Matt, wonderful video. If you haven't read them already, I strongly recommend "Ortona" and "Gothic Line" by Mark Zuehlke. They're both very well written and detailed accounts of the Canadians in Italy. I think they'd be right up your alley. I know he has other books on the Italian Campaign as well, but can't speak to them personally.
My Grandfather was a Tuskegee Airmen during the war, the amount of grandpa war lore I got from him was amazing. He’s 95 now giving lore to my 9 year old son.
You need to write that book. My grandpa had several letters he wrote when he was in europe. His mom saved them. It was like meeting my grandpa all over again.
My great-uncle fought with your grandfather! He was a part of the Royal Canadian Regiment and was actually killed at Moro River (just a couple days before the battle of Ortona). He's buried in the cemetery shown at 18:49. My middle name is in honour of him, and I'm very proud to have it.
I only found out you weren't well today, so I was pleased to see you were doing better and expected a video to drop today. Thanks for all the amazing content you do
My grandpa was a Red Cross volunteer in the Pacific and was held as a POW in the Philippines for three years. According to my grandma, he was a survivor of the Bataan Death March, and let me tell you, that trauma lasted long beyond his lifetime. History really has a way of worming its way into people's lives.
@@TheDanEdwards None of my relatives who served in the military endured anything as horrific as the Bataan Death March, yet the wars they served in were present with them every day afterwards--WW2 with my father and my five uncles, and WW1 with my grandfather and two of his brothers.
What an amazing video! I love how you connected your family history with the big picture history or explained some matters of the military organisation (for viewers who might not be well-versed in it) concisely and clearly. If I was in your place, I would probably either forget that not everyone knows what a regiment, brigade, division and corps is, or take too much time explaining it. I was also happy to hear at 11:15 that your grandfather was onboard the Polish ship MS Batory. An ocean liner turned troop transport and hospital ship, MS Batory had a distinguished service during WWII, earning the nickname "lucky ship." She was named after the King Stefan Batory (Stephen Báthory). Interestingly Batory also transported treasures from the Wawel Castle, evacuated from Poland, to Canada for safekeeping (through Halifax, Nova Scotia, no less). The treasures included the coronation sword _Szczerbiec_ - the last surviving piece of the Polish regalia. As you explained in your Famous European Crowns video, the rest of them were already destroyed by Prussians during the Partitions.
Glad you’re feeling better! My grandfather was also in Italy during the war (he was American). He was shot in the chest durning one of the battles south of Rome. The bullet missed his heart by a couple inches. They didn’t remove it and he carried that bullet in his chest till the day he died. RIP to all our grandfathers who fought for our freedoms
My great-grandfather served in the Red Army in Stalingrad, where he got wounded and died several months after his discharge. The story passed down via my paternal grandfather, who was still a young child at the time, was that he was sent home after his wound and gradually got worse until he died, but after having checked his name in a Russian online database of WWII era documents it turned out that some time after the initial wound he was judged fit enough for service in the rear and got transferred to the Moscow region. On my mother's side of the family I also have Volga German ancestors who got deported to Siberia and Central Asia shortly after the German invasion, but my great-grandmother managed to avoid getting deported for some time by being employed as a military translator for the Red Army General Staff. Apparently sometimes the German troops would use regional dialects like Bavarian or Swabian for code-talking purposes, and my great grandmother was from a Swabian-speaking Volga German community, so she could help with the "decoding".
Awesome tribute to your grandfather. In 1913, as a young man, my paternal grandfather immigrated from Germany to the US with two of his older brothers, leaving two other brothers in Germany. Though my grandfather did not serve in either the Germany or US military, during the WWII's Battle of the Bulge, my uncle fought on the Allies' side while his first cousin fought on the Axis side. WWII was a cruel, terrible war that affected my family in a unique way.
Incredible story and a beautiful tribute. My own grandfather was in the US Army as a mechanic under the 238th Engineers in Company B. He outlined his trek from Omaha Beach to Cherbourg, Liege, Aachen, Eischwellen, getting pushed back during Battle of the Bulge, back to Eischwellen, Duren, Brauwellir, Cologne, Konigswinter. He was the first from his company to drive a vehicle across the Rhine River.
I’m from the Netherlands, Zwolle to be specific. Zwolle was also liberated by the Canadians. Leo Major was a big part of our a liberation and has a street named after him. In 2005 he was also acknowledged as a honorary member of the city. Every year on the fourth of May we mourn the dead on Remembrance Day and on the fifth we celebrate and thank those people for our liberation. It is crazy to hear your grandfather was in Nijkerk which is a town very close to Zwolle, ofc I don’t know if your grandfather is still alive but pls thank him for his service and know we will always be thankful and remember what those men did for our liberation! Ps. great video, loved to hear the story❤
@@Gnarpgnarpzorpy something like that, he and a friend volunteered to scout ahead in the city to see if and how many germans were left before the artillery would be used on the city, his friend got shot (I believe in the head) and he moved on alone. In the end it turned out almost all germans had left and the artillery didn’t happen because of that, saved us alot of houses and lives too!
It is great to see you back Matt! But more importantly, I hope you're feeling better - We love your videos as fans and appreciate the effort you put in them, but please don't forget to prioritise your health. That comes first, and we'll be here for when you're ready to upload more videos - wishing you a happy Christmas and healthy 2024 :)
Happy Hanukkah and Shabbat Shalom more like, although I am sure he is happy for ANY well wishes. He indeed needs to watch his health. Selfishly for us! LOL.
Cool video! My grandfather was an officer in the Dutch army when the Germans invaded. He was initially placed under house arrest but later deported to a POW camp in East-Prussia, where he spent several years. Sadly it permanently changed him into a closed, jaded personality. The problems from that trickled down to my father and his siblings and are still felt to this day. My grandmother’s family didn’t fare much better with many family members lost in the extermination camps. War really is the worst thing mankind has ever invented.
@@PNL-DJ-1 he kept a diary there, chilling to read, it was just a housing camp with barracks. There were also Soviet officers who he befriended. I still have a wooden sign that he woodburned from a sketch made by one of them that shows two Russian dancers and reads “После дождя и солнышко светит.” (after rain comes sunshine).
My great grandfather served in the US Army Air Force as a mechanic in the Pacific Theater, specifically in China and Burma (Myanmar). My grandmother recently found a letter, some photos, and a book with US and Chinese marching songs that her father sent her when he was stationed in Shanghai. It was really special looking through them with her. His younger brother also served in France, but sadly didn't survive the war.
My Grandfather was from Quebec and served in what started as the 2 Canadian Huzzars as a tank commander but later transfered to a headquarters unit. Unfortunately with the amount of rearrangement throught the war its really hard to keep track of his unit though he did leave behind an account of this service (though in bad 90s printer quality) But he almost certainly trained in Aldershot as well and did serve in France (landing soon after D-day) and the Netherlands. He has a cheeky photo with others in a mess hall with "[location name] 1944, 10 miles from the Hun" written on the back
Only one of my Great-Grandfathers was a soldier in WW2, he was a german soldier on the eastern front (the others had "jobs important for the war effort" - train service and building parts of submarines - and were thus exempt from military service). I don't know any details about his experience, but it clearly was a hard time, since he came back with what we today would call a severe case of PTSD. Before the war he had been a friendly person, but afterwards he had completely changed and often flew into rages. He had to deal with this on his own for the rest of his life, since there was no psychological support for ex-soldiers in East Germany (and neither the West for that matter). Also, before the war he had been more or less a communist (there is even a story in my family about smuggling illegal leaflets in a stroller), but after he came back from the war, he didn't want to have anything to do with communism anymore, because he had seen how bad the living conditions for the people in the Soviet Union were (that was what he said). I think he later joined the socialist unity party of the GDR nonetheless, but I guess it was more for fitting into the state and not because of ideological conviction. It's quite difficult for me to deal with his story. I would like to know more about him, but at the same time I can't overlook his part in a criminal military/regime. I don't know what bad things he might have done on the eastern front, or what he was involved in, but at the same time he was a human person who got dragged into something that was largely beyond his control. I think his story is a good illustration of german history in the 20th century in general. He was, as I said, a communist, but once (I think in 1932) he voted for the Nazis - because he saw himself "as a worker, but first and foremost as a German", as my grandfather, his son, explained to me. I guess he later deeply regretted his choice. He didn't live to see the reunification of Germany, but he still lived through some cataclysmic changes in (german) history. He was born under the rule of Emperor Wilhelm II., lived through the Weimar Republic and the Nazi period and died in a communist state. And his father, my great-great-grandfather, lost his small store and all his savings during the 1923 hyperinflation. Also, a cousin of my great grandmother on the other side of my family died in Stalingrad. As far as I know, his last letter to his parents involved the sentence "We will not get out of here anymore." The same great-grandmother had already lost her father during WW1. In fact, both my paternal grandmother's grandfathers died in WW1, one in 1914 and one in 1918.
My maternal Grandfather was a Lancaster Bomber pilot. He served in the RCAF 419th "Moose Squadron. Stationed at Middleton St. George, UK. He flew his Lancaster back to Canada in May 1945. My dad's uncle Clarence "Sonny" Sharp was killed at Dieppe, August 19, 1942. His rank was Sapper with the Royal Canadian Engineers. They would have been the first onto the beach. I have several more cousins that served in the Navy, Air Force and Army but too much to include here.I'm so very lucky my family shared all the stories over the years, including WW1 family connections. I am proud to have visited many of their graves overseas. Especially Sonny's resting place at Dieppe and My Uncle Thomas' grave near Vimy Ridge, where he was killed during WW1., coming off the ridge a few days after the battle was won. Thank you for making this video Matt. It's so important this is remembered and the stories passed on.
My Great Grandfather was an Italian soilder, he fought in Albania until the end of the war, after the armistice of the 7th of september he was captured by german soilders and he finished in a prinson camp, after the end of the war he managed to return back in Italy.
The Italian campaign is one not well covered, and I enjoyed how you presented those battles and movements. I'm grateful for your grandfather and all those who fought for liberty in WWII. May we learn from the past and never allow such tragedies to happen again.
I'm a Dutch-man and have a lot of knowledge of the second world war. So I was waiting until the part came that "The Novies" joined the army of Crerar to help to liberate the Netherlands especially just after operation Market Garden (a bridge too far). The Canadians fought very hard to get the Germans out of Zeeland so the Allies could use the large port of Antwerp (Antwerpen). We thank all the Canadians and all the other allies for liberate our country.
