WWII Photos (and Stories) of Our Loved Ones

[BeBopBaby]

Thank you for the kind invite, Paddy.

This is my husbands grandfather, age 18. He was the ball turret gunner in a B-17. He often said he was one of the few guys small enough to fit in the ball turret, that's why they made him the gunner. Considering the mortality rates that ball turret gunners had, I'm amazed that he made it through the war in one piece.

The interesting part about the photo is that he wrote everyone's name, hometown and position on the back of the photo:

Front Row - left to right
L.M. Gettings - Flint, Mich. - Upper Turret Gunner
F.D. Shoemaker - Nashville, Tenn. - Engineer
Geo. Stroygosky - Burgettstown, PA - Radio Operator
Jimmy Shiflet - McKeesport, PA - Ball Turret Gunner (hubby's grandfather)
K.G. Trainor - West Leydon, NY - Tail Gunner
F.H. Bender - Omaha, Neb. - Nose Gunner

Officers - Left to right - standing
Gene Eckert - Akron, OH - Navigator
J.P. Hancock (Henderson) KY - Waverly - Pilot
Jim Massare - Monongahela, PA - Co-Pilot

We found this photo rolled up into a scroll in the bottom of a chest in my MIL's basement when we helped her move. The picture was in bad shape, it had cracks all over it from being rolled up for years. I had it restored on the sly and gave it to my husband for a birthday present.

 

[LadyDeWinter]

Paddy, thank you for sharing these pics. What a handsome man your uncle Joe was and how dashing he lookes in his uniform.
Of course he is the one who petted the dog he seemed to have had the same fondness for animals like you.

 

[Novella]

Luckily my grandparents were too young for WWII. My one grandpa served in the Air Force in Japan post-WWII, and my other grandpa was in the navy in the Philippines in the early 1950s. My grandma's older brother was in WWII, but I don't have any pictures.

Grandpa on the right.

Here is my other grandpa who was stationed in the Philippines. He's on the left.

Not in uniform. He certainly has a pose down! I have a bunch more of him in uniform, but they're all back in the U.S. I'll have to scan them and post them when I get back home.

This is Uncle Frank. His real name escapes me at the moment, I think it was something like Franz. Frank is the angloversion. I also can't remember his relation to me - it goes something like uncle of my great grandmother or something similiar. This was one of the first old family photos I saw, and so he's something of a beloved Uncle Frank, even though his days were many, many (many, many) years before mine. I was told he was a police officer (not quite military - but he's wearing a uniform at least!). In the line of duty he lost his leg when he was hit by a train - so the story goes. He lived in the area that is present day Slovenia, but was then Austro-Hungary. That's all I know about him, but for some reason I just love Uncle Frank.

I'm not sure who this guy is, but I love the picture! He's either a relative, or a friend of a relative. The picture is from a group of photos that were my great grandpa's and grandpa's.

 

[PADDY]

Giving this the kiss of life again.

Bumping this back into the Lounge consciousness.

 

[Miss Brill]

My family sent men into the American Revolution, War of 1812, the Civil War (both sides), Spanish-American War, World War 1&2, Korea (my father), and Vietnam. The only photographs I have are of my grandmother's brother who was in England & France during WW2. These are some of the pictures he sent home:

I'm not sure where they were, but he is second from left:

No one in my family died while serving, so we have been blessed.

 

[PADDY]

Thanks for the photos!

Great photos. The second one looks like it could have been taken in Europe somewhere (like France?), I'm hazarding a guess with the style of doors [huh]

 

[Miss Brill]

Great photos. The second one looks like it could have been taken in Europe somewhere (like France?), I'm hazarding a guess with the style of doors [huh]

Any idea what the sign behind them is/says? It looks military, and then the one on the door (on the right) looks like it has an arrow pointing inside.

 

[DOUGLAS]

My father rarely speaks of his WWII experiences. I know that he landed on D-Day as part of the first wave. He told me that as he landed craft gate came down the man in front of him was hit and my father tripped over him and the man behind him was hit. When he left the landing craft he sank into water over his head loosing most of his gear and his rifle. He also took part in the Battle of the Bulge. He was awarded the Silver Star and three Purple Hearts. All three of his brothers served during the war in different branches of service.

 

[HungaryTom]

Airforce history&family photos

Hi,

This is my WW2 photos.

Laszlo Pottyondy, he was my grandfather's classmate and best friend

http://surfcity.kund.dalnet.se/hungary_pottyondy.htm

I have found some photos in my grandfathers heritage. I did hesitate somewhat to post them here. Finally I did.

http://s206.photobucket.com/albums/...y/?action=view&current=HartmanPottyondy-1.jpg

The photos:

My grandfathers friend with another pilot-Erich Hartman. Maybe he is more familiar here at FL.
Grandpa (left)and Pottyondy (right) in elementary school in Debrecen, 1922 both at age 8.
My grandpa as artillery lieutnant.
The other photos have subtitles.

Story:
Pottondy wanted to become pilot. All his life. He did cheat his mother: he secretly asked his aunt to get him a motorcycle as mom wanted to save him from dangers - that was told by my grandma. He did train always. He got admitted. He became a fighter of the Royal Hungarian Airforce.
Pottyondy "Laci" - as my late grandpa always called him. I never met him. After WW2 he escaped to the US. His photos and career would have been a guarantee for GULAG at the Soviets. He died in 1952. I don't know whether his flight accident was an accident or a suicide of a frustrated man who lost his fatherland and his fighter career...

