliant!!

 

i have been contemplating this for some time, and i would like to be a sniper, but realistically i would have been assigned to infantry.

 

in the 2nd Free French Armored Div (2ème DB) under charismatic Leclerc's command in fighting of Dompaire, Paris Alençon Strasbourg
or in this unit

Oddball: " We see our role as primarily defensive in Nature. While our armies are advancing so fast and everybodies knocking themselves out to be heros we are holding ourselves in reserve. In case the Krouts mount a counter-offensive that threatens Paris or Maybe even New York. Then we can move in a stop them"

Kelly: "Who's your commanding officer"
Oddball: "He got decpaitated by a German 88 about three weeks ago. But, don't say your sorry hes been trying to get us killed ever since we landed at Omaha Beach it's Terrible"
CrapGame: "You see he hasn't reported him dead yet I've been collecting his whiskey

 

I often thought about this. I'd probably choose to serve in the RAF during the Battle of Britain, then transfer to a Naval Officer at Pearl Harbor, then go on to fight in North Africa along side the Desert Rats, continue on to Guadalcanal, then jump in with the 82nd on Husky, Avalanche, then Neptune in Operation Overlord. I'd jump in on Market Garden, continue with the 82nd until after the Buldge, when I would transfer to the 17th for the jump across the Rhein in Operation Varsity. Finally, I would go with the Soviets to fight in Berlin.
Of course I know that it's impossible to do all those transfers even if I did live in that time... and the odds of me surviving all those are?

 

Smells a bit like MoH, there!

Damn, I wish I could play airborne, but my bloody graphics card isn't good enough!

 

Well had I been born back in the time of WWII, I probably would have volunteered for the Airborne. Nothing more fun than jumping out of a perfectly good airplane, right? I wouldn't care which Airborne Division I went in. As long as it was the 82nd or 101st. Hopefully I would have had what it took to live all the way from Husky to V-E Day.

 

Definitely a member of the AK (Polish Home army, Warsaw Rising)!

 

I probably would of liked to of been a Chindit. Chindit is a corrupted form of the suggested name of the Burmese mythical beast Chinthé or Chinthay, statues of which guarded Buddhist temples.

However, if we put this deluded notion aside for a second I would of probably served in the home-guard, better known as Dads Army. More of a Private Joe Walker character.

 

Fighter ace. Either side.

 

On a battleship with lots of armor around me and big guns. I got a tour of the New Jersey and watched her put a small island under water. It just disppeared off the radar and the missile battery on it didn't shoot at the planes anymore. Very impressive ships.

 

Call me a traitor, but in a SS Panzer Division.

 

Since I would be limited in what roles I would have in WWII based on gender - SOE - Camp X, Communications Role, possibly combat medical role, or a combined War Artist and Historian recording events if I could not be in an active position to make a difference. Oh, and if it couldn't be with the Canadian forces, it would be with the British....