I don't know if I should talk about where my grandfather fought in the war in the comments... because I am german and let's just say there is a good chance my grandfather directed attilery fire onto your grandfather... O_O He didn't talk about the war much and when he did he loved to tell us the story of how the war _ended_ for him and how he (after technically deserting during the collaps) was lucky to be captured by the canadians because they treated their prisoners well. He talked on and on about exchanging chocolate from the red cross packages for cigaretts or similar stories, but in the end I never had the courage to ask him what he REALLY did during the war. All I know is that he was a forward observer for an artillery unit because of his training as a (civil) land surveyour before the war and that his job was, in his words, to "triangulate the flash in the dark faster than the time it took until the second flash" (i.e. walking fire onto enemy artillery positions before they could fire again). I'm absolutely sure he wasn't a fanatical Nazi and I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have taken up arms if they didn't threaten his parents - but I don't know what he knew, what he did and who he did it to. Sometimes I regret not asking him when he was still alive, but other times I'm glad I can live in this ignorance and just keep this whimsical story of the end as his part of the war... It's a difficult thing to grapple with as a german who did not see the war for himself. [For those who are interested in the "whimsical" story of the end - here it is: They were holed up in the bell tower of a tiny town's church to have a better vantage point over the land in front of them. The last days had been constant fighting, but today it was relatively quiet. The front lines, according to their command in artillery distance in front of them, had suspiciously not fired a single shot. Then, when night fell and it got so dark that you could count every star, they sudenly observed a vehicle with full headlights on just *booking* it across the plane. Disregarding roads, hills and divets as well as hedges and fences some kind of jeep just plowed through the countryside heading right for them. My grandfather immediately awoke his company and they debated a lot about who this "idiot" might be: Can't be a german, he would not be driving with lights towards a german position making air targetting way too easy. Can't be an american, he wouldn't suicide in a single jeep behind enemy lines. So, they thought, it must be one of those damn italians who apparently didn't north from south. But, after a few minutes, the jeep came crashing into the tiny town and to all of their surprise it was the well known aid-de-camp of their division commander. Alone. He stopped the jeep, yelled up the tower: "The war is over! Save yourselves! The yanks broke through?" So, naturally, the political officer (an SS man) shouted back down to him: "Where have they broken through? And kill your lights, man!" The man in the jeep just laughed and replied: "Everywhere, you idiot!" This did NOT sit well with the SS man, who was used to being feared even among higher ranks because of his outside-the-ranks power, so he immediately sprinted down the tower to talk to this impertinent solider. To the day he died, my grandfather did not know what these men talked about, but they argued for a short while, before the SS man entered the jeep on the passenger side and they both just f*cked off in the same mad dash across the hills. Now, my grandfather and his buddies all looked at the sergeant of their troop and expected an answer, a direction, anything. But the sergeant just shrugged and said in a very solemn voice: "Well, boys, it has been an honour fighting with you. I let every one of you make their own judgment, but I just heared the messenger of my immediate superior tell me that the war was over and I'm going home." The troop didn't take a second to agree with him, so they all burried their weapons and german emblems, stole clothes from houses in the village that had been abandoned during the fighting and tried to escape by pretending to be italian civilians. This ruse worked quite well and they evaded multiple allied formations this way, but at some point a clever canadian commander noticed that their "italian" sounded a lot like the german language and so they were taken into custody and identified, which led to them being in a POW camp for a comparatively short time.]
Do you know what Regiment and Division he was in? Typically, German units came from geographically similar areas like the Canadians did. It may not be too hard to retrace your grandfather’s history through his unit. While the Heer was not apolitical, it was much less so than the other branches.
@@PNL-DJ-1 I do not. Contrary to allied veterans, german soldiers did not tend to be proud of their service after the war. As I said, he only ever talked about this one story, his time as a POW with the canadians and vaguely referenced the SS threatening his family to make him join the troop. I'm not even 100% that he was Army, he might've been _Luftwaffe_ for all I know. Although I don't think they would've had their own FO for artillery, would they?
@@QemeH - the LW indeed had artillery as well as a Panzer Division. I am sure you could find out. The Germans kept a lot of records. Typically, he would have been called up in his Wehrkreis where he was from and likely sent to the Heer. After 43, the WSS did conscript men too. The Bundesarchive probably has a website where you can start. You may have to write them though. I have met many German veterans who had immigrated to the USA and they were reserved about it all as you can imagine. Many US Vets were reserved too. They all opened up and talked about things over time, even if it was just about food they were given. Food was always a very neutral way to talk to vets. I know back in Germany, there were many veterans associations that all had halls where they could all lift a glass of beer for fallen comrades. There was pride, just reserved, and may be just an inner happiness in having survived.
I think not knowing fully what your grandfather did during wwii is probably for the best, especially if they aren't around to defend their actions. As the saying goes ignorance is bliss, and I think when your country is defeated then positives have to be drawn from wherever possible, take a look at American films depicting the Vietnam War, they retreated but their films make it seem they won.
Well, I'm sure you knew your grandfather well enough to know what kind of man he was. And unless there is actual evidence to the contrary, there's no reason for your grandfather's service to be looked down on. Many Axis soldiers served with the best of intentions, and were later able to bond with their former foes over memories that those of us who weren't there will never understand.
I always get excited when I see Nova Scotia mentioned anywhere. I wonder if your grandfather ever crossed paths with my own family members who served. sending love from Halifax!! 🫶
Merry Christmas from Virginia (born in Nova Scotia). My paternal grandfather ran a factory in Nova Scotia during the war, making training fighter planes. My maternal grandfather was 1 of 3 brothers who served in the US Army in Europe - one brother was killed, another lost a leg, and he himself came home "changed" (probably PTSD). Thank you for your fascinating videos.
Welcome back! Also, this is amazing! Thank you for sharing this little bit of personal history. It really goes to show that our own family members can have very rich yet unknown lives. I'm sorry he had to witness the war, but I am glad his story lives on through your work.
Fascinating video - and massive credit to your grandfather, much respect. My Dad was a British soldier (Royal Warwickshire) and followed the British invasion on D-Day, fought in Caen a couple of weeks later, where most of his regiment was wiped out against a Panzer battalion, at which point he was posted to the King's Own Scottish Borderers (KOSB). He never spoke much about the latter part of the war, other than meeting my mum, a Dutch citizen under probation in Germany, where they then met, she as an interpreter and the rest is history. Thanks for posting - fascinating!
My Family is from western germany, and as far as I am aware one of my Grand-Uncles (Brother of my Grandma) was lost on the eastern front. Although people here (understandably) don't keep memories of that time very fondly.
My father was a German soldier who was killed in Russia. I am an American now who served in N. Africa at the same base as my uncle who was with the African Korps and I also served in Vietnam. The only thing that changes is the uniform and allegiance.
That is a heck of a family story. Was your uncle still alive to talk about his experiences? Do you know which division your father served in and where he was killed in Russia.
@@PNL-DJ-1 The base in Libya was built by the Italians in 1933 and is known as Mellaha AB. During the war, the Germans used the AB. In 1943 the airfield was captured by the British and in 1945 the Mellaha was taken over by the USAF and renamed Wheelus Army Air Field. In 1969 King Idris was overthrown by Gaddafi and the base was turned over to Libya in 1970. My father was with the Artillerie-Regiment 5, 5.Jager-Division, Staraja Russa. I know little else, no grave marker.
Beloved Canadian author Farley Mowat was one of the Canadians, along with your grandfather, sent up to Scotland to embark on the secret voyage to Sicily, as a young Platoon Commander in the 1st Canadian Division. In 1979 he published a highly regarded memoir about it called "And No Birds Sang". I was stunned by the book's immediacy and my sense of seeing through his eyes. Watching your video I notice how personal the Italian campaign feels to me.
I'm Polish living in Silesia, one of my great grandfathers was forcibly conscripted to Wehrmacht. He fought on Monte Casino, defending it until he deserted and joined the general Anders' polish army. The other one was captured by the Soviets in September 1939 and managed to escape the train going to Siberia.
Being from Ghana (Formerly British Gold Coast) and also being interested in history, I recall hearing from nannies about how grand uncles enlisted to fight in the war and from my dad that his grand uncle also enlisted. However they were not delivered what they were promised and now many war veterans still alive live very poor lives
Excellent job! Thanks Matt. I am sharing this video my niece and her hubby are retired from the Canadian military and my nephew has been in the Canadian Military about 4 yrs now. They will all be very interested in this. We were to Germany and went to Dachau.
My grand-uncle Johnny Mauger was in the West Novas. He joined up at 16. In Italy, he was in a trench with another soldier from somewhere around Halifax. His name was Jim Muise. They were digging the trench, and the enemy started shooting at them. Johnny yelled for Jim to get down, and he replied, "I don't care anymore." The words weren't out of his mouth before he was shot through the head. He landed on Johnny. They were best friends.
My grandfather graduated high school right after the war ended, but he still joined the navy after and he was stationed in the South Pacific. His brother was also Navy and was training to be a pilot, but ended up being medically discharged when it was discovered (by himself and the military) that he was a type 1 diabetic.
My great-grandfather was a part of the German minority in Denmark during the start of the war, but he did not live in Denmark. He worked as an estate-maneger in west pomerania (current Poland) for the whole war. Even though he was never a soldier, he was still found guilty in a Polish court for war crimes in 1946 and was imprisoned in a labour-camp for 5 years before the danish red cross could get him back to Denmark. He died 6 years later because of injuries that he had gotten while imprisoned.
Back in 2012 I was part of Operation Husky 2013. Organizing a memorial march following the path of the 1st Canadian Division. Along with a mobile museum, ceremonies at multiple locations, and a recreation of the Seaforth Highlanders pipes and drums concert in Agira. It was my first real introduction to military history right after I joined. Unfortunately I was unable to actually go to Sicily as I had to do my basic training summer 2013. It has always meant a lot to me. Thank you so much for sharing your Grandfathers story.
A beautiful tribute. My grandfather was in the Canadian Army as a member of the Royal Regina Rifles during WW II seeing action in France and Belgium. He was killed in battle during in the Clearing of the Scheldt and is buried in the Adegem Canadian War cemetery outside of Bruges. I have had the opportunity to visit his grave twice, with one of the visits being on Remembrance Day. Both times the cabbies who drove and waited for me while I visited spoke about the respect that Belgians and Dutch have to this day for the Canadian forces who liberated them. He was the last of three brothers who were old enough to sign up (the youngest brother couldn’t since he was only 10 when the war started) but the only one who didn’t make it home.
My uncle David served in the Navy, calling port at various times in the Philippines and China. My uncle George was in the Armored cavalry in the final offensive actions in Germany, possibly including the Liberation of Dachau and subsequent reprisals, as well as occupation duties in Austria into 1946.
Quit a trip opening this video and seeing my hometown featured in the opening frame. My family is from Newfoundland and I also didn't know much about my ancestors military history until recently. A couple of my great-great-uncles died on the western front in WWI, they were only teenagers and served in the Newfoundland Army which was then part of the UK, not Canada. I don't know if any other distant relatives remember them, but I will do my part to keep their memories alive.
American here! My paternal grandfather was in the army but stayed in the hospital for nearly a year due to asthma. My maternal grandfather was in the calvary, just a regular army fellow. My dad’s four uncles: 2 were Navy but stayed stateside, one in the marines (Pacific), and one was radio and gun repair for fighter planes.
