New Member from the southern US.

Discussion in 'User Introductions' started by Slipdigit, May 19, 2007.

  1. Slipdigit

    Slipdigit Old Hickory Recon

    Hi all,

    I stumbled upon this forum whilst looking for something else and began to read the postings. I joined and posted a few articles and replies before I noticed this folder for new guys.

    I am an avid reader of the history of WWII, but being here in the States, I have little access to stories and the history of the British Army, other than generalized references and the obligatory "I hate Monty" books. It has been interesting to read about the service of our Allied troops in this forum.

    I am contractor network administrator on a USAF airbase and a former surgery nurse. I have been married for 20 years to a nurse and have two girls, who are in grammar school. I am a Baptist, as are many others here in the Bible Belt. I have been a vounteer firefighter for 12 years. My wife hates it but it is good hobby if you want someone else to pay for your fun.

    I was raised on a farm and attended a private elementary, jr. and sr. high school, then a public college for my nursing degree.

    I look forward to interacting with all of you, or as we say here in the South, y'all. I make no effort to diminish my strong, middle class south Alabama accent. For those foolish enough to assume that a "southern" accent is a sign of ignorance, I am already ahead of them.

    Roll Tide (you'll have to look that one up).
     
  2. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    Welcome Jeff,
    Hope you become a regular poster.
    the obligatory "I hate Monty" books.

    That's made me smile.
     
  3. Peter Clare

    Peter Clare Very Senior Member

    Welcome Jeff hope you enjoy it here.
     
  4. spidge

    spidge RAAF RESEARCHER

    Welcome Jeff,

    Good to have you here and we look forward to further posts.

    For those foolish enough to assume that a "southern" accent is a sign of ignorance, I am already ahead of them.

    Sadly, this is another misnomer that Hollywood is responsible for!

    Many people from overseas used to believe that Kangaroos used to run up the main street of Melbourne.

    Roll Tide (you'll have to look that one up).

    Do you like your football or are you looking to the future?

    Are you working at Maxwell?

    Cheers

    Geoff
     
  5. Kyt

    Kyt Very Senior Member

    Many people from overseas used to believe that Kangaroos used to run up the main street of Melbourne.


    Don't they? Well, in that case I'm tearing up ticket right now!
     
  6. Slipdigit

    Slipdigit Old Hickory Recon

    Gunter trained a lot of foreign pilots and many are buried in a cemetery somewhere here in town (Montgomery, AL). There are maybe 50-60, mostly British and French pilots, with some Polish buried here who died during training accidents.

    I follow college football (not soccer to y'all across the sea). I don't care much for professional football. Who wants to watch a bunch of guys who are too old to play college anymore?

    Everyone in Australia likes to drink beer, BBQ shrimp and go walkabouts, right?

    I do miss watching Australian Football. It used come on TV here couple of years ago for several seasons. It looked like an organized fight, except with nattily dressed men standing by the goals and waving flags and pointing their fingers. I loved it, wished it were still on here. Took me about 3 matches to figure out most of the rules.
     
  7. Slipdigit

    Slipdigit Old Hickory Recon

    <---------- LQQK, I got a stripe! How many more posts until I make corporal?
     
  8. Andy in West Oz

    Andy in West Oz Senior Member

    Don't they? Well, in that case I'm tearing up ticket right now!

    Come to Perth, Kyt, they still do....

    Jeff, you'll just have to keep posting to find out when you become a Corporal! :welcome3:
     
  9. Hawkeye90

    Hawkeye90 Senior Member

    Welcome to WW2talk Jeff, enjoy yourself.
     
  10. spidge

    spidge RAAF RESEARCHER

    Technically I am at Maxwell, but actually at the Gunter Annex of Maxwell. Gunter AFB was an old training base that closed sometime in the early 60's


    Used to be the Municipal Airport before they moved to Dannelly Field.

    Gunter trained a lot of foreign pilots and many are buried in a cemetery somewhere here in town (Montgomery, AL). There are maybe 50-60, mostly British and French pilots, with some Polish buried here who died during training accidents.

    I was not aware that so many British pilots trained there as most went through the Empire Training Scheme in Canada.

    From: 42nd Air Base Wing: History: World War II Era

    When the Lend-Lease Act became law on 11 March 1941, the British were struggling for their very survival. France had fallen to Nazi Germany in 1940, the British Expeditionary Force had retreated from Dunkirk at the same time, and a German surprise attack had not yet broken the Hitler-Stalin nonaggression pact of August 1939. Only the Royal Air Force, by denying air superiority to the Luftwaffe, had prevented an invasion of the British Isles by the German Wehrmacht. Isolated from its allies and facing a powerful and hostile opponent, the British turned to the Americans for assistance.
    The United States responded by setting up several pilot training programs on American soil to train British pilots. The War Department chose the Southeast Air Corps Training Center to conduct training for 4,000 Britons per year at its schools in Florida, Georgia, and Alabama to qualify them for combat duty in the Royal Air Force. Between 7 June 1941 and 17 March 1943, 7,860 Britons entered the program, and 4,370 graduated. Maxwell Field began its foreign training program in the fall of 1941 when 750 British cadets arrived for school. The last class of British cadets graduated from Maxwell's preflight school on 26 February 1943.

