In honor of Battle of Britain Day this past week. . .

[kevinbgoode]

The British pause on September 15 to remember those who fought during the darkest days of World War II, or specifically many of the pilots of the Royal Air Force who, though vastly outnumbered, defended Britain during the worst air attacks in 1940. The New York Times ran a story this week about the memories of some of those pilots. . .whose surviving numbers are likely less than 100 now.

Perhaps it is just me growing older, or maybe because I'm a middleaged son of an American Pacific WWII veteran, but I remain fascinated by the stories told by those who were there. It is, in my opinion, so important that we have as complete a record as possible of what the men and women and children experienced during that terrible time so that we may hope that it is never repeated on such a massive scale.
That was a generation in which people came home from war and talked little of their experiences (one of my favorite films is The Best Years of Our Lives , which follows the difficulties of American servicemen coming home to a changed country). My own father told us very little about the war except what his "job" was in the Seabees - and my mother rarely said much more than talk about rationing from that period.

Maybe that is why every few months or so, I find myself at some web site where I can read the accounts of some of the experiences of people during that time. The stories just come alive to me when you read the words from those who lived them, people recalling in the twilight of their lives what life was like in their youth. Some stories are short. . .some are longer accounts of various times. . .some are wonderfully detailed about what was in a Red Cross box delivered by the Swiss to British soldiers in a POW camp.

At any rate, those who might be interested in some of the most wonderful, insightful reading of how people lived and felt at the time, here is a link:

http://www.warlinks.com/memories/

It might seem overly sentimental. . .but when I look into the eyes of those young men and women, and wonder what it was like to know them during their time, I'm also very grateful for their sacrifice and the time they have taken to share some moments of their lives with us.

[dflprincess]

1. I think part of it is that we are now old enough to understand how

young our dads (and the others) were when they fought WWII. I look at pictures of my dad when he was in the service and I think more of how my grandmother must have felt when she saw her "baby" off to war. Just as my dad never talked about the war, Grandma could never talk about seeing him go even though he came home in great shape. (BTW My dad was also a Pacific Vet, Army Air Corp.)

One of my friends mom was an English war bride. She had been in London during the Blitz and, while it didn't bother her during the day, if the tornado sirens went off in the middle of the night or particularily loud clap of thunder woke her up she admitted to always having a moment of panic thinking she was back in London.

[kevinbgoode]

3. I've been reading the entries from a Chris Cruden, who was about six

when the war started and seven when the blitz apparently began. It amazes me how fresh his memory is, especially how he must remember his thoughts about the world around him as a child:

"The war the Germans had promised seemed to have been forgotten by everyone except Mrs. Hayward, she had become obsessed to see us all wearing gas masks. We had a new Prime Minister, Mr. Winston Churchill, who seemed to do all the talking on the radio. Dad told me we had two Prime Ministers and the other one, Mr. Atlee, did all the real work. When Mr. Churchill spoke all the adults told me to be quiet and stop talking. I felt sure he couldn’t sing and that was why he talked so much. Singing seemed to be popular with everyone except Winston Churchill and he always sounded annoyed. Sometimes he referred to Hitler as Mr. Schiklegruber or that “nasty little man” and I finally understood he was referring to Mr. Adolph Hitler. When I heard Mr. Hitler speaking on the radio he sounded very bad tempered and annoyed just like Mr. Churchill. It was obvious they did not like each other and would never be friends. Sometimes I put my gas mask on and talked to anyone who would listen. Everyone told me to take the gas mask off so they could understand what I was talking about. I wondered if anyone thought of sending Mr. Hitler and Mr. Churchill a gas mask so no one could understand what they were saying and then they would not get so angry at each other and we wouldn’t have to have a war. All the adults were worrying about the war but no one seemed to know how to stop Mr. Churchill and Mr. Hitler being so angry at each other. I wondered to whom should I write and suggest Mr. Churchill and Mr. Hitler wearing gas masks would not be able to be so angry at each other and we would not have to have a war. I felt a little confused by the war and why everyone was so worried about it. It seemed that the adults were too confused to understand what should be done to stop the war we didn’t have. I knew we had a war but nothing seemed to happen except Mrs. Hayward being obsessive about us wearing a gas mask and smacking us on the hand whenever she could find an excuse to do so."


Just wonderful reading. . .:).

I'm so glad you shared that bit about your father, too. . .somehow we are supposed to carry what we know of their stories forward. ..

[applegrove]

2. My dad has a friend who flew during WWII. A wealthy local

pilot bought a spitfire and asked my dad's friend if he had anything to pass on from his expertise. Then he asked if my dad's friend, all of 90+ years old, if he wanted to fly the spitfire. LOL!

Yes those pilots were brave. Was it 1 in 5 who didn't come back from their missions? Gives me the willies just thinking of all they did to save the free world and how much love they had for it and their families.

[kevinbgoode]

4. gosh yes. . .and nearly half of the B of B pilots were lost

by the end of the war.

Gosh, what an honor for your Dad's friend to be asked to pass on some of his experiences and expertise. It is just amazing to read the details. . .the pilot who wore silk underwear to help insulate him from the bitter cold while flying. . .and the rush of adrenaline those young men felt through the numbing fear and sense of mission. I don't really think I look at that war from the romantic way movies in the 1960's reconstructed it. . .learning and reading these stories puts a very real and human face on the experiences. But brave. . .gosh yes. . .it will always amaze me how much misery man could construct for so much of the planet during those five years.

[applegrove]

5. I guess I have a romantic view of WWII because my dad was a tween when his dad

went off to fight and my dad has been interested in military history since then (WWI and WWII). So Dad would tell stories about what he read at the dinner table. I totally get the greatest generation talk. But yeah... looking at Iraq and Afghanistan for 10 years and it makes me feel sick. Those poor women in Afghanistan.