I have a pretty similar story about my paternal grandfather's experiences in WW2. From a young age I knew that he had fought in the war and that it was just something that he didn't talk about, so when he died in the late 90s I thought for sure that his story was lost. Fortunately I found out several years later that someone had sat him down before he died and had him tell his story and typed it up, and that PDF is one of my most prized possessions. He drove a half-track ambulance and also spent most of the war in Italy (although he was American) for the 69th Armored Field Artillery, he was part of that landing in Salerno you mentioned.
My grandfather was an ambulance driver for the 14th Canadian Field Ambulance along with his brother. Both of them were out of Saint John, NB, and were with the 3rd on D-Day. One of the things grandfather was part of, was being the first group of ambulances to cross the Rhine (or so my father has told us). Stuff I've looked up about their trek from Normandy and onward, it was a brutal slog. Thank you for posting this up; it's absolutely fascinating to watch and tweaks my want to learn more about Canada in WWII.
Great video ! I think the cataclysm of WWII became the odyssey of a lifetime for those who served. My Dad was aboard a US Aircraft Carrier in the South Pacific. He never spoke about combat; even when pressed for a story, he would only tell us about the severity of the storms at sea.
A great great uncle of mine was awarded a bronze star medal for his heroic actions in France and he also took part in the battle of Bastogne, Belgium in some way. Sadly don't know anything more about it.. He also had a brother who was in the navy, but I don't know anything about his service. Lastly my grandfather had a 1st cousin who took part in 5 campaigns during the war. But I don't know which ones. All of them survived the war.
My great-grandfather was a Polish soldier who fought in one of the first battles of WW2, the battle of Tuchola Forest and was among the first POWs of the war, he was a forced farm labourer in Germany, considering he never told anyone about his experience except his brother who also served in the war, who took what he said to him to the grave, so no one knows what he experienced but we know it was horrible and the trauma followed him long after the ar ended, he was a POW from September 1939 to May 1945.
Thanks a lot for this story and you're grandfather service! I'm from the town Nijkerk in the Netherlands, I remember there was a WWII memorial here in Nijkerk with around 50 liberator Canadian veterans with some vehicles that was used back then, it was around 2005-2010.
Excellent story, Matt. My grandfathers on both sides were volunteer U.S. Army soldiers during the war. My maternal grandmother's uncle was an Imperial Navy officer in Japan. He was absolutely NOT a volunteer and was taken from his parents as a child for military education. While he was a prisoner in occupied Japan he studied law, and then later became a successful lawyer after being released.
That’s a wonderful tribute to your grandfather. My grandfather lied about his age and joined the USMC at 17 to catch the end of the war in the Pacific. He’s never said a word about it to his kids or grandkids, just that he hoped we would never have to do what he did.
The "algorithm" kicked this up to me on Boxing Day morning. I clicked on it expecting to criticise but I came away impressed. I thought I already knew a lot about the Canadian Army (Overseas) in the 2nd World War but it was still a learning experience for me with the logical presentation and the graphics done so well. Well done !
Thank you for the video. My grandfather I now know was also a member of the 1st Canadian division (48th highlanders) Though he survived. I have never met him.
I found this really interesting because its not just about WW2 but a real soldier your grandfather. My father fought in Italy too he was a free Pole in the Anders Army 5th Kresowa Infantry Division (they had a Bison badge on their uniform) he was at Monte Cassino. I never really knew him because ironically he died in a work accident when I was a baby.
My grandfather was a Seaforth from Vancouver, who fought alongside your grandfather up Italy, in Ortona and then in Holland. Thanks for the great video!
Excellent. My paternal grandfather joined the US Army. At basic training they asked if anyone had ridden a motorcycle. My pa had been on the back of one with a buddy once so he stepped forward; they put him in the motorcycle unit. He did that for some time including in Europe where he was riding in front of a tank column and came over a little hill. On the other side was a burned out tank and some crashed motorcycles with the bodies of the troops still there. He decided he'd rather not be on motorcycles any more so he went AWOL, walked over to the Air Force base and asked to sign up. They shipped him to England where he learned to be a mechanic for B-17s. The mechanic was top turret gunner as well and he flew several missions over Germany. On one of them, the plane was shot and he could see the tail damaged from his turret. He looked down and saw his buddy bailing out. He said he knew that that meant he should go to so he dropped out the bomb bay doors. One of the crewmen's chute didn't open but he saw a few others get out. When he landed, he saw machine gun tracks in the dirt and turned around to see a jeep full of NAZIs behind him. He surrendered and spent 18 months in a POW camp (even becoming the Red Cross representative for the camp). Toward the end, he was on the "Black March" south to Berlin where about 30% of the prisoners died. He made it out, moved to Western Kansas and opened a car dealership in a town with a single blinking red light. Raised three kids and died of emphazima from all the cigarettes he smoked that he got hooked on during the war. Hell of a life.
My city Apeldoorn, between Arnhem ("A bridge too far") and Nijkerk, was liberated by the Canadians in April 1945. I never knew that Canadian troops crossed all of Europe for this purpose, from Sicily to the Netherlands. Kudos to your grandfather! A beautiful way to honor your grandfather's life. The National Canadian Liberation Monument has been in Apeldoorn since May 2, 2000. This was founded as a tribute to the great Canadian contribution to the liberation of the Netherlands. Canada and Apeldoorn have a special relationship with each other, because towards the end of the war the last Canadian headquarters was located in Paleis Het Loo.
My grandfather, Lewis G. Cox was also a member of the West Novies. Went overseas with the North Novas but transferred in time for the invasion of Sicily. He fought for the entirety of the Italian campaign and left when the unit was transferred to Northern Europe as part of the 1st Canadian Army.
My maternal grandfather joined the US Army and was in the Middle East, Transportation unit. Mostly stayed in Iran, Persian Gulf Command. Supplying the USSR via the Persian Corridor. Got quite a few small bits of silver and photos. I will have to go look up his unit.
Really interesting video. Thank You. I'm in the UK and have traced my great grandfather to Montreal and he served in the Candian Expeditionary Force during WW1. He wasn't Canadian, but had emigrated there after serving in the Royal Navy during the 1880/90s.
My grandfathers brother fought for Finland in the winter-and-continuation wars. He was at first stationed at the -line but was during the continuation-war stationed at the east-karelian front. He took part in the occupation of Petroskoi/Äänislinnä and later fought as one of the crazed defenders at Tienhaara.
Thank you so much for this video! Excellent presentation. My father and three uncles volunteered during WWII. And both of my grandfathers fought in WWI. I have access to their military records but it's very difficult to decipher the military paperwork since they use so many acronyms and codes. I am fascinated that you were able to track his exact whereabouts during his whole service. Well done!!
My father served aboard the Abner Nash as a gunnery officer during WWII. He went up to Murmansk in Russia three times. You rarely hear about this area during the war. His fleet was under almost constant bombardment as they went up through the fjords. The German ships would hide in the fjords. I remember him saying that they travelled in complete darkness. You couldn't even light a match on deck because it would give your location away.
Matt, you may or may not remember me, but I had left a comment on your video about your wife's family tree and explained that I was looking into doing some research about my own family, which was severely affected by The Holocaust. I saw that comments on that video were turned off over there and wanted to update you on my research if I could. Because of the resources that you and your wife provided, I was able to find my grandfather's birthplace, as well as the likely birthdate and birthplace of my great-grandparents. From there I found a previously unknown branch of the family, however, from the research I've done so far, it appears that the four new family members that I discovered were all murdered, though I'm still researching more about them and have a lot to learn. I want to thank you and your wife for everything. I hope that I can shine a light on that hidden branch of my family, and possibly talk to one.
On another note, my grandmother's (Dad's side) second husband served in the U.S. Army Air Force. I know he was stationed as a mechanic on Tinian Island around the same time that the Enola Gay was there. However, I don't know if he ever worked on that specific bomber. I don't know much else about his service.
another excellent video. You made history come alive, even though I had studied most of it in school. thank you to your grandfather for his service for our country.
My Grandfather and most of his brothers fought in WWII & some in Korea. He was in the Pacific theater with the army… a private and a cook on New Guinea. His twin, my great Uncle Johnny, was in Europe, and landed at Normandy. Both survived!
Thank you for sharing this video. My father was an underage soldier in the Canadian Army (15 y.o.) he recruited out of Camp Borden (just north of Toronto, where my grandfather was serving as an Airforce Chief Warrant Officer)~ dad served in England and Holland (in a transport unit) but may well have crossed paths with your Grandfather! You never know. He told me that he got sick with strep throat and that he was treated by an American female doctor in an American Red Cross tent/hospital in Holland ~ he said she figured out he wasn’t 18 years old, because he still had his 12 y.o. molars!!! They did not send him home though, and he remained in Europe for the remainder of WWII. He also shared that that was his very first encounter with a woman-doctor … telling that he had heard that they existed, but never actually met one before! He had a good laugh about that! I am an Airforce Veteran (RCAF) myself and early in my training I was posted to a Division called Ortona Division. They are never forgotten and always with us 🙏 God Bless all who served in WWI and WWII. Thank you for posting this, it means a lot to me.
Many of my uncles served in World War II in the United States Army. One of those men was born and raised in Canada mainly in New Brunswick is where he's originally from. That is my uncle Rene St. Pierre who is my grandfather's older brother. My grandfather was just a child when World War II broke out since he was the youngest of his family. His family lived in Sainte-Anne-de-Madawaska, Madawaska, New Brunswick, Canada during this time since this was my grandfather's hometown. Which is a mostly French speaking town in New Brunswick. The majority of the town of Sainte-Anne-de-Madawaska, Madawaska, New Brunswick, Canada is a 95% French only speaking town in New Brunswick. My uncle Rene at this time decides to move into the United States of America through Maine and then Rhode Island where he died in 1995 at the age of 75 years old. He joins the United States Army when the United States entered into World War II. I really don't know where he went during the war or what regiment he was in during the war. Since I only found out he served after I read his obituary. I met him when I was 8 years old.