My grandfather did not emigrate. He was wounded quite early and he did not serve afterwards. Maybe that's why I saw him alive. His family lost almost everything after WW2-in the 'Golden Era' they were 'capitalists'.

I have a few family war stories and that of elder friends and people I knew. Rather horrible ones. I shall not detail them here. WW2 to them was rather about surviving an Apocalypse than being stylish.

Regards

 

[PADDY]

Tom: Thanks for your contribution here

Tom, I really appreciate seeing your photos and memorabilia relating to your grandfather. You have a heritage there to be proud of and what an amazing connection to some of the world's greatest figher pilots!

I'm sure I'm not alone here in saying how fascinated I've been with looking at those photos. I am 'so glad' you decided to share these family heirlooms...thankyou!

 

[Alan Eardley]

Great photos. The second one looks like it could have been taken in Europe somewhere (like France?), I'm hazarding a guess with the style of doors [huh]

I would hazard a guess that 'TD BN' is an abbreviation for Tank Destroyer Battalion'. The line below will be the company letter. What foxes me is the number 12 stencilled before it. A number of TD BNs were in 12th Army Group, but that wouldn't normally prefix the BN number. The BN numbers in 12th Army Group were usually high numbers (635th TD BN was billetted near the town where I live in training for D-Day and went ashore on Omaha Beach). Off-hand, I can't think of a TD BN that ends in 12, but some research would find one.

Alan

 

[Baron Kurtz]

looks to me like 42 rather than 12. With the blockage of the front part of the 4, this would allow for another number in front of the 4 which would be seen if it (the 4) were a 1.

bk

 

[Alan Eardley]

This is my husbands grandfather, age 18.

Look at the collar on the grandfather's B-10 jacket!

The legendary pale mouton as reproduced by Real McCoy's Japan and the existence of which is often denied by some 'experts'.

Yes, I know - the 'experts' would say he added it himself...

Alan

 

[Alan Eardley]

looks to me like 42 rather than 12. With the blockage of the front part of the 4, this would allow for another number in front of the 4 which would be seen if it (the 4) were a 1.

bk

Baron,

I can see what you mean. I still can't 'raise' a TD BN ending in 42. Most of the TD BNs involved in Normandy (which seems to match Paddy's view of the architecture) were numbered in the 600s. There was a 642nd Artillery and 642nd Infantry, but that doesn't really help. The mystery continues...

Alan

 

[BeBopBaby]

Hopefully, I'll have more photos to share soon. While cleaning out my husband's great aunt's house, we found boxes of his great uncle's WWII paperwork, files, records, medals, badges, pictures etc. We're in the process of organizing/scanning it all and putting it in archival storage boxes. It's such a complete record that we want to keep it all together for future generations. Hubby's uncle was a navigator in a B-25 Mitchell in the Pacific. He was actually shot down and spent a couple days floating in the ocean while they searched for him.

 

[Miss Brill]

Baron,

I can see what you mean. I still can't 'raise' a TD BN ending in 42. Most of the TD BNs involved in Normandy (which seems to match Paddy's view of the architecture) were numbered in the 600s. There was a 642nd Artillery and 642nd Infantry, but that doesn't really help. The mystery continues...

Alan

He was in the 612th Tank Destroyer Battalion. He was another who rarely spoke about the war, he told a few stories, like about their starving & eating vegetables off the ground & wiping the maggots from what they'd found. He was given a Purple Heart because the Jeep he was riding in drove over a landmine & it blew them sky high & injured him and killed his buddy, I assume it was one of the ones in the photograph. I've never heard anyone say what his Battalion was, so I Googled him & found this:

It is their story.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

That's as conclusive as it gets.

bk

 

[Alan Eardley]

612th TD BN

Mystery over. Excellent detective work!

Interesting narrative.

Alan

 

[WinoJunko]

WW2 Veterans in the family

Hiya, I was just wondering that maybe some people would like to maybe talk about the WW2 veterans in their family? Like my grandpa for example, he was in the Marine Corps. He was in the 4th Marine Division and fought in the Marshall Islands and on Saipan where he got wounded. He was shot by a Japanese machine gun. He was hit 4 times in his left arm and 3 times in his left side. He was really lucky to make it. I'm extremely proud of him, that he fought and sacrificed for his country. He truely was part of the greatest generation. So maybe some others would like to say something about WW2 veterans in their family?

 

[Atticus Finch]

Hiya, I was just wondering that maybe some people would like to maybe talk about the WW2 veterans in their family?

My father was a P-47 pilot; my uncle Jule (Dad's older brother) was corpsman and landed at Normandy. Dad was too young to see much action, but Uncle Jule fought from D-Day until January of '45 when he was badly wounded during the Battle of The Bulge. A German eighty-eight landed very close to him and pretty much ended his participation in the war.

I have many other family members who served in WWI and WWII, but the two guys above told me more about their experiences than any of the rest.

This is my father, standing on the wing of an AT-6, during his advanced training. I think he was all of nineteen years old when this was taken.

Atticus