New Member Wishes to Learn About Her Uncle's Service

Thank you very much for all of the information about the interface. It's very helpful, as I learn to navigate the forum.

I didn't even realize there was a book section! I'm so excited to look through it.

I grew up a Civil War buff, and read lots of books about it as a kid. I think my interest in WWII was first sparked by a correspondence my family had with a 27-year-old Polish man living in then-Communist Poland. He had found my name on a pen pal list - not realizing perhaps that I was only 7 years old when I signed up. He wrote to us because my maiden name was Polish, and we had a long-distance friendship with him over a period of years. When I was in middle school, he sent us a small black and white volume about Auschwitz. From that time on, I felt compelled to learn more about the war. The first book I can remember reading about it was The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.

In the past couple of years, I have read Rick Atkinson's An Army at Dawn and The Day of Battle. In anticipation of the third installment of the series, which will focus on the European Theater, I was inspired to try to find out more about my uncle's unit, so that I might recognize those campaigns he may have been involved in when I read the upcoming book. I am currently reading The Deceivers by Thaddeus Holt, trying to learn more about the role of deception and disinformation in the Allied effort.

As I mentioned above, my uncle never volunteered to speak about the war, and I never presumed to ask him about his experience. His service, while something I have always been very proud of, was never the primary motivation for my study of the war. When I found this forum, I realized that there might just be a way to understand more about his own personal experience of the war at last. It never occurred to me before that there might be a means to do so. So...... I think I will focus on that effort first, and then, as I become more familiar with the forum, I will explore other areas. My mom adored her big brother, but was very young during the war, so had no real comprehension of it. She is 73 years old now, and it would be gratifying to be able to share any information I can uncover about my uncle's service with her.

Other than my husband, I don't really have anyone to share this interest with, so I already feel so "at home" finding this community. At last, I can "visit" with other people who share my passion. Thank you to all of you who have been so welcoming and encouraging. I know I will have more questions as I learn to use this resource more effectively, and I appreciate any guidance, insights, stories, advice, etc. you can provide.

 

I highly recommend the book: "Once Upon A Time In War" by Robert E. Humphrey

Stan

 

After receiving two recommendations for Once Upon A Time in War by Robert E. Humphrey, I've ordered it from Amazon. There are so many books out there, and it's hard to know what are worth reading and accurate, so I appreciate the advice.

I have a new question now for you all. My husband was an "Army brat" and shares my interest in military history. (His father was in the Army for 30 years, and retired a SGT Major; he served two tours in Vietnam, and was stationed 3 times in Germany for a total of 9 years. We are so very proud of his service. Now my brother-in-law is a LtCol in the Air Force.) Combine that with his passion for airplanes and firearms, and I have a great resource for information re: WWII weapons and equipment. No matter what I ask him, he always seems to know the answer when it comes to military hardware. The downside is he's not always around when I need a question answered. Besides... I'm one of those people who gets aggravated when I am reading a book and I don't know exactly what something is.

We have been searching for a handy little reference guide for WWII weapons, artillery, tanks, aircraft, ships, etc. I got a little pocket guide of maps when I took a WWII history class in college, and it seems there just must be a pocket guide for this information. I would like silhouettes, photos, specs and manufacturing information. I would love to have a little book I could keep beside me while reading, so I can quickly refer to it to get an accurate picture in my mind, and understand accounts better. I have picked up information along the way, but much of it is still not firmly enough set in my mind to recall easily when I need it. So far, I have been printing out information from the Internet, but I've just ended up with unwieldy stapled sheaves of pages, and wish for a more practical solution. In my mind, I envision a book which would have maybe a page or half-page dedicated to each subject. Does such a book exist? What could you all recommend? I wish I could get a single book for basic information, rather than having to consult numerous volumes - one for ships, one for aircraft, etc.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I did consult the book section of the forum, but could not find a related thread.

 

Here is a pretty decent start on WW2 (earlier and later) small arms.


Goto:


Modern Firearms - Military Rifles

You can start on that page, and choose which weapon you are interested in by nation from there.


The online site for the West Point map room seems to have been removed. It used to be a very interesting site, with maps with topographical as well as unit stationing as each battle progressed. It seems to be "MIA" these days.

 

I find that the internet is the handiest reference tool I have.
For example if I do a Google search for "German WWII Tanks" I get this:

German tanks in World War II - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The article also has some great pictures.

Stan

 

hey, slip, i just happen to have stanton's order of battle. unfortunately it only has this to say about the 393rd. 393infantry regt.(99th infdiv) 15nov.42 organized at Cp.Van Dorn Miss.and assigned to the 99th inf.div.;moved to the La.Mnvr area 13 sep 43. and to Cp.Maxey Tx. 19 Nov.43; staged at Cp.Myles Standish Mass.14sep44 until departed Boston P/E 30sep44 arrived England 10oct44 and landed in France 1Nov44 and entered Germany 12Nov44;arrived Hampton Roads P/E 20sep45 and inactivated at Cp Patrick Henry Va.the same date. Campaigns:Rhineland.Ardennes-Alsace.Central Europe. Aug 45 loc.Lohr Germany.

 

Hello,

I'm a new member and i'm searching informations about a soldier who is my "godson".
You can see the explications in my presentation : http://www.ww2f.com/new-member-forum/56949-hello-everyone.html#post630494

I read this topic and I see that my godson and the uncle of Niece are in the same unit (i think because i'm not very excellent in English).

My godson is the Sergent Coy McCorkle.

Have you some informations about him ??

Thanks a lot