I have two family members who were part of WW2. One fought, the other served. My grandfather was 17 when he joined the Navy in WW2 and my great grandmother had to basically sign for her son who wanted to fight for his country. I know that he wrote a journal about all of his experiences in the war and either my dad or my uncle has that journal. He saw Europe, Hawaii, and the Pacific. He saw the effects of the Holocaust when he was in Europe. When The Nazis fells, he was then transferred out west to head to Japan. I don't know much about what happened with, what battles he fought in or all the things he saw because I never got a chance to ask him any of this. He died when I was about 2 and a half, almost 3 from heart failure. My first vivid memory, is my dad picking me up to look inside his coffin to say goodbye. I grew up with my dad telling me stories, but I didn't pay a whole lot of attention because war wasn't something I was interested in. I only learned about the journal the summer before my grandmother died and I remember reading it, but I don't remember anything major from the glance I took since I was visiting family at the time. When my grandmother died in 2020 from old age, amongst her belongings was the last of my grandfather's WW2 metals, his flag that laid atop his coffin before he was buried, and a kimono he got while he was in Japan. It was around then that I learned a generation later, my grandmother had to sign for her son, my uncle to be allowed to go serve his country at 17. He served in the Navy like his father during the 1980's. He knows a lot more about the insane things my grandfather had to endure during his younger years as a soldier. When my grandfather got home, he became a firefighter and served for over 30+ years in his city. He never flew overseas or visited any of the locations he went to again. On the other end of the spectrum, my great uncle was a cook during the war and if I remember correctly, he was a navy chef. He didn't talk much about the war nor did he speak much about if he fought. He did say that he was trained in case his ship ever got captured by the enemy. But he always bragged about how he made so many burgers in his time of service. When he got home, he married my great aunt and had 4 daughters. He lived to the age of 96 before passing away of brain cancer. I have a deep respect for those men, and I have a deep respect for Veterans because I know what they sacrificed. Thank you for showing your grandfather's experience.
I'm glad to hear you are feeling a bit better.Thanks for sharing your grandfather's WWII history. My father was a pilot trainer in the US Army Air Corp in Smyrna, TN. My father-in-law was in the US Navy off the Pacific. My mother-in-law served as a Lt. US army nurse and was on Tinian Island when the Enola Gay flew to Japan.
Thanks for your Grandfather's Service. My own Grandfather was in The First Special Service Force (The Black Devil's/Devil's Brigade) He saw action in Italy landing on The Anzio beachhead/ The Battle for Monte La Difensa/ The Liberation of Rome and The Invasion of Southern France. He was in The Pacific in the Aleutians and The Rhineland.
My grandfather was in the US army. He initially wanted to be a pilot, but his eyesight was too poor for that. Served in the 104th Infantry Division, the Timberwolves, and saw service in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands in the last couple years of the war. I unfortunately don't know too much about his own experiences, at least not directly from him, as he passed away when I was younger. Other family members though had heard stories from him, including my uncle who made some audio recordings about his experiences a couple of years before his death. He, thankfully, mostly saw service behind the front lines, pretty much acting as a mail courier/mailman, though he did see some combat here and there, including once being hit by what I presume was a ricocheting bullet that ended up being stopped by the bundle of keys he carried in his shirt pocket. He kept the top half of one of the keys that probably saved his life, which now my aunt has.
My paternal grandfather also fought in Italy, being part of the British XIII Corps in the US Fifth Army which ultimately took Rome. Before that, however, was the disaster of Operation Shingle and the Battle of Anzio, where my grandfather was taken prisoner after losing over 300 of his battalion. He saw out the war in Stalag XI-A. And so missed most of the first two years of my dad's life. He'd been born at the end of July 1943, and by mid-October my grandfather was on the boat to Algiers. He never talked about his experiences. But we've got a journal he kept, and are digitising and transcribing the letters my grandmother wrote to him while he was being held.
On my dad's side, my great grandfather was an RAF pilot serving in north Africa doing mostly bombing runs until the war's end. My two great uncles on my mom's side served in the Canadian military and were stationed in Belgium, where they were both taken as POWs for a short time before eventually getting released
My grandfather was a member of the Edmonton Fusiliers before WW2 and then went on active duty, he became an officer in 1943 and then went overseas as a replacement officer, joining the South Saskatchewan Regiment in early September 1944. He was KIA near Dunkirk, at Zuydcoote on September 17. They were trying to dislodge the Germans from the Institute Vancauwenberghe which was/is a sanatarium for treating tuberculosis and was extremely well fortified amid lots of sand dunes.
My father was a flight instructor during the first couple years and then US Navy bomber in the Pacific. He fought in the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa
It was great you were able to find out so much information about your grandfather's military service. Unfortunately here in the US there was a massive records fire in 1973 that destroyed most WWI and WWII service records. My father was an MP and spent most of the war in China. His older brother was a photographer assigned to London and after D-day was in France. His younger brother was a grunt in Patten's army but I don't know much about his military service. My grandfather served in WWI but his service records were also destroyed. The only documents I was able to obtain were the mustering out pay slips for all four. My wife volunteers at a local museum and was able to dig up a few more records: info about my grandfather's WWI regiment in WWI and draft card documentation for my dad and his brothers. Unfortunately that have all died so their stories have been lost. Unfortunately we don't have any military records of my wife's father who was in the Navy late in the war. When I was sent to Vietnam my grandfather said his parents emigrated to from Germany to the US in the 19th century to escape constant war yet he served in WWI, his three sons in WWII and now I was being sent to Vietnam. That was my last conservation with him as he died while I was in Vietnam. Our son is the first Schmidt that has no had to serve in wartime.
My grandfathers fought on the other side. Luckily neither was killed or injured, because they did not experience direct combat. One was in an artillery unit and participated in many battles, including the famous battle at Kursk, but he was always 10km behind the frontline. Eventually he was captured and suffered as russian prisoner of war. He had two indirect close calls though: First his unit was scheduled to go to Stalingrad, where most of the german soldiers died, but in the last minute plans were reschedulded and then later as POW, because he was a blacksmith, his skillset was used elswhere so he was taken out of his POW group, who later was sent to railway construction in siberia where also a lot of them died. The other was a machienegunner who was first sent to the eastern front, but his job as machiengunner was not offence, but to establish defenses against counterattacks, but at that time the germans where constantly advancing. Later (luckily) a sickness broke out in his company and so they where sent to denmark in quarantine, which coincided with the time of russian counteroffenses, where he - as machienegunner - would have probably been a priority target for russian snipers and mortars. Just as they were about to return to the russian front, the Western Allies landed in Normandy so he was sent there, but (according to his own testimony), they where captured without a fight, because they where sent to defend a village, which was already taken by americans before they arrived, so they were surprised by the americans and surrendered on sight. Unlike my other grandfather as russian POW, this grandfather only spoke fondly of the americans at which he was a POW.
My grandfather on my Dad's side served in Europe as part of the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps. He was overseas when Dad was born in '40, and didn't see his son until he was sent back to Canada on leave in the spring of '45. Germany surrendered just a couple of days before he was to return to Europe, and he was instead demobilized. And like so many other veterans, he didn't talk much about his time in Europe (though he did talk sometimes about his time in Britain, especially the lighter parts of life before the return to the Continent). My Mom's dad lied about his age to enlist in '45, as he was 16. He was going to be sent to Japan for occupation duty when they found out he was underage, and he was discharged. And I'm from Belleville, home of the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment, which was part of 1st Brigade in 1st Division. They actually made it to France in 1940, before the French collapse resulted in them having to quickly return to the coast. They were forced to abandon their heavy equipment (trucks, artillery, etc) as there was no transport available. It was only the actions of the Canadian ambassador to France, General Georges Vanier, that saved the Canadian and British soldiers there. He took command at the port, which apparently was a mass of confusion as French harbour personnel, civilians, and ships fled the approaching Germans, and ensured the Allied soldiers boarded the vessels that would take them back to Britain. Even so, 1st Division lost most of its heavy equipment, and thus the recently arrived 2nd Division was left as one of only two fully equipped Divisions in the UK should the Germans have invaded that summer.
I know that two of my Great-Grandfathers were fighting in the War. My maternal Grandfather lost a Leg and lived until 1989. The other one died in 1944 in Battle. His Wife and their 3 children (aged ca. 8, 6 and 4 years old) had to flee from Kaliningrad (back then Königsberg) when the Russian Forces were moving in. A befriended Family tried to Flee by Ship but arrived too late in the Harbour to enter the Ship. It was the Wilhelm Gustloff. My Great Grandma never wanted to talk about the War. She always changed the topic when it came up. Gave up Speaking in the local East Prussian Dialect. Only a few Stories of their fleeing are known to us, nothing about their pre-war life. That Part of Family History is likely lost.
My great-grandfather, George Keating, who probably knew your grandfather, served in the Merchant Navy on coastal tankers. He was from Little Harbour. His brother-in-law Tom DeWolfe was also with the Merchant Navy and was awarded the British Empire Medal
My father also volunteered shortly after Canada declared war and also fought in Italy and ended up in the Netherlands towards the end of the war.He was with the Three Rivers regiment from Three Rivers or Tries Rivieres,Que.
I don't know much about my great grandpa's time in the war other than he was a german soldier taken as a POW and wouldnt return home til several years after the war. My grandparents were children during the war and i know some of their stories from that time and the poverty they faced afterward (tho luckily in West Germany). My grammy eventually became a member of the Legion in my home town and ended up serving in leadership of our provincial lady's auxiliary. I was really proud to help her write her Remembrance Day speech one year.
Italian here. Just a small note: in Italian the sound of "ch" is hard, like a "k" in English. therefore your grand-father touched land in the place we pronounce as "Pakino" even if it's written "Pachino".
My family is in the United States, but while my grandfather on one side of my family was just barely too young to be involved in World War 2, my grandfather on the other side was a mechanic in his 30s when the United States joined the war. So he was recruited into the army, but never did anything on the front lines because he was assigned to repair and maintain tanks - not the most exciting story, but still pretty cool.
Both my Great Grand fathers served in the navy. Neither one of them talked about it that much, but my mom's paternal great grandfather was a naval pilot in the pacific, and my dad's maternal great grandfather was in Europe, I believe
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Matt, wonderful video. If you haven't read them already, I strongly recommend "Ortona" and "Gothic Line" by Mark Zuehlke. They're both very well written and detailed accounts of the Canadians in Italy. I think they'd be right up your alley. I know he has other books on the Italian Campaign as well, but can't speak to them personally.
My Grandfather was a Tuskegee Airmen during the war, the amount of grandpa war lore I got from him was amazing. He’s 95 now giving lore to my 9 year old son.
🫡
We thank him for his valiant service
You need to write that book. My grandpa had several letters he wrote when he was in europe. His mom saved them. It was like meeting my grandpa all over again.
The thing I've heard from every grandson of a WWII veteran is "I wish I'd recorded his stories". Gota save those for your son's son.
@@ChrisLindsley Absolutely
My great-uncle fought with your grandfather! He was a part of the Royal Canadian Regiment and was actually killed at Moro River (just a couple days before the battle of Ortona). He's buried in the cemetery shown at 18:49. My middle name is in honour of him, and I'm very proud to have it.
I'm back!
Yay! Hope you are feeling better now, have a Happy Holidays Matt. 🎉🎉
I only found out you weren't well today, so I was pleased to see you were doing better and expected a video to drop today. Thanks for all the amazing content you do
I sincerely hope you are doing much better.
My grandpa was a Red Cross volunteer in the Pacific and was held as a POW in the Philippines for three years. According to my grandma, he was a survivor of the Bataan Death March, and let me tell you, that trauma lasted long beyond his lifetime. History really has a way of worming its way into people's lives.
