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My Dad didn't get called up until WW2 was over. He said he was on essential war work, on the LNER. Very strange affair, spoke 4 languages. I figured out he was being economical with the truth though. Their story was that they met on V-E Day 1945 in Trafalgar Square. Hmm.Not as far as I know. Every woman has to register, so you could start there,. Mystery , , , infant school teacher?
No such thing as "women's jobs". Rosie the riveter proved that back in the day. End of this digression.70% of all women's jobs are due to be taken over by robots, so we'll have to give them something useful to do.
Normal callup age was 19 for men . So the LNER story is possible. Aftter WW1 there was quite a bit of cyncism about WW2., And of curse 'conscies' got posted to France and shot in WW1.. So let's not judge too harshly. Thhey didn't know what seems obvous to us now. Everyone knew that the news was heavily censored.My Dad didn't get called up until WW2 was over. He said he was on essential war work, on the LNER. Very strange affair, spoke 4 languages. I figured out he was being economical with the truth though. Their story was that they met on V-E Day 1945 in Trafalgar Square. Hmm.
My Dad ended up working for HM Customs & Excise after the war. They threw lots of money at him. Lent him the money to buy a house. Added 5 years to his pension for his work on the LNER. Promoted him again at 60, so he took a big pension. I've always wondered if he was one of Agent Garbo's non existent spies. He spoke English, Italian and a bit of German and Spanish. Told different stories to different people about what he did in WW2. We compared notes after the funeral, so to speak. Even went to Ireland during WW2. Had Italian POW's working for him in WW2, German POW's when he was in the RAF afterwards. Go read up about Agent Garbo on wiki. Its not a very plausible story.My mother wanted to volunteer but wasn't allowed to as she was in a reserved occupation. She worked for a Norwegian shipping company and spoke Norwegian which wasn't common in the UK. When all the Norwegian merchant ships came to the UK there was a desperate shortage of people who could communicate with the crews and knew how shipping worked. As you would expect they were normally based in Norway and the UK resources were almost overwhelmed.
There was a certain amount of resentment in the UK against those in reserved occupations. My mum told me that one thing that made them stand out was they were given better gas masks, which not unreasonably caused people to doubt how effective the masks given to the general public were. For this reason she was one of the first to stop carrying hers around and was fined for doing so.
All she could volunteer for was first aid courses and had a certificate saying she was trained to remove shrapnel, but she only had cause to use this training once after an air raid.
Re the 'conscies' my father was called up at the start of WW2 but was a conscientious objector as he was engaged to a German girl before the war, and only left Germany a few days before the war broke out. In 1941 he volunteered for the RAMC and rose to Regimental Sergeant Major which must be something of a record. When peace was signed he was only about 30 miles from where he left and was able to go and see them. She had met and married in that time and had a child. Most surprising was that they had all survived the war, her brother was a POW in Italy. An amazing story which only proves that life is always stranger than fiction
Well, Garbo is intelligence, spook world, so virtually anything could be true, any set of data could fit that model, true data or fabribicated. My instinct is to procede by falsifying simple ideas rather than look for confirmation of complex ones. For example can you say for sure your Dad was not just a very good administrator who because of unpopular beliefs in the war chose to keep them hidden behind a screen of tall tales?My Dad ended up working for HM Customs & Excise after the war. They threw lots of money at him. Lent him the money to buy a house. Added 5 years to his pension for his work on the LNER. Promoted him again at 60, so he took a big pension. I've always wondered if he was one of Agent Garbo's non existent spies. He spoke English, Italian and a bit of German and Spanish. Told different stories to different people about what he did in WW2. We compared notes after the funeral, so to speak. Even went to Ireland during WW2. Had Italian POW's working for him in WW2, German POW's when he was in the RAF afterwards. Go read up about Agent Garbo on wiki. Its not a very plausible story.