    [​IMG]

    I follow college football (not soccer to y'all across the sea).

    A terminology for the members in the UK is "Across the Pond" (Atlantic)

    Everyone in Australia likes to drink beer, BBQ shrimp and go walkabouts, right?

    Wrong!

    Good to see that the Australian governments marketing $'s are working well in the US. Paul Hogan did a good job with that AD campaign.

    A majority drink beer, (I like a good red), never cooked a shrimp (called prawns here) on my BBQ, and the only time I go walkabout in the bush is if I am pig shooting with my Win 44 mag or Rem.243.

    I do miss watching Australian Football. It used come on TV here couple of years ago for several seasons. It looked like an organized fight, except with nattily dressed men standing by the goals and waving flags and pointing their fingers. I loved it, wished it were still on here. Took me about 3 matches to figure out most of the rules.

    Cable? The AFL website has another fan from Tuscaloosa who loved watching it. Not you is it Jeff?
     
  11. spidge

    spidge RAAF RESEARCHER

    Don't they? Well, in that case I'm tearing up ticket right now!

    I thought you would still be at the pub or I would never have let it slip.:cheers:
     
  12. morse1001

    morse1001 Very Senior Member

    welcome to the forum!
     
  13. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    Jeff
    Thanks for the heads up.
    Cemetery details here.
    CWGC :: Cemetery Details

    Cemetery:MONTGOMERY (OAKWOOD) CEMETERY ANNEXE
    Country:United States of America
    Locality:unspecified
    Historical Information:Montgomery (Oakwood) Cemetery Annexe contains 78 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War, all airmen who died while training in Alabama under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. There are also 20 French war graves in the cemetery and two non-war burials.
    No. of Identified Casualties:100
     

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  14. David Layne

    David Layne Well-Known Member

    Roll Tide (you'll have to look that one up).
    __________________
    War Eagles
     
  15. kfz

    kfz Very Senior Member

    Hello old chap, welcome.
     
  16. Kitty

    Kitty Very Senior Member

    soccer? Soccer?! Keep using bad language like that my boy and you ain't getting another stripe! ;)

    Oh, and welcome :D
     
  17. Slipdigit

    Slipdigit Old Hickory Recon

    Used to be the Municipal Airport before they moved to Dannelly Field
    Yes, it was the city's airport before it was moved to Dannelly. I did not go back that far with you. I do not know exactly how many of the graves are British, I just read somewhere that there 50 or foreign aviators buried and they did not list all countries. Maxwell also trained US pilots in the fine art of the B-24

    A majority drink beer, (I like a good red), never cooked a shrimp (called prawns here) on my BBQ, and the only time I go walkabout in the bush is if I am pig shooting with my Win 44 mag or Rem.243.


    I guess that is along the same as thinking that all Southerns marry their cousins, have 42 dogs under the front porch and eat grits. Well, we do eat grits, I like them doused in Tabasco. I prefer red beers also, may fav is an amber made on the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain in LA by the Abita Brewing Company. Best I can figure, Aussie are a lot like us, only ya'll didn't have a bit of a row with the Crown like we did.

    Were you at one of the schools at Maxwell?

    another fan from Tuscaloosa who loved watching it. Not you is it Jeff?


    Nope that's not me
     
  18. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    Please explain to this dumb Limey exactly what is "Grits".
    Ta.
     
  19. Slipdigit

    Slipdigit Old Hickory Recon

    Now David, why did deam it necessary to bring up that Cow College into the discussion?

    Roll Tide (you'll have to look that one up).
    __________________
    War Eagles
     
  20. Slipdigit

    Slipdigit Old Hickory Recon

    Please explain to this dumb Limey exactly what is "Grits".
    Grits. Actually the question should have been phrased, "What are "Grits.""

    Grits are a good breakfast food that has been maligned by our brothers to the north for many years. It is ground up hominey corn, boiled and simmered to a creamy subsistance. I add all manner of tastes to mine from a firey cajun sauce, to garlic, cheese, and other spices. I usually add scrambled eggs and bacon to it and eat all of it from a bowl, but must do not. Grits are not good left over, but they can be eaten. It is the substitute in the South for potatoes for breakfast.
     

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