Victory in Europe (VE) Day

Not seen much mentioned so far today. Nice piece on the Toby Foster show on Radio Sheffield following a D- Day veteran Jack Quinn aged 99 returning to Normandy. They visited a grave at Jerusalem cemetery of one his comrades who died aged 16. I was in tears at the thought of it. Jack was angry that such young lads were allowed to volunteer. More important than red arrow flyovers and wartime tea dances that I've read about so far.

 

Indeed very nice bloke.

 

Without knowing the circumstances of this particular lad, the minimum age in WW2 was 18 for the Army.

 

Sorry got names wrong, returning soldier was Ken Cooke visiting the grave of Jack Banks aged 16.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce847mg6mngo

https://www.britishnormandymemorial.org/normandy-story/jack-banks/

 

Many miners tried to enlist in the armed forces including mi dad. Who was 18 in 1942, but were barred from doing so after it was realised there was a massive shortage of labour during the early part. Bevan boys were then conscripted into the mines by lottery in 1943 continued to 1948. Lots of us alive today may never have been born. Mi uncle a few yrs older than mi dad was a pit top worker and conscripted into the war and would not talk about it. Mi mam said he fought in Borneo (edit, or Burma not sure) in the swamps (which caused him many health issues later in life.) if I remember right. And ended up a Japanese pow.
RIP men of war.
Also as the op said. I listened to most of the Toby piece on his show. Some great interviews with kids. Who had been given lessons on the subject. Hope they remember in many years to come.

 

People might agree with this clown.

https://archive.is/b5H4t

What our heroes went through should never be forgotten and without them our country would look much different today. I wouldn't have the same faith in the young generation of today to step up in a similar situation.

 

Yes, let's hope this never happens again. Eternal vigilance.....

 

I read a book by one chap, he joined up to get away from the pit...he was captured at Dunkirk and spent most of the rest of the war working in a German coalmine.

 

It’s important to honour those who sacrificed so much, but more important to learn the lessons of history. Unfortunately too many are forgetting the second part.

 

I have a fascination with WW2. Not only the bravery, alliance of powers and sheer brainpower to outwit the enemy alone, but it's the complete bafflement of why the Germans would let themselves become such animals. I like to think I'm pretty clued up on a lot of the criminals who were in their ranks, but every so often I learn about a new, more grisly character than crawled among them. Goebbels, Goeth, Mengele et al, but it's the other not as well known ones that play on my mind. Dirlewanger, for instance. Thank God most of them were slaughtered.

 

It shouldn't be forgotten but there should be more focus on what exactly we were fighting against in terms of ideology. I think that these days there's an irony in that a lot the people who most celebrate WW2 err towards the sort of nationalism that we were fighting against.

 

Hi hooky, I can provide some tips if you want to research your uncle’s involvement in the war. Feel free to pm me if interested.

 

Thanks mate. Pm'd you.

 

When I was a lad I was surrounded by heroes, but they were just ordinary blokes. My dad was 16 when the war started and he’d been a miner for two years. Uncles Bert and John were also down the pit.
Uncle Herbert was captured fighting a rearguard action at Dunkirk. Uncle Sam was a gunner and volunteered for Atlantic convoys on an armed merchantman, because he wanted to sink a U-boat.
I had two uncle Tommies, one escaped the fall of Singapore in a canoe and went on to fight in Burma, the other served on the aircraft carrier Victorious.
Uncle Harold was in the RAF Regiment and kept his bayonet. Uncle Harry was part of the occupying force in Iceland.
Grandad was in North Africa fighting Rommel and later fought throughout Italy including Monte Casino. I’ve still got his medals.
They loved a drink and valued every minute when they could enjoy themselves.
The women in the family were sent to Halifax to the mills to make cloth for uniforms. They all did their bit, a fantastic generation, defiant and brave. I miss them all.

 

I hope as much celebration is giving in August for VJ day. For my dad and thousands more they carried on fighting in the Far East their war didn't finish In May

 

Uncle Tommy was part of the forgotten army and I’m sure he would agree with you. The reason for all the joy on VE Day was that our shores were no longer threatened and there was the promise of a future and an end to the austerity of war.
A Canadian lady I knew very well who lived to be over 100 told me that in the war she had a job welcoming war brides. They couldn’t believe the food that was on offer and many of them had never seen a banana (no jokes please, show some respect).
The country had been starving. I was born in 1949 and I’ve still got my ration card. It was years before my mother stopped saying she was going for her rations when she went grocery shopping.
All respect for the Chindits they were brave in the defence of the empire, but let’s not spoil the joy at the defeat of the Nazi evil.

 

So did mine and his recruiting sergeant told him to get back to work, because he was fighting his war from down the pit. He also told me that he worked with a Bevan boy who was a conscientious objector and a Cambridge graduate. He taught my dad a lot on shift.

 

Sorry I wasn't meaning any disrespect

 

My Father in Law lied about his age and was in the Royal Marines aged 17.

 

Was that during WW2? or later.
If it was WW2 and the Authorities found out, he may have been allowed to stay, but wouldn't have been able to serve in a theatre of war. If it was later then under 18 was no problem in peace time.