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Comment by Richard Boyd on June 16, 2012 at 9:57am

Sorry for the cryptic response. I heard the stories more than 50 years ago.

My Dad, like most others would not talk to us about WWII or Korea. I once asked him how he got his Purple Hearts, and he just said "Shot in Germany, phosphorus burns in Korea", then walked out the door. The message was clear, i.e. "don't ask again".

However, when his buddies came over, and they were playing cards and drinking, they would talk to each other. I'd just be a mouse in the corner, and listen. Usually, it was bs, but occasionally they'd talk about their war experiences. He'd get pretty agitated every time the story of being dropped in the wrong location came up, and would be slapping the cards down. I gathered that it is was a terrible experience being alone and hunted.

I remember them getting into the silliest argument over the noise made by the clickers, that were issued paratroopers so they could find each other. Twenty years later, my Dad still had his and kept it in a little dish with his loose change on their bedroom dresser. Guess it was important enough to him, that he kept it in his pocket all the time.

Comment by Claudia Bartow on June 15, 2012 at 10:16pm

Thanks for sharing, Very interesting.

Comment by Richard Boyd on June 15, 2012 at 1:11pm

What I know is what I remember from listening to him swap stories with his Army buddies, when they would come over to the house.

He was in a glider, and they were told to jump in the wrong location. He and the others evidently did not know they were being dropped in the wrong location, but it became clear when they got on the ground. He was alone for a couple days. I guess the Germans sent patrols out to look for survivors of the jump, and killed and captured several. He said he was both lucky, and good at hiding, or they would have caught him too. I guess he eventually met up with some Canadians, who were also lost, and they made it back together as a group.

He told one story of laying in a ditch next to a road while convoys of German trucks went by for several hours, and debating with himself if he should go in the same direction. Thinking they were headed toward the fighting. However, he decided against it because he didn't know who was winning. So, he just kept going in the direction of coast thinking that even if the Allies were losing, there would at least be some left on the beaches. He, and the "Canucks", finally made it to Allied lines, and he eventually got back to his unit.

He was wounded in August of '44, and sent back to London to rehab, and then returned to the fighting in March of '45. He was in Germany at the end of the war, and remained as part of the occupation forces for another year, before coming home.

Comment by Claudia Bartow on June 14, 2012 at 9:23am

Thank you Richard for your comments. You rarely hear about those dropped BEHIND enemy lines in DDay. If you know anything about his experience, please consider sharing as a story in the forum.

Comment by Richard Boyd on June 14, 2012 at 8:53am

God bless them all!

My Dad was in the 82cd Airborne, and was dropped into Normandy on D-Day. It was his first combat action. Turned out to be anti-climatic for him, as he landed way behind German lines, and spent 5 days making his way back to the Allied side. 

Thanks Claudia, for the post and pics.

Comment by Claudia Bartow on June 7, 2012 at 11:46pm

When you go to Fold 3 (the first link above) be sure to click on the last choice where it says "rare color photographs".  WOW.