My mother had a friend who had the same experience as your grandfather. Yes, the scars are for life.
@@TheDanEdwards None of my relatives who served in the military endured anything as horrific as the Bataan Death March, yet the wars they served in were present with them every day afterwards--WW2 with my father and my five uncles, and WW1 with my grandfather and two of his brothers.
Thanks to your grandfather!❤️
My great-grandfather was a resistance fighter in Denmark🇩🇰 he started In 1943
Mine was to. Where in Denmark where he an resistance fighter?
Resisting what? Resistance = terrorism
@@johannes821 my great grandfathers name was Jens and he died as a resistance fighter 😢
Må Jens hvile i fred. @@nuclear9977
What an amazing video! I love how you connected your family history with the big picture history or explained some matters of the military organisation (for viewers who might not be well-versed in it) concisely and clearly. If I was in your place, I would probably either forget that not everyone knows what a regiment, brigade, division and corps is, or take too much time explaining it.
I was also happy to hear at 11:15 that your grandfather was onboard the Polish ship MS Batory. An ocean liner turned troop transport and hospital ship, MS Batory had a distinguished service during WWII, earning the nickname "lucky ship." She was named after the King Stefan Batory (Stephen Báthory). Interestingly Batory also transported treasures from the Wawel Castle, evacuated from Poland, to Canada for safekeeping (through Halifax, Nova Scotia, no less). The treasures included the coronation sword _Szczerbiec_ - the last surviving piece of the Polish regalia. As you explained in your Famous European Crowns video, the rest of them were already destroyed by Prussians during the Partitions.
Glad you’re feeling better! My grandfather was also in Italy during the war (he was American). He was shot in the chest durning one of the battles south of Rome. The bullet missed his heart by a couple inches. They didn’t remove it and he carried that bullet in his chest till the day he died. RIP to all our grandfathers who fought for our freedoms
My great-grandfather served in the Red Army in Stalingrad, where he got wounded and died several months after his discharge. The story passed down via my paternal grandfather, who was still a young child at the time, was that he was sent home after his wound and gradually got worse until he died, but after having checked his name in a Russian online database of WWII era documents it turned out that some time after the initial wound he was judged fit enough for service in the rear and got transferred to the Moscow region.
On my mother's side of the family I also have Volga German ancestors who got deported to Siberia and Central Asia shortly after the German invasion, but my great-grandmother managed to avoid getting deported for some time by being employed as a military translator for the Red Army General Staff. Apparently sometimes the German troops would use regional dialects like Bavarian or Swabian for code-talking purposes, and my great grandmother was from a Swabian-speaking Volga German community, so she could help with the "decoding".
Awesome tribute to your grandfather.
In 1913, as a young man, my paternal grandfather immigrated from Germany to the US with two of his older brothers, leaving two other brothers in Germany. Though my grandfather did not serve in either the Germany or US military, during the WWII's Battle of the Bulge, my uncle fought on the Allies' side while his first cousin fought on the Axis side. WWII was a cruel, terrible war that affected my family in a unique way.
Incredible story and a beautiful tribute. My own grandfather was in the US Army as a mechanic under the 238th Engineers in Company B. He outlined his trek from Omaha Beach to Cherbourg, Liege, Aachen, Eischwellen, getting pushed back during Battle of the Bulge, back to Eischwellen, Duren, Brauwellir, Cologne, Konigswinter. He was the first from his company to drive a vehicle across the Rhine River.
Cap
I’m from the Netherlands, Zwolle to be specific. Zwolle was also liberated by the Canadians. Leo Major was a big part of our a liberation and has a street named after him. In 2005 he was also acknowledged as a honorary member of the city. Every year on the fourth of May we mourn the dead on Remembrance Day and on the fifth we celebrate and thank those people for our liberation. It is crazy to hear your grandfather was in Nijkerk which is a town very close to Zwolle, ofc I don’t know if your grandfather is still alive but pls thank him for his service and know we will always be thankful and remember what those men did for our liberation!
Ps. great video, loved to hear the story❤
I know Leo major! Wasn't he the one-eyed Scout that liberated the town by himself?
@@Gnarpgnarpzorpy something like that, he and a friend volunteered to scout ahead in the city to see if and how many germans were left before the artillery would be used on the city, his friend got shot (I believe in the head) and he moved on alone. In the end it turned out almost all germans had left and the artillery didn’t happen because of that, saved us alot of houses and lives too!
It is great to see you back Matt! But more importantly, I hope you're feeling better - We love your videos as fans and appreciate the effort you put in them, but please don't forget to prioritise your health. That comes first, and we'll be here for when you're ready to upload more videos - wishing you a happy Christmas and healthy 2024 :)
Happy Hanukkah and Shabbat Shalom more like, although I am sure he is happy for ANY well wishes. He indeed needs to watch his health. Selfishly for us! LOL.
Cool video! My grandfather was an officer in the Dutch army when the Germans invaded. He was initially placed under house arrest but later deported to a POW camp in East-Prussia, where he spent several years. Sadly it permanently changed him into a closed, jaded personality. The problems from that trickled down to my father and his siblings and are still felt to this day. My grandmother’s family didn’t fare much better with many family members lost in the extermination camps. War really is the worst thing mankind has ever invented.
That POW camp your grandfather went to was probably more of a forced labor camp.
@@PNL-DJ-1 he kept a diary there, chilling to read, it was just a housing camp with barracks. There were also Soviet officers who he befriended. I still have a wooden sign that he woodburned from a sketch made by one of them that shows two Russian dancers and reads “После дождя и солнышко светит.” (after rain comes sunshine).
My great grandfather served in the US Army Air Force as a mechanic in the Pacific Theater, specifically in China and Burma (Myanmar). My grandmother recently found a letter, some photos, and a book with US and Chinese marching songs that her father sent her when he was stationed in Shanghai. It was really special looking through them with her. His younger brother also served in France, but sadly didn't survive the war.
My Grandfather was from Quebec and served in what started as the 2 Canadian Huzzars as a tank commander but later transfered to a headquarters unit. Unfortunately with the amount of rearrangement throught the war its really hard to keep track of his unit though he did leave behind an account of this service (though in bad 90s printer quality)
But he almost certainly trained in Aldershot as well and did serve in France (landing soon after D-day) and the Netherlands. He has a cheeky photo with others in a mess hall with "[location name] 1944, 10 miles from the Hun" written on the back
Only one of my Great-Grandfathers was a soldier in WW2, he was a german soldier on the eastern front (the others had "jobs important for the war effort" - train service and building parts of submarines - and were thus exempt from military service). I don't know any details about his experience, but it clearly was a hard time, since he came back with what we today would call a severe case of PTSD. Before the war he had been a friendly person, but afterwards he had completely changed and often flew into rages. He had to deal with this on his own for the rest of his life, since there was no psychological support for ex-soldiers in East Germany (and neither the West for that matter). Also, before the war he had been more or less a communist (there is even a story in my family about smuggling illegal leaflets in a stroller), but after he came back from the war, he didn't want to have anything to do with communism anymore, because he had seen how bad the living conditions for the people in the Soviet Union were (that was what he said). I think he later joined the socialist unity party of the GDR nonetheless, but I guess it was more for fitting into the state and not because of ideological conviction.
It's quite difficult for me to deal with his story. I would like to know more about him, but at the same time I can't overlook his part in a criminal military/regime. I don't know what bad things he might have done on the eastern front, or what he was involved in, but at the same time he was a human person who got dragged into something that was largely beyond his control. I think his story is a good illustration of german history in the 20th century in general. He was, as I said, a communist, but once (I think in 1932) he voted for the Nazis - because he saw himself "as a worker, but first and foremost as a German", as my grandfather, his son, explained to me. I guess he later deeply regretted his choice. He didn't live to see the reunification of Germany, but he still lived through some cataclysmic changes in (german) history. He was born under the rule of Emperor Wilhelm II., lived through the Weimar Republic and the Nazi period and died in a communist state. And his father, my great-great-grandfather, lost his small store and all his savings during the 1923 hyperinflation.
Also, a cousin of my great grandmother on the other side of my family died in Stalingrad. As far as I know, his last letter to his parents involved the sentence "We will not get out of here anymore." The same great-grandmother had already lost her father during WW1. In fact, both my paternal grandmother's grandfathers died in WW1, one in 1914 and one in 1918.
My maternal Grandfather was a Lancaster Bomber pilot. He served in the RCAF 419th "Moose Squadron. Stationed at Middleton St. George, UK. He flew his Lancaster back to Canada in May 1945. My dad's uncle Clarence "Sonny" Sharp was killed at Dieppe, August 19, 1942. His rank was Sapper with the Royal Canadian Engineers. They would have been the first onto the beach. I have several more cousins that served in the Navy, Air Force and Army but too much to include here.I'm so very lucky my family shared all the stories over the years, including WW1 family connections. I am proud to have visited many of their graves overseas. Especially Sonny's resting place at Dieppe and My Uncle Thomas' grave near Vimy Ridge, where he was killed during WW1., coming off the ridge a few days after the battle was won. Thank you for making this video Matt. It's so important this is remembered and the stories passed on.
My great-grandmother was in the RCAF, although I don't know what squadron, and my x2 great grandfather fought at Vimy Ridge.
My Great Grandfather was an Italian soilder, he fought in Albania until the end of the war, after the armistice of the 7th of september he was captured by german soilders and he finished in a prinson camp, after the end of the war he managed to return back in Italy.
I've been a member of the West Nova Scotia Regiment for going on 23 years! Great job on the video!
My grandfather was in the West Novies in WWII yet i cannot find his name anywhere online. 😢I believe he was artillery.
The Italian campaign is one not well covered, and I enjoyed how you presented those battles and movements. I'm grateful for your grandfather and all those who fought for liberty in WWII. May we learn from the past and never allow such tragedies to happen again.
I'm a Dutch-man and have a lot of knowledge of the second world war. So I was waiting until the part came that "The Novies" joined the army of Crerar to help to liberate the Netherlands especially just after operation Market Garden (a bridge too far). The Canadians fought very hard to get the Germans out of Zeeland so the Allies could use the large port of Antwerp (Antwerpen). We thank all the Canadians and all the other allies for liberate our country.
yes. Matt made the Canadian time in Netherlands sound a little too easy
I don't know if I should talk about where my grandfather fought in the war in the comments... because I am german and let's just say there is a good chance my grandfather directed attilery fire onto your grandfather... O_O
He didn't talk about the war much and when he did he loved to tell us the story of how the war _ended_ for him and how he (after technically deserting during the collaps) was lucky to be captured by the canadians because they treated their prisoners well. He talked on and on about exchanging chocolate from the red cross packages for cigaretts or similar stories, but in the end I never had the courage to ask him what he REALLY did during the war. All I know is that he was a forward observer for an artillery unit because of his training as a (civil) land surveyour before the war and that his job was, in his words, to "triangulate the flash in the dark faster than the time it took until the second flash" (i.e. walking fire onto enemy artillery positions before they could fire again).
