WWII history quiz

Let's say you ask a group of students what they know about World War II and one of them says "isn't that the war where the American and German armies fought together to protect the French from the Nazi's?"

How would you respond?

Would you say well, yes?...

The Battle for Castle Itter

I'd learned of that from my father, long ago. Quite the remarkable story.

Wait'll you get the student who says that our Revolution was against the Russians. oy

One of my favorite Doonesbury cartoons:




Back on the Castle Itter story - if those French prisoners had been killed, as ordered by SS, instead of freed by Lee's and Spangl's forces, the Republic of France early post-war history would have been very different.

wow

DrEntropy said:

I'd learned of that from my father, long ago. Quite the remarkable story.

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My dad, an infantry soldier during WWII, spent the wartime fighting in North Africa and Italy. After the War, he read everything he could get his hands on about the War and collected a modest library, but he never spoke of it at all. My stories came from Clark Gable, Burt Lancaster, and Montgomery Clift.
Tom

TomMull said:

My dad, an infantry soldier during WWII, spent the wartime fighting in North Africa and Italy. After the War, he read everything he could get his hands on about the War and collected a modest library, but he never spoke of it at all. My stories came from Clark Gable, Burt Lancaster, and Montgomery Clift.
Tom

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My father was a combat medic who went in on the second wave at Utah Beach and later fought in the Battle of the Bulge. (I sometimes wonder if he had gone in on the first wave, would I be here today?) After his hitch in WWII was up, he had a 16 year break in service, then re-joined and finished a 20 year career that included 2 tours to Nam. When he was stationed in Germany in the 60's, he took us on a tour of Europe that included many historical places related to WWII; Dachau concentration camp, Ann Frank's home in Amsterdam where her family hid from the Nazis, etc. He also took us to see Patton's grave at the American Cemetery in Luxembourg.

Dad went in at Utah, second day. He was with an anti-aircraft outfit, said the Mulberries had to be set up so the quad fifties and all the attendant gear could be offloaded. Spent winter in the Ardennes, made it all the way to the west side of the Ruhr before he got blown out of the gun mount by an eighty-eight round going off nearby. Spent the rest of the war recovering in England. He, too, was an avid reader of the war history and as a result I got an appreciation for the whole generation and what they were asked to do. Today we will attend ceremonies at our local vet's park to venerate all those who've gone before (and after) us to wear a uniform. We're all brothers. Never Forget.

My dad first in the Army and the Merchant Marines were asking for men, the Army gave permission to any non commissioned men to sign up if they wanted. Dad shipped over and became a Merchant Marine and made one trip to Italy and two trips to England carrying much needed supplies, food, fuel, and ammunition to the Brits. The harbor in Italy was heavily mined by the Germans, the crew actually stood around the bow and sides of the ship as lookouts.
On the British runs they watched many of our cargo ships sunk, Dads ship was extremely lucky to survive two trips across the North Atlantic and back, U boats were everywhere. Needless to say, the British loved them for the supplies delivered. PJ

Paul - did your dad ever mention the disaster at Bari harbor in Italy?

In particular, the Liberty ship John Harvey, which carried mustard gas for potential use by the Allies. A Luftwaffe bomb hit the ship, and the gas escaped into the air and water. Oil from ruptured fuel tanks covered the water, and absorbed the gas, which then coated the skin of swimming survivors. As the gas cargo was top secret, no one knew what had happened, or how to treat the victims. A horrible tragedy for 1000s of people. December, 1943.



TM

Tom, Dad never talked much about the war, I got most of my info from my uncle, who believe it or not, was on the same ship as Dad, rare after the Sullivan incident, but the military never caught it. They were both discharged off of the John Ireland liberty together in New York harbor 1945. The ship along with others was used as a grain storage bin on the Hudson for quite a while after that, then sold for scrap.

Sister ship John Brown, identical to the John Ireland, which has been saved by concerned maritime sailors and is an operational museum, it's the only one left. PJ

View attachment 51240A better photo.
View attachment 51241