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re: If you had to fight in WW2- Europe or Pacific
Posted on 4/7/20 at 2:45 pm to bott18240
Posted on 4/7/20 at 2:45 pm to bott18240
I see a lot of comments about how the Germans treated American POWs with respect, etc.
The father of my college girlfriend was a POW in WWII. He was a flyer and was shot down while strafing an Italian truck convoy. He was handed over to the Germans and imprisoned in Stalag Luft III, the POW camp of The Great Escape fame.
When compared to the treatment of prisoners held by Japan his treatment was pretty good but it was a physical and mental struggle every day. The Germans would take all edibles out of their Red Cross and personal packages giving them only things like ice skates and other useless items. At night the German guards would walk by a barrack and just lower their weapon and fire off a round or two through the walls. At the time of this man's release he weighed in at about 93 lbs.
So yes, while he wasn't tortured or beaten regularly it was still a terrible existence and a daily struggle to live.
I knew him in 1977, '78 and he still got migraine headaches during the anniversary week of his being shot down.
Also even though he worked on the tunnel he did not get to escape because he was moved to a different barrack a couple of days prior to the escape.
The father of my college girlfriend was a POW in WWII. He was a flyer and was shot down while strafing an Italian truck convoy. He was handed over to the Germans and imprisoned in Stalag Luft III, the POW camp of The Great Escape fame.
When compared to the treatment of prisoners held by Japan his treatment was pretty good but it was a physical and mental struggle every day. The Germans would take all edibles out of their Red Cross and personal packages giving them only things like ice skates and other useless items. At night the German guards would walk by a barrack and just lower their weapon and fire off a round or two through the walls. At the time of this man's release he weighed in at about 93 lbs.
So yes, while he wasn't tortured or beaten regularly it was still a terrible existence and a daily struggle to live.
I knew him in 1977, '78 and he still got migraine headaches during the anniversary week of his being shot down.
Also even though he worked on the tunnel he did not get to escape because he was moved to a different barrack a couple of days prior to the escape.
1
Posted on 4/7/20 at 3:20 pm to WillyLoman
There were instances of Germans killing POWs too. The most notorious being the Canadians in Normandy and then a US unit in the Ardennes during Battle of the Bulge.
On the question overall I feel like it really depended on what unit you were in more than what front you fought in. The idea that a guy who was an infantryman at the Hurtgen Forest was somehow better off than a guy in the Pacific makes no sense. The fronts were both terrible it was just a matter of what unit you were in and what your job was.
does anyone have any relatives that weren't in the US military? There was a girl in law school from Germany whose grandfather had lost a leg at Stalingrad. He always told her it was the best thing that ever happened to him, to give you an idea of the level of suffering they were going through. Obviously they weren't on our side but I always thought hearing stories from them and the others in the east were really interesting.
On the question overall I feel like it really depended on what unit you were in more than what front you fought in. The idea that a guy who was an infantryman at the Hurtgen Forest was somehow better off than a guy in the Pacific makes no sense. The fronts were both terrible it was just a matter of what unit you were in and what your job was.
does anyone have any relatives that weren't in the US military? There was a girl in law school from Germany whose grandfather had lost a leg at Stalingrad. He always told her it was the best thing that ever happened to him, to give you an idea of the level of suffering they were going through. Obviously they weren't on our side but I always thought hearing stories from them and the others in the east were really interesting.
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