The WW2 Thread

[chicoazul]

Always been fascinated by this since I was a wee lad. My Grandad used to point out the old tram lines where they ran into grass covered bunkers for munitions.

Studied it at school and beyond and read a lot of books. I really like Antony Beevor's stuff, read all of his books.

I think Dylan has got some boss photos in colour to link on, so he can add when he's ready.

One thing I did read a book on was Bletchley Park and the role of Enigma cracking in the war itself, mad. Seen this article today on a letter used in the deception from Garbo. The best bit of that deception was putting the body in the sea for the German's to find with supposed important classified info in a briefcase attached to the body. Ian Fleming was behind that deception, Bond fans.

Anyway, add as you will.

 

[Dylan]

I certainly do, and they will be along in a minute!

 

[Dylan]

Two of my fave things to read/learn about in WWII is the hunt for the Bismarck and then the Battle for the Coral Sea, where two Navies engaged in carrier based combat for the first time (PH doesn't count, that was a surprise attack). Coral Sea was more like two virgins fumbling around in the dark with no idea how to shag each other. Lots of mistakes were made, but a lot was learnt.

And the RN taking on the Bismarck, the Hood being sunk by a solitary shell....Prince of Wales taking a battering, then the biplane that dooms the Bismark with a solitary torpedo jamming the rudder and flooding the steering compartment. Then King George V and Rodney coming in to almost point blank range pounding Bismarck and still she didn't sink! It is a fascinating read and also very sad, especially for the 3 survivors of the Hood's complement of over 1500 men.

 

[Dylan]

WWII in color:

 

[Dylan]

 

[Dylan]

 

[Dylan]

 

[Dylan]

Bismarck:

HMS Hood:

Prince of Wales (later sunk by Japanese Aircraft in the Pacific)

King George V (the Prince of Wales was the same class of ship)

HMS Rodney:

 

[spikeman]

Amazing pictures Dylan.

WWII is defo my favorite war to read/learn/watch stuff about.

 

[johnnydawg68]

I'm obsessed. One of my final master's papers was on Hitler's foreign policy.

 

[ChicagoToffee]

Easily one of my favorite subjects as a little boy and now as a big boy. Love reading about it.

 

[tsubaki]

how many issues of Signal were they from, Dylan?

 

[Dylan]

Dunno mate, I found them on a blog a couple of years ago and lifted them all. Even got a thread for them on here:

http://www.grandoldteam.com/forum/threads/12299-WWII-in-colour
http://www.grandoldteam.com/forum/threads/22295-Revisit-WWII-in-colour

 

[ToffeeMark]

alot of jerries mate. No pictures of tommies at el alemain? or arnhem?

Anyway, for football fans, I recommend "Dynamo defending the honour of kiev" by Andy Dougan:

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The Nazi occupation of Kiev during World War II was a singularly brutal period in the history of the Ukraine. It is hard to imagine how the outcome of a football match could matter to a people who lived under constant threat of starvation, disease and death--but it did. In Dynamo--Defending the Honour of Kiev, journalist Andy Dougan tells the extraordinary story of how the players of Ukranian club side Dynamo Kiev--renamed FC Start--were saved from exportation to Nazi labour camps and became a beacon of hope for a city under the heel of the jackboot. Their finest hour was to be when a team of malnourished former Kiev stars took to the pitch against a Luftwaffe XI, and sought to deliver the propaganda coup of the war.

 

[HSD]

I loved learning about WW2 in History at GCSE.
My granddad was a nurse back in the day and always tells me stories of the war - he performed one of the first operations on the beaches at Normandy on day 2 of D-Day because a soldier burst his spleen on the way over but their captain didn't care for him to be saved. But my granddad saved him and, to this day, has the soldier's knife which he gave him as a thank you present