I,ll kick this one off by saying, the whole enormity of the conflict, involving so many nations, even the nations that were,nt involved suffered in some form or other. The tsunami that struck recently was devastating, 160,000 dead at least, imagine that happening every week for the next 5 years, because thats how many people were killed each week on average throughout the war!
I regard it as the biggest single story in humanity's history. There was no part of the world that escaped World War II. Even neutrals like Switzerland and Ireland were affected. Gunfire was heard off of nearly every coast, battles were fought in every climate, casualties suffered in every nation and continent. There was fighting in Norwegian permafrost, Madagascar's mountains, Burmese and New Guinea jungles, Russian steppe, Iraqi desert, Aleutian islands, even in Greenland. Everybody was in World War II. Everybody was affected by it. It's like a vast tragic poem.
Well put kiwiwriter For me as well, it was the community spirit of it all, i mean except for a few traitors on all sides the vast majority of people were fighting and pulling together for each nations beliefs. Also there were massive jumps in technology, britain went into the war with ww1 style Gloster gladiators, 6 years later Gloster had developed the jet powered meteor, not to mention bomb technology from plain old bombs going in to ww2, to guide bombs, flying bombs and A-bombs. paul
From the word go in Normandy, little mention was made of the Third British Infantry Division. Monty's Ironsides. or the Iron Div. The first in with the Eighth Brigade. Yet it was the only Division to take part in every battle, from Sword Beach (The most heavily defended area) to the final Victory in Bremen, During that time they suffered the highst casualties of any div. A great fighting infantry division with a long and distinguished fighting history. Yet for some reason, others divs have been talked and written about, but the Ironsides? very little, even though they took on and beat anything they enemy could produce. One of the oddities of war. Sapper
Patrick Delaforce wrote a book in his series on British divisions, called "Monty's Ironsides," about the 3rd Division. It's a fine piece of work. But I do agree that the 3rd Division -- as do most of the British Liberation Army's divisions -- get a short shrift from historians, especially American historians. That's mostly because of Field Marshal Montgomery's press conference late in the Battle of the Bulge, I'm afraid, which made American generals and historians hate him forever after, turning him into a greater villain than Heydrich. It's a disservice to brave men who had, in many cases, gone through five and six years of war and hardship to earn the final victory. I think the only thing the average American knows about the British in Europe is the Pegasus Bridge assault (from a movie) and the Monty-Patton rivalry (from another movie).
Originally posted by paulyb102@Jan 10 2005, 04:21 PM Well put kiwiwriter For me as well, it was the community spirit of it all, i mean except for a few traitors on all sides the vast majority of people were fighting and pulling together for each nations beliefs. Also there were massive jumps in technology, britain went into the war with ww1 style Gloster gladiators, 6 years later Gloster had developed the jet powered meteor, not to mention bomb technology from plain old bombs going in to ww2, to guide bombs, flying bombs and A-bombs. paul [post=30607]Quoted post[/post] Thanks for the warm words. You are right about technology...as I wrote in the preamble to my WW2 series, the war began with a coal-powered battleship firing 11-inch guns at a coastal fort defended by Polish troops, and HS 123 biplanes attacking Polish cavalry. It ended with a fully-pressurized four-engine American bomber dropping an atomic bomb on a Japanese city. At the end, WW2 was fought with jet fighters, cruise missiles, napalm, electronics, and atomic bombs. In six years. Compare that with the Hundred Years War, which used the same technology and pretty much the same tactics from beginning to end. Incredibly changes.
Originally posted by Kiwiwriter@Jan 10 2005, 10:38 AM I regard it as the biggest single story in humanity's history. There was no part of the world that escaped World War II. Even neutrals like Switzerland and Ireland were affected. Gunfire was heard off of nearly every coast, battles were fought in every climate, casualties suffered in every nation and continent. There was fighting in Norwegian permafrost, Madagascar's mountains, Burmese and New Guinea jungles, Russian steppe, Iraqi desert, Aleutian islands, even in Greenland. Everybody was in World War II. Everybody was affected by it. It's like a vast tragic poem. [post=30598]Quoted post[/post] Beautifully put! I concur that in some measure the sheer enormity of the conflict draws WWII enthusiasts of all stripes. The "Pacific War" has always been an area of particualr interest for me, perhaps because it is given so little attention as compared with the European theater.
Well I am primarily interested in the Eastern Front and North Africa although I do read up on other areas. I am hoping to boost my knowledge of the Pacific Conflict through this board and am looking forward to some good discussions.