I'm absolutely sure he wasn't a fanatical Nazi and I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have taken up arms if they didn't threaten his parents - but I don't know what he knew, what he did and who he did it to. Sometimes I regret not asking him when he was still alive, but other times I'm glad I can live in this ignorance and just keep this whimsical story of the end as his part of the war... It's a difficult thing to grapple with as a german who did not see the war for himself.
[For those who are interested in the "whimsical" story of the end - here it is:
They were holed up in the bell tower of a tiny town's church to have a better vantage point over the land in front of them. The last days had been constant fighting, but today it was relatively quiet. The front lines, according to their command in artillery distance in front of them, had suspiciously not fired a single shot. Then, when night fell and it got so dark that you could count every star, they sudenly observed a vehicle with full headlights on just *booking* it across the plane. Disregarding roads, hills and divets as well as hedges and fences some kind of jeep just plowed through the countryside heading right for them. My grandfather immediately awoke his company and they debated a lot about who this "idiot" might be: Can't be a german, he would not be driving with lights towards a german position making air targetting way too easy. Can't be an american, he wouldn't suicide in a single jeep behind enemy lines. So, they thought, it must be one of those damn italians who apparently didn't north from south. But, after a few minutes, the jeep came crashing into the tiny town and to all of their surprise it was the well known aid-de-camp of their division commander. Alone. He stopped the jeep, yelled up the tower: "The war is over! Save yourselves! The yanks broke through?" So, naturally, the political officer (an SS man) shouted back down to him: "Where have they broken through? And kill your lights, man!" The man in the jeep just laughed and replied: "Everywhere, you idiot!" This did NOT sit well with the SS man, who was used to being feared even among higher ranks because of his outside-the-ranks power, so he immediately sprinted down the tower to talk to this impertinent solider. To the day he died, my grandfather did not know what these men talked about, but they argued for a short while, before the SS man entered the jeep on the passenger side and they both just f*cked off in the same mad dash across the hills.
Now, my grandfather and his buddies all looked at the sergeant of their troop and expected an answer, a direction, anything. But the sergeant just shrugged and said in a very solemn voice: "Well, boys, it has been an honour fighting with you. I let every one of you make their own judgment, but I just heared the messenger of my immediate superior tell me that the war was over and I'm going home." The troop didn't take a second to agree with him, so they all burried their weapons and german emblems, stole clothes from houses in the village that had been abandoned during the fighting and tried to escape by pretending to be italian civilians. This ruse worked quite well and they evaded multiple allied formations this way, but at some point a clever canadian commander noticed that their "italian" sounded a lot like the german language and so they were taken into custody and identified, which led to them being in a POW camp for a comparatively short time.]
Do you know what Regiment and Division he was in? Typically, German units came from geographically similar areas like the Canadians did. It may not be too hard to retrace your grandfather’s history through his unit. While the Heer was not apolitical, it was much less so than the other branches.
@@PNL-DJ-1 I do not. Contrary to allied veterans, german soldiers did not tend to be proud of their service after the war. As I said, he only ever talked about this one story, his time as a POW with the canadians and vaguely referenced the SS threatening his family to make him join the troop. I'm not even 100% that he was Army, he might've been _Luftwaffe_ for all I know. Although I don't think they would've had their own FO for artillery, would they?
@@QemeH - the LW indeed had artillery as well as a Panzer Division. I am sure you could find out. The Germans kept a lot of records. Typically, he would have been called up in his Wehrkreis where he was from and likely sent to the Heer. After 43, the WSS did conscript men too. The Bundesarchive probably has a website where you can start. You may have to write them though. I have met many German veterans who had immigrated to the USA and they were reserved about it all as you can imagine. Many US Vets were reserved too. They all opened up and talked about things over time, even if it was just about food they were given. Food was always a very neutral way to talk to vets. I know back in Germany, there were many veterans associations that all had halls where they could all lift a glass of beer for fallen comrades. There was pride, just reserved, and may be just an inner happiness in having survived.
I think not knowing fully what your grandfather did during wwii is probably for the best, especially if they aren't around to defend their actions.
As the saying goes ignorance is bliss, and I think when your country is defeated then positives have to be drawn from wherever possible, take a look at American films depicting the Vietnam War, they retreated but their films make it seem they won.
Well, I'm sure you knew your grandfather well enough to know what kind of man he was. And unless there is actual evidence to the contrary, there's no reason for your grandfather's service to be looked down on. Many Axis soldiers served with the best of intentions, and were later able to bond with their former foes over memories that those of us who weren't there will never understand.
I always get excited when I see Nova Scotia mentioned anywhere. I wonder if your grandfather ever crossed paths with my own family members who served. sending love from Halifax!! 🫶
Merry Christmas from Virginia (born in Nova Scotia). My paternal grandfather ran a factory in Nova Scotia during the war, making training fighter planes. My maternal grandfather was 1 of 3 brothers who served in the US Army in Europe - one brother was killed, another lost a leg, and he himself came home "changed" (probably PTSD). Thank you for your fascinating videos.
Welcome back! Also, this is amazing! Thank you for sharing this little bit of personal history. It really goes to show that our own family members can have very rich yet unknown lives.
I'm sorry he had to witness the war, but I am glad his story lives on through your work.
Fascinating video - and massive credit to your grandfather, much respect.
My Dad was a British soldier (Royal Warwickshire) and followed the British invasion on D-Day, fought in Caen a couple of weeks later, where most of his regiment was wiped out against a Panzer battalion, at which point he was posted to the King's Own Scottish Borderers (KOSB). He never spoke much about the latter part of the war, other than meeting my mum, a Dutch citizen under probation in Germany, where they then met, she as an interpreter and the rest is history. Thanks for posting - fascinating!
My Family is from western germany, and as far as I am aware one of my Grand-Uncles (Brother of my Grandma) was lost on the eastern front. Although people here (understandably) don't keep memories of that time very fondly.
My father was a German soldier who was killed in Russia. I am an American now who served in N. Africa at the same base as my uncle who was with the African Korps and I also served in Vietnam. The only thing that changes is the uniform and allegiance.
That is a heck of a family story. Was your uncle still alive to talk about his experiences? Do you know which division your father served in and where he was killed in Russia.
@@PNL-DJ-1 The base in Libya was built by the Italians in 1933 and is known as Mellaha AB. During the war, the Germans used the AB.
In 1943 the airfield was captured by the British and in 1945 the Mellaha was taken over by the USAF and renamed
Wheelus Army Air Field. In 1969 King Idris was overthrown by Gaddafi and the base was turned over to Libya in 1970.
My father was with the Artillerie-Regiment 5, 5.Jager-Division, Staraja Russa. I know little else, no grave marker.
Beloved Canadian author Farley Mowat was one of the Canadians, along with your grandfather, sent up to Scotland to embark on the secret voyage to Sicily, as a young Platoon Commander in the 1st Canadian Division. In 1979 he published a highly regarded memoir about it called "And No Birds Sang". I was stunned by the book's immediacy and my sense of seeing through his eyes. Watching your video I notice how personal the Italian campaign feels to me.
I'm Polish living in Silesia, one of my great grandfathers was forcibly conscripted to Wehrmacht. He fought on Monte Casino, defending it until he deserted and joined the general Anders' polish army. The other one was captured by the Soviets in September 1939 and managed to escape the train going to Siberia.
Being from Ghana (Formerly British Gold Coast) and also being interested in history, I recall hearing from nannies about how grand uncles enlisted to fight in the war and from my dad that his grand uncle also enlisted. However they were not delivered what they were promised and now many war veterans still alive live very poor lives
What part of colonialism ever worked well? Sorry for you gr-grand father and his mates.
@@PNL-DJ-1 it’s sad the only language I speak is English at least my dad was able to break the chain of poverty and bring us to the us
Excellent job! Thanks Matt. I am sharing this video my niece and her hubby are retired from the Canadian military and my nephew has been in the Canadian Military about 4 yrs now. They will all be very interested in this. We were to Germany and went to Dachau.
A wonderful piece of work, Matt. A great tribute to your grandfather.
Wow, i think your grandfather helped liberating my hometown!
My grand-uncle Johnny Mauger was in the West Novas. He joined up at 16. In Italy, he was in a trench with another soldier from somewhere around Halifax. His name was Jim Muise. They were digging the trench, and the enemy started shooting at them. Johnny yelled for Jim to get down, and he replied, "I don't care anymore." The words weren't out of his mouth before he was shot through the head. He landed on Johnny. They were best friends.
My grandfather graduated high school right after the war ended, but he still joined the navy after and he was stationed in the South Pacific. His brother was also Navy and was training to be a pilot, but ended up being medically discharged when it was discovered (by himself and the military) that he was a type 1 diabetic.
My great-grandfather was a part of the German minority in Denmark during the start of the war, but he did not live in Denmark. He worked as an estate-maneger in west pomerania (current Poland) for the whole war. Even though he was never a soldier, he was still found guilty in a Polish court for war crimes in 1946 and was imprisoned in a labour-camp for 5 years before the danish red cross could get him back to Denmark. He died 6 years later because of injuries that he had gotten while imprisoned.
Back in 2012 I was part of Operation Husky 2013. Organizing a memorial march following the path of the 1st Canadian Division. Along with a mobile museum, ceremonies at multiple locations, and a recreation of the Seaforth Highlanders pipes and drums concert in Agira. It was my first real introduction to military history right after I joined. Unfortunately I was unable to actually go to Sicily as I had to do my basic training summer 2013. It has always meant a lot to me. Thank you so much for sharing your Grandfathers story.
A beautiful tribute. My grandfather was in the Canadian Army as a member of the Royal Regina Rifles during WW II seeing action in France and Belgium. He was killed in battle during in the Clearing of the Scheldt and is buried in the Adegem Canadian War cemetery outside of Bruges. I have had the opportunity to visit his grave twice, with one of the visits being on Remembrance Day. Both times the cabbies who drove and waited for me while I visited spoke about the respect that Belgians and Dutch have to this day for the Canadian forces who liberated them.
He was the last of three brothers who were old enough to sign up (the youngest brother couldn’t since he was only 10 when the war started) but the only one who didn’t make it home.
As a Brit I'm very grateful to your grandfather and all the allied forces for protecting my home and liberating the occupied countries.
My uncle David served in the Navy, calling port at various times in the Philippines and China. My uncle George was in the Armored cavalry in the final offensive actions in Germany, possibly including the Liberation of Dachau and subsequent reprisals, as well as occupation duties in Austria into 1946.
Quit a trip opening this video and seeing my hometown featured in the opening frame.
My family is from Newfoundland and I also didn't know much about my ancestors military history until recently. A couple of my great-great-uncles died on the western front in WWI, they were only teenagers and served in the Newfoundland Army which was then part of the UK, not Canada.
I don't know if any other distant relatives remember them, but I will do my part to keep their memories alive.