No. He told me things as a child which didn't come off the secrets list till 1970. He was definitely on our side. I'm just wondering whether the Agent Garbo story is just to hide the actual double agents we had in the UK. His older brother was in the army. Married a Spanish girl whose brother had been murdered by Franco's gang.Well, Garbo is intelligence, spook world, so virtually anything could be true, any set of data could fit that model, true data or fabribicated. My instinct is to procede by falsifying simple ideas rather than look for confirmation of complex ones. For example can you say for sure your Dad was not just a very good administrator who because of unpopular beliefs in the war chose to keep them hidden behind a screen of tall tales?
I think you mean Yes you can discount the simple explanation because the secrets released to you is not compatible. I get you, but pushing his simple ideas thing just on more notch, how many thigs did he tell you that were not borne out? Was he simply fond of romances and stories about himself?No. He told me things as a child which didn't come off the secrets list till 1970. He was definitely on our side. I'm just wondering whether the Agent Garbo story is just to hide the actual double agents we had in the UK. His older brother was in the army. Married a Spanish girl whose brother had been murdered by Franco's gang.
My brother in law tried to get out of him how he managed to wrangle enough money out of the government to buy a house, £1500 in 1954 was a lot of money. Dad got defensive. In any case we got relocated 5 years before the office move actually happened. His Civil Service photo was embossed with the stamp of the Foreign and Colonial Office not Customs & Excise. He also talked about being 'roped in' to investigate everyone for communist sympathies. He must have been trusted for some reason. Like he'd worked for HMG before?I think you mean Yes you can discount the simple explanation because the secrets released to you is not compatible. I get you, but pushing his simple ideas thing just on more notch, how many thigs did he tell you that were not borne out? Was he simply fond of romances and stories about himself?
None of the women in the family were 20 before the war ended, both mothers were over 40.My mother was 17 in 1942. She never got asked to serve. I know no woman in my wider family that was. Just the men. Volunteer women only.
OK, here's my bit of information I can add. Be warned - it's not a pretty picture I'm afraid. At the endofthe war and just after the Brutisg Forces were on "war time accounting" loose, no checks and barriers on goods or sevices, no investigations of stuff going missing. Result - graft, tons of it. My dad knew people or had mates and told me of "clocking" the odometers in motor transport so some petrol could go missing unnoticed. Also armed robbery - taking wrist watches from German civilians. The petrol would go back under one route, the wristwatches, cameras and such contraband through BFPO parcels or disguised another way. All by sea from occupied Europe on ships run by Tadaaaaa! LNER.My brother in law tried to get out of him how he managed to wrangle enough money out of the government to buy a house, £1500 in 1954 was a lot of money. Dad got defensive. In any case we got relocated 5 years before the office move actually happened. His Civil Service photo was embossed with the stamp of the Foreign and Colonial Office not Customs & Excise. He also talked about being 'roped in' to investigate everyone for communist sympathies. He must have been trusted for some reason. Like he'd worked for HMG before?
There's a lot to what you say there. By reputation the British infantry in quality never again reached the standards of the 6 division BEF of WW1. After the war The country as a whole was bankrupt. 800,000 casualties in a population of about 45 million has other effects. The economic drain of large invalid population. The number of kids growing up without fathers. The difficulties facing women who could not all find husbands.The greatest generation was originally used to describe those who fought in the First World War and often took an active part normally in factories etc in the Second World War.
The Merchant Navy is probably the best example where this was the case. My Grandfather was sunk once in WW1 and twice in WW2, so I think he could claim to be one of the greatest generation
I think the meaning of "greatest generation" might vary according to which side of the pond you're on. WWI wasn't the existential crisis for America that it was for European powers, and we were Johnny-come-lately with a relatively lightweight contribution. Kind of like the bench warmer who gets sent into the game in the final period, after the first and second strings have worn down the opposition, and scores the winning goal, and gets all the acclaim.The greatest generation was originally used to describe those who fought in the First World War and often took an active part normally in factories etc in the Second World War.
And Tarawa, and Iwo Jima and Okinawa. There's more to a "world" war than Europe.The USA spent it's finest blood on Omaha