My interst was fired by trying to decipher my father-in-laws diary that he had written during his time in Africa, Italy and POW camp. Reasearching his journeys and what he went through has left me wanting to find out all I can, as I am to young to know anuthing about what went on. Also one of my Granddaughters (aged8) is very interested in all I can find out, as she is studying WWII at school and has become an avid collector of information.
I am mostly iterested in Finlands war histoty. It doesn`t mean that i would be interestet ONLY in Finlands history. Like said before the war affected everyone and it is a big page in mankinds history. My grandparents fought in the war and it was a miracle that they all survived. These are my reasons why WW2 interests me so much.
Hi Heke Thought your countrymen fought amazingly well against hugeley superior russian forces, do you happen to know how many russians died compared to how many finnish died, i thought it was something like 10 to 1 in favour of the Finnish. paulyb102
My interest in WW2 is very minimal at the moment. My main interests being the Great War, the Jacobite Risings and collecting dirks. However, I am being increasingly drawn towards WW2 due to involvement in this conflict by family members. As you can see from my signature, I lost a great uncle in the war and another won the MM. However I have found that 5 brothers from another side of the family served in the Indian Army, British Army, RAF, Merchant Navy and Royal Navy (talk about spreading your family about!), my grandfather was in the 5th Beds & Herts and his father was in the Civil Defence. My main interest in WW2 seems to be on the Home Front, focusing mainly on the London Fire Service (LFB & London AFS).
Does anyone know of the Scarborough Barracks in Doncaster Sth Yorks? My uncle was stationed there during the war doing his initial Army training I think
My interests in WW2 follow my father's involvement through the war He was in France with the BEF, coming out through Dunkirk. Then on to North Africa, Crete, back to North Africa, Italy and again Greece with the 8th Army. My father said that Crete was the best place he visited and I admit to ageeing with him and I find myself drawn to the island. This by no means limits my interests, I look into the japanese involvement in WW2 and have a full interest in the 14-18 western front, focusing on the Manchester Regiment chris
Hi, im new here so please be kind! Thanks! My main and probably only interest in WW2 is to find out about Family that i lost, as i have started to do a family tree and i would love ot find out ore information on my great uncle! Peter Hope was in the Lancashire Fusiliers and he fought and died at Dunkirk i do not know much more than this, but if you know where i may be able to get anymore help i would very much appreciate it! Many Thanks Beki Hope (rebekahhope2k@hotmail.com)
My main area of interest would be the Great War, but as far as WW2 goes it would have to be the Air War. Especially passionate about the "Heavy" Stuff. Bomber Command and the 8th Air Force, over Europe. Fighters aswell of course. B) Mark.
What interests me most of all is the TRUTH about what happened, not what post war authors have writte, or the false legends that Hollywood has produced. The Veteran, find much of what is written, and passed on to the younger generation as facts, is absolute tripe, and not even a passing connection with what happened. So many books are written, films, and documentaries, are complete rubbish. So if anything, at least be selective in what you read, for the legend of what happened back during the war has changed so that many people that read books now are reading fairy stories. Some of the books are so bad that we did not even exist! And what is even worse, they had the Canadians landing on Sword Beach. sapper
What interest me on the WW2 is WW2 itself, like kiwiwriter wrote at the 1st reply,. it touched every corner of the world. Nothing here is uninteresting; In russian front, they were barbarossa, stalingrad, Guards divisions. In West front, They had battle of britain, Spitfire, D-Day, In Atlantich there were U-Boats. In pacific they had Yamato, Pearl Harbor, B29. and on the desert, they were rommel, Monty, Dessert Rats, and these names, events, legends are too few to represent. there are always new things to know, and somehow connected one to another, and keep our mind open for any possibilities of what if then,...
I suppose, like a lot of people of my generation, my interest stems from family involvement. My mother was brought up in London during The Blitz. My grandfather was a regular soldier with the Royal Engineers (he started off as a boy soldier with the British Army of Occupation on the Rhine and finished as a Major back in Germany in Hamburg). My father had the foresight to have him tape his reminiscences prior to his death and I'm slowly trying to transcribe them. My father, meanwhile, sat in the Castlereagh Hills and watched Belfast burn after the Luftwaffe bombed it (his father fought on the Somme in WW1). My wife's Uncle Tommy died at Dunkirk when he was 19. Interestingly her cousin's father-in-law was with him when he died. He went on to fight with The Forgotten Army in Burma. When you start researching a few things it's amazing how many people's lives are inter-woven with shared experiences.