American here!
My paternal grandfather was in the army but stayed in the hospital for nearly a year due to asthma.
My maternal grandfather was in the calvary, just a regular army fellow.
My dad’s four uncles: 2 were Navy but stayed stateside, one in the marines (Pacific), and one was radio and gun repair for fighter planes.
I have a pretty similar story about my paternal grandfather's experiences in WW2. From a young age I knew that he had fought in the war and that it was just something that he didn't talk about, so when he died in the late 90s I thought for sure that his story was lost. Fortunately I found out several years later that someone had sat him down before he died and had him tell his story and typed it up, and that PDF is one of my most prized possessions. He drove a half-track ambulance and also spent most of the war in Italy (although he was American) for the 69th Armored Field Artillery, he was part of that landing in Salerno you mentioned.
My grandfather was an ambulance driver for the 14th Canadian Field Ambulance along with his brother. Both of them were out of Saint John, NB, and were with the 3rd on D-Day. One of the things grandfather was part of, was being the first group of ambulances to cross the Rhine (or so my father has told us). Stuff I've looked up about their trek from Normandy and onward, it was a brutal slog.
Thank you for posting this up; it's absolutely fascinating to watch and tweaks my want to learn more about Canada in WWII.
Great video ! I think the cataclysm of WWII became the odyssey of a lifetime for those who served. My Dad was aboard a US Aircraft Carrier in the South Pacific. He never spoke about combat; even when pressed for a story, he would only tell us about the severity of the storms at sea.
A great great uncle of mine was awarded a bronze star medal for his heroic actions in France and he also took part in the battle of Bastogne, Belgium in some way. Sadly don't know anything more about it..
He also had a brother who was in the navy, but I don't know anything about his service.
Lastly my grandfather had a 1st cousin who took part in 5 campaigns during the war. But I don't know which ones.
All of them survived the war.
My great-grandfather was a Polish soldier who fought in one of the first battles of WW2, the battle of Tuchola Forest and was among the first POWs of the war, he was a forced farm labourer in Germany, considering he never told anyone about his experience except his brother who also served in the war, who took what he said to him to the grave, so no one knows what he experienced but we know it was horrible and the trauma followed him long after the ar ended, he was a POW from September 1939 to May 1945.
Thanks a lot for this story and you're grandfather service! I'm from the town Nijkerk in the Netherlands, I remember there was a WWII memorial here in Nijkerk with around 50 liberator Canadian veterans with some vehicles that was used back then, it was around 2005-2010.
Excellent story, Matt. My grandfathers on both sides were volunteer U.S. Army soldiers during the war. My maternal grandmother's uncle was an Imperial Navy officer in Japan. He was absolutely NOT a volunteer and was taken from his parents as a child for military education. While he was a prisoner in occupied Japan he studied law, and then later became a successful lawyer after being released.
That’s a wonderful tribute to your grandfather.
My grandfather lied about his age and joined the USMC at 17 to catch the end of the war in the Pacific.
He’s never said a word about it to his kids or grandkids, just that he hoped we would never have to do what he did.
The "algorithm" kicked this up to me on Boxing Day morning. I clicked on it expecting to criticise but I came away impressed. I thought I already knew a lot about the Canadian Army (Overseas) in the 2nd World War but it was still a learning experience for me with the logical presentation and the graphics done so well. Well done !
Thank you for the video. My grandfather I now know was also a member of the 1st Canadian division (48th highlanders) Though he survived. I have never met him.
I found this really interesting because its not just about WW2 but a real soldier your grandfather. My father fought in Italy too he was a free Pole in the Anders Army 5th Kresowa Infantry Division (they had a Bison badge on their uniform) he was at Monte Cassino. I never really knew him because ironically he died in a work accident when I was a baby.
My grandfather was a Seaforth from Vancouver, who fought alongside your grandfather up Italy, in Ortona and then in Holland. Thanks for the great video!
Excellent. My paternal grandfather joined the US Army. At basic training they asked if anyone had ridden a motorcycle. My pa had been on the back of one with a buddy once so he stepped forward; they put him in the motorcycle unit. He did that for some time including in Europe where he was riding in front of a tank column and came over a little hill. On the other side was a burned out tank and some crashed motorcycles with the bodies of the troops still there. He decided he'd rather not be on motorcycles any more so he went AWOL, walked over to the Air Force base and asked to sign up. They shipped him to England where he learned to be a mechanic for B-17s. The mechanic was top turret gunner as well and he flew several missions over Germany. On one of them, the plane was shot and he could see the tail damaged from his turret. He looked down and saw his buddy bailing out. He said he knew that that meant he should go to so he dropped out the bomb bay doors. One of the crewmen's chute didn't open but he saw a few others get out. When he landed, he saw machine gun tracks in the dirt and turned around to see a jeep full of NAZIs behind him. He surrendered and spent 18 months in a POW camp (even becoming the Red Cross representative for the camp). Toward the end, he was on the "Black March" south to Berlin where about 30% of the prisoners died. He made it out, moved to Western Kansas and opened a car dealership in a town with a single blinking red light. Raised three kids and died of emphazima from all the cigarettes he smoked that he got hooked on during the war. Hell of a life.
My city Apeldoorn, between Arnhem ("A bridge too far") and Nijkerk, was liberated by the Canadians in April 1945. I never knew that Canadian troops crossed all of Europe for this purpose, from Sicily to the Netherlands. Kudos to your grandfather! A beautiful way to honor your grandfather's life.
The National Canadian Liberation Monument has been in Apeldoorn since May 2, 2000. This was founded as a tribute to the great Canadian contribution to the liberation of the Netherlands. Canada and Apeldoorn have a special relationship with each other, because towards the end of the war the last Canadian headquarters was located in Paleis Het Loo.
My grandfather, Lewis G. Cox was also a member of the West Novies. Went overseas with the North Novas but transferred in time for the invasion of Sicily.
He fought for the entirety of the Italian campaign and left when the unit was transferred to Northern Europe as part of the 1st Canadian Army.
Thanks for this. Very proud of Canadian grit during the war.
My maternal grandfather joined the US Army and was in the Middle East, Transportation unit. Mostly stayed in Iran, Persian Gulf Command. Supplying the USSR via the Persian Corridor. Got quite a few small bits of silver and photos. I will have to go look up his unit.
Really interesting video. Thank You. I'm in the UK and have traced my great grandfather to Montreal and he served in the Candian Expeditionary Force during WW1. He wasn't Canadian, but had emigrated there after serving in the Royal Navy during the 1880/90s.
My grandfathers brother fought for Finland in the winter-and-continuation wars. He was at first stationed at the -line but was during the continuation-war stationed at the east-karelian front. He took part in the occupation of Petroskoi/Äänislinnä and later fought as one of the crazed defenders at Tienhaara.
My father was with an artillery unit in Europe but I don't remember too many other details. He did receive a Purple Heart.
Thank you so much for this video! Excellent presentation. My father and three uncles volunteered during WWII. And both of my grandfathers fought in WWI. I have access to their military records but it's very difficult to decipher the military paperwork since they use so many acronyms and codes.
I am fascinated that you were able to track his exact whereabouts during his whole service. Well done!!
My father served aboard the Abner Nash as a gunnery officer during WWII. He went up to Murmansk in Russia three times. You rarely hear about this area during the war. His fleet was under almost constant bombardment as they went up through the fjords. The German ships would hide in the fjords. I remember him saying that they travelled in complete darkness. You couldn't even light a match on deck because it would give your location away.
My father was in the 704th Tank Destroyer Battalion attached to the 4th Armoured Division in Patton's 3rd Army.
Matt, you may or may not remember me, but I had left a comment on your video about your wife's family tree and explained that I was looking into doing some research about my own family, which was severely affected by The Holocaust. I saw that comments on that video were turned off over there and wanted to update you on my research if I could.
Because of the resources that you and your wife provided, I was able to find my grandfather's birthplace, as well as the likely birthdate and birthplace of my great-grandparents. From there I found a previously unknown branch of the family, however, from the research I've done so far, it appears that the four new family members that I discovered were all murdered, though I'm still researching more about them and have a lot to learn.
I want to thank you and your wife for everything. I hope that I can shine a light on that hidden branch of my family, and possibly talk to one.
On another note, my grandmother's (Dad's side) second husband served in the U.S. Army Air Force. I know he was stationed as a mechanic on Tinian Island around the same time that the Enola Gay was there. However, I don't know if he ever worked on that specific bomber. I don't know much else about his service.
Thanks for the update. I'll be sure to pass this along to my wife as well.
another excellent video. You made history come alive, even though I had studied most of it in school. thank you to your grandfather for his service for our country.
I often have trouble following military history, but this was wonderfully clear and informative! All respect to your grandfather for his service.
My Grandfather and most of his brothers fought in WWII & some in Korea.
He was in the Pacific theater with the army… a private and a cook on New Guinea.
His twin, my great Uncle Johnny, was in Europe, and landed at Normandy.
Both survived!
Thank you for sharing this video. My father was an underage soldier in the Canadian Army (15 y.o.) he recruited out of Camp Borden (just north of Toronto, where my grandfather was serving as an Airforce Chief Warrant Officer)~ dad served in England and Holland (in a transport unit) but may well have crossed paths with your Grandfather! You never know. He told me that he got sick with strep throat and that he was treated by an American female doctor in an American Red Cross tent/hospital in Holland ~ he said she figured out he wasn’t 18 years old, because he still had his 12 y.o. molars!!! They did not send him home though, and he remained in Europe for the remainder of WWII. He also shared that that was his very first encounter with a woman-doctor … telling that he had heard that they existed, but never actually met one before! He had a good laugh about that! I am an Airforce Veteran (RCAF) myself and early in my training I was posted to a Division called Ortona Division. They are never forgotten and always with us 🙏 God Bless all who served in WWI and WWII. Thank you for posting this, it means a lot to me.
Many of my uncles served in World War II in the United States Army. One of those men was born and raised in Canada mainly in New Brunswick is where he's originally from. That is my uncle Rene St. Pierre who is my grandfather's older brother. My grandfather was just a child when World War II broke out since he was the youngest of his family. His family lived in Sainte-Anne-de-Madawaska, Madawaska, New Brunswick, Canada during this time since this was my grandfather's hometown. Which is a mostly French speaking town in New Brunswick. The majority of the town of Sainte-Anne-de-Madawaska, Madawaska, New Brunswick, Canada is a 95% French only speaking town in New Brunswick. My uncle Rene at this time decides to move into the United States of America through Maine and then Rhode Island where he died in 1995 at the age of 75 years old. He joins the United States Army when the United States entered into World War II. I really don't know where he went during the war or what regiment he was in during the war. Since I only found out he served after I read his obituary. I met him when I was 8 years old.
I have two family members who were part of WW2. One fought, the other served. My grandfather was 17 when he joined the Navy in WW2 and my great grandmother had to basically sign for her son who wanted to fight for his country. I know that he wrote a journal about all of his experiences in the war and either my dad or my uncle has that journal. He saw Europe, Hawaii, and the Pacific. He saw the effects of the Holocaust when he was in Europe. When The Nazis fells, he was then transferred out west to head to Japan. I don't know much about what happened with, what battles he fought in or all the things he saw because I never got a chance to ask him any of this. He died when I was about 2 and a half, almost 3 from heart failure. My first vivid memory, is my dad picking me up to look inside his coffin to say goodbye. I grew up with my dad telling me stories, but I didn't pay a whole lot of attention because war wasn't something I was interested in. I only learned about the journal the summer before my grandmother died and I remember reading it, but I don't remember anything major from the glance I took since I was visiting family at the time. When my grandmother died in 2020 from old age, amongst her belongings was the last of my grandfather's WW2 metals, his flag that laid atop his coffin before he was buried, and a kimono he got while he was in Japan. It was around then that I learned a generation later, my grandmother had to sign for her son, my uncle to be allowed to go serve his country at 17. He served in the Navy like his father during the 1980's. He knows a lot more about the insane things my grandfather had to endure during his younger years as a soldier. When my grandfather got home, he became a firefighter and served for over 30+ years in his city. He never flew overseas or visited any of the locations he went to again.
On the other end of the spectrum, my great uncle was a cook during the war and if I remember correctly, he was a navy chef. He didn't talk much about the war nor did he speak much about if he fought. He did say that he was trained in case his ship ever got captured by the enemy. But he always bragged about how he made so many burgers in his time of service. When he got home, he married my great aunt and had 4 daughters. He lived to the age of 96 before passing away of brain cancer. I have a deep respect for those men, and I have a deep respect for Veterans because I know what they sacrificed. Thank you for showing your grandfather's experience.
Thank-you so much for sharing the history of your grandfather in WWII.
I'm glad to hear you are feeling a bit better.Thanks for sharing your grandfather's WWII history.
My father was a pilot trainer in the US Army Air Corp in Smyrna, TN. My father-in-law was in the US Navy off the Pacific. My mother-in-law served as a Lt. US army nurse and was on Tinian Island when the Enola Gay flew to Japan.
Thanks for your Grandfather's Service. My own Grandfather was in The First Special Service Force (The Black Devil's/Devil's Brigade) He saw action in Italy landing on The Anzio beachhead/ The Battle for Monte La Difensa/ The Liberation of Rome and The Invasion of Southern France. He was in The Pacific in the Aleutians and The Rhineland.
My grandfather was in the US army. He initially wanted to be a pilot, but his eyesight was too poor for that. Served in the 104th Infantry Division, the Timberwolves, and saw service in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands in the last couple years of the war.
I unfortunately don't know too much about his own experiences, at least not directly from him, as he passed away when I was younger. Other family members though had heard stories from him, including my uncle who made some audio recordings about his experiences a couple of years before his death. He, thankfully, mostly saw service behind the front lines, pretty much acting as a mail courier/mailman, though he did see some combat here and there, including once being hit by what I presume was a ricocheting bullet that ended up being stopped by the bundle of keys he carried in his shirt pocket. He kept the top half of one of the keys that probably saved his life, which now my aunt has.
My paternal grandfather also fought in Italy, being part of the British XIII Corps in the US Fifth Army which ultimately took Rome. Before that, however, was the disaster of Operation Shingle and the Battle of Anzio, where my grandfather was taken prisoner after losing over 300 of his battalion. He saw out the war in Stalag XI-A.
And so missed most of the first two years of my dad's life. He'd been born at the end of July 1943, and by mid-October my grandfather was on the boat to Algiers.
He never talked about his experiences. But we've got a journal he kept, and are digitising and transcribing the letters my grandmother wrote to him while he was being held.
On my dad's side, my great grandfather was an RAF pilot serving in north Africa doing mostly bombing runs until the war's end. My two great uncles on my mom's side served in the Canadian military and were stationed in Belgium, where they were both taken as POWs for a short time before eventually getting released
Beautiful tribute to your Papa. 😊🇨🇦
I am going to look up my grandpa. He was also a Canadian stationed in England during WW2.
Excellent. I look forward to your upcoming video on your prior generation of Canadian relatives that participated in WWI.
Fellow Nova Scotian here. I didn't know one of my favourite channels has roots in my home province!
Thanks for sharing his story. Happy holidays, Matt. Hope your health is doing better.
My grandfather was a member of the Edmonton Fusiliers before WW2 and then went on active duty, he became an officer in 1943 and then went overseas as a replacement officer, joining the South Saskatchewan Regiment in early September 1944. He was KIA near Dunkirk, at Zuydcoote on September 17. They were trying to dislodge the Germans from the Institute Vancauwenberghe which was/is a sanatarium for treating tuberculosis and was extremely well fortified amid lots of sand dunes.
Welcome back! Hope you are doing great, Matt.
Merry Christmas and God Bless you Matt. Thank you for sharing your brilliance with us. ❤
My father was a flight instructor during the first couple years and then US Navy bomber in the Pacific. He fought in the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa
Glad you are back! Great content!
It was great you were able to find out so much information about your grandfather's military service. Unfortunately here in the US there was a massive records fire in 1973 that destroyed most WWI and WWII service records. My father was an MP and spent most of the war in China. His older brother was a photographer assigned to London and after D-day was in France. His younger brother was a grunt in Patten's army but I don't know much about his military service. My grandfather served in WWI but his service records were also destroyed. The only documents I was able to obtain were the mustering out pay slips for all four. My wife volunteers at a local museum and was able to dig up a few more records: info about my grandfather's WWI regiment in WWI and draft card documentation for my dad and his brothers. Unfortunately that have all died so their stories have been lost. Unfortunately we don't have any military records of my wife's father who was in the Navy late in the war.
When I was sent to Vietnam my grandfather said his parents emigrated to from Germany to the US in the 19th century to escape constant war yet he served in WWI, his three sons in WWII and now I was being sent to Vietnam. That was my last conservation with him as he died while I was in Vietnam. Our son is the first Schmidt that has no had to serve in wartime.
My grandfathers fought on the other side. Luckily neither was killed or injured, because they did not experience direct combat.
One was in an artillery unit and participated in many battles, including the famous battle at Kursk, but he was always 10km behind the frontline. Eventually he was captured and suffered as russian prisoner of war. He had two indirect close calls though: First his unit was scheduled to go to Stalingrad, where most of the german soldiers died, but in the last minute plans were reschedulded and then later as POW, because he was a blacksmith, his skillset was used elswhere so he was taken out of his POW group, who later was sent to railway construction in siberia where also a lot of them died.
The other was a machienegunner who was first sent to the eastern front, but his job as machiengunner was not offence, but to establish defenses against counterattacks, but at that time the germans where constantly advancing. Later (luckily) a sickness broke out in his company and so they where sent to denmark in quarantine, which coincided with the time of russian counteroffenses, where he - as machienegunner - would have probably been a priority target for russian snipers and mortars. Just as they were about to return to the russian front, the Western Allies landed in Normandy so he was sent there, but (according to his own testimony), they where captured without a fight, because they where sent to defend a village, which was already taken by americans before they arrived, so they were surprised by the americans and surrendered on sight. Unlike my other grandfather as russian POW, this grandfather only spoke fondly of the americans at which he was a POW.
My grandfather on my Dad's side served in Europe as part of the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps. He was overseas when Dad was born in '40, and didn't see his son until he was sent back to Canada on leave in the spring of '45. Germany surrendered just a couple of days before he was to return to Europe, and he was instead demobilized. And like so many other veterans, he didn't talk much about his time in Europe (though he did talk sometimes about his time in Britain, especially the lighter parts of life before the return to the Continent).
My Mom's dad lied about his age to enlist in '45, as he was 16. He was going to be sent to Japan for occupation duty when they found out he was underage, and he was discharged.
And I'm from Belleville, home of the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment, which was part of 1st Brigade in 1st Division. They actually made it to France in 1940, before the French collapse resulted in them having to quickly return to the coast. They were forced to abandon their heavy equipment (trucks, artillery, etc) as there was no transport available.
It was only the actions of the Canadian ambassador to France, General Georges Vanier, that saved the Canadian and British soldiers there. He took command at the port, which apparently was a mass of confusion as French harbour personnel, civilians, and ships fled the approaching Germans, and ensured the Allied soldiers boarded the vessels that would take them back to Britain.
Even so, 1st Division lost most of its heavy equipment, and thus the recently arrived 2nd Division was left as one of only two fully equipped Divisions in the UK should the Germans have invaded that summer.
I know that two of my Great-Grandfathers were fighting in the War. My maternal Grandfather lost a Leg and lived until 1989. The other one died in 1944 in Battle. His Wife and their 3 children (aged ca. 8, 6 and 4 years old) had to flee from Kaliningrad (back then Königsberg) when the Russian Forces were moving in. A befriended Family tried to Flee by Ship but arrived too late in the Harbour to enter the Ship. It was the Wilhelm Gustloff.
My Great Grandma never wanted to talk about the War. She always changed the topic when it came up. Gave up Speaking in the local East Prussian Dialect. Only a few Stories of their fleeing are known to us, nothing about their pre-war life. That Part of Family History is likely lost.
My great-grandfather, George Keating, who probably knew your grandfather, served in the Merchant Navy on coastal tankers. He was from Little Harbour. His brother-in-law Tom DeWolfe was also with the Merchant Navy and was awarded the British Empire Medal
My father also volunteered shortly after Canada declared war and also fought in Italy and ended up in the Netherlands towards the end of the war.He was with the Three Rivers regiment from Three Rivers or Tries Rivieres,Que.
I don't know much about my great grandpa's time in the war other than he was a german soldier taken as a POW and wouldnt return home til several years after the war. My grandparents were children during the war and i know some of their stories from that time and the poverty they faced afterward (tho luckily in West Germany).
My grammy eventually became a member of the Legion in my home town and ended up serving in leadership of our provincial lady's auxiliary. I was really proud to help her write her Remembrance Day speech one year.
My grandfather was also a West Nova Scotia Regiment veteran. Great video!
Mine too. I think. I cannot seem to find his name on any veteran list. He did survive the war.
Italian here. Just a small note: in Italian the sound of "ch" is hard, like a "k" in English. therefore your grand-father touched land in the place we pronounce as "Pakino" even if it's written "Pachino".
My family is in the United States, but while my grandfather on one side of my family was just barely too young to be involved in World War 2, my grandfather on the other side was a mechanic in his 30s when the United States joined the war. So he was recruited into the army, but never did anything on the front lines because he was assigned to repair and maintain tanks - not the most exciting story, but still pretty cool.
Both my Great Grand fathers served in the navy. Neither one of them talked about it that much, but my mom's paternal great grandfather was a naval pilot in the pacific, and my dad's maternal great grandfather was in Europe, I believe