For Irish boardies - did any of your relatives fight in a large scale war?

ScumLord · 20-04-2011 07:07PM

My great grandpappy fought the tans.

Cakes. · 20-04-2011 07:07PM

My dad's great uncle fought in WWI but was gassed in Flanders and returned to Ireland to heal and was recruited to fight in the 1916 rising.

Cakes. · 20-04-2011 07:11PM

ejmaztec wrote: »

He doesn't count because he wasn't fighting.

Hitler fought and was injured in WWI.

SeaFields · 20-04-2011 07:13PM

Cakesofrice wrote: »

Hitler fought and was injured in WWI.

Saved by an Irish man wasnt it? There was a book or something about that recently.

Cakes. · 20-04-2011 07:15PM

SeaFields wrote: »

Saved by an Irish man wasnt it? There was a book or something about that recently.

Not sure but he definitely fought and was injured by shrapnel from a bomb or something.

mgmt · 20-04-2011 07:18PM

My cousin got assassinated in Cuba.

Wibbs · 20-04-2011 07:18PM

Yep, Various risings around the time of the plantations, the Napoleonic wars, Boer war, not WW1, but 1916 and following inc civil war of 22. Spanish Civil war with the anti Franco folks. WW2, with the Yanks and the Brits in the European theatre, avoided Korea, but one rellie flew over Vietnam. Bit hush hush that one.

Samba · 20-04-2011 07:19PM

I'm not proud of it and neither was he but my Grandfather oversaw a number of nuclear tests, was involved in Indo China and was the Naval Ambassador to the US in the later stages of his career. He had some crazy stories, one in particular comes to mind where he was given orders to launch a nuke, 30 minutes before they were due to launch the order was cancelled.

citizen_p · 20-04-2011 07:20PM

I lost a great uncle in The War of the Buttons

iMax · 20-04-2011 07:24PM

My great grandfather was shot during the escape from the GPO in 1916. He was shot through the throat & bled out in the doorway of what is now the meteor store in Henry St. He actually drowned in his own blood.

One of my other great grandfathers served in WWII, was shot in France, lay in the trench for three days & was gassed while there. He made it home but died two years later from lung failure. His grandson (my uncle) left his medal on his grave headstone in Glasnevin 20 years ago during my Grandfather's funeral & it disappeared (stolen we presume) within a couple of weeks.

AckwelFoley · 20-04-2011 07:24PM

My father is a war hero.

He has fought in the greatest war of all time.

He's been in Battle for 50 years.

With my mother.

citizen_p · 20-04-2011 07:25PM

actully my gran uncle (who died the day i was born, named after him) was in the american army during ww2, frrom wwhat i've heards he was drafted after emigrating and according to my grandfather he ended up in Berlin. all I know on the guy really.

citizen_p · 20-04-2011 07:27PM

iMax wrote: »

My great grandfather was shot during the escape from the GPO in 1916. He was shot through the throat & bled out in the doorway of what is now the meteor store in Henry St. He actually drowned in his own blood.

One of my other great grandfathers served in WWII, was shot in France, lay in the trench for three days & was gassed while there. He made it home but died two years later from lung failure. His grandson (my uncle) left his medal on his grave headstone in Glasnevin 20 years ago during my Grandfather's funeral & it disappeared (stolen we presume) within a couple of weeks.

sorry mate, unless you mistyped WW1( persume you did since it was your great grandfather)
thats highly unlikley, no gas was used on WW2 battlefields by the germans.

Kevin Duffy · 20-04-2011 07:29PM

SeaFields wrote: »

Saved by an Irish man wasnt it? There was a book or something about that recently.

Wasn't during WWI, but after http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/the-irish-man-who-saved-hitler-2579288.html

iMax · 20-04-2011 08:23PM

Mousey- wrote: »

sorry mate, unless you mistyped WW1( persume you did since it was your great grandfather)
thats highly unlikley, no gas was used on WW2 battlefields by the germans.

You're quite correct. it was a Double tap of the "I"

PeterIanStaker · 20-04-2011 08:36PM

Steyr wrote: »

It is interesting to hear indeed.

But how is it incredible? Thousands of Irish men and women have fought under another Nations flag. Hell we even founded some of the Worlds Major Navy's, The United States Navy to name one.

and the Argentine navy.

tallaghtmick · 20-04-2011 08:47PM

my grandfather wasnt a soldier but a rescue swimmer,he swam in the waters of dunkirk as they where getting shelled to rescue soldiers who couldnt swim,apparently he had to be dragged out of the waters as he couldnt stand to see young lads dying and screaming,he got a medal for bravery for it.....not bad for a man of 43.

Aiel · 20-04-2011 08:56PM

Yes,my grand-uncle was in the US Army Pacific Fleet in WW2.He got a Medal of Honour for helping to take one of many tiny yet important islands in the Western Pacific.
The Japs had loads of booby traps set and apparently my Grand-uncle was good at sniffing out them and ambushes too.For example,he'd spot something like a huge tree that appeared to have fallen naturally and they'd go to go around it but he noticed it was actually felled on purpose and that a trip wire lay where they were about to go around the tree.

ScumLord · 20-04-2011 09:00PM

iMax wrote: »

His grandson (my uncle) left his medal on his grave headstone in Glasnevin 20 years ago during my Grandfather's funeral & it disappeared (stolen we presume) within a couple of weeks.

Well duh, why on earth would anyone think it wouldn't get stolen?

Dyr · 20-04-2011 09:01PM

Gnobe wrote: »

My catholic grandfather from County Tyrone moved to huddersfield when he was a teenager, joined the Royal Navy during world war II. I think he was captured by the Japanese but I'm not sure.

He managed to join the navy and be captured by the japs In huddersfield?

iMax · 20-04-2011 09:02PM

ScumLord wrote: »

Well duh, why on earth would anyone think it wouldn't get stolen?

Because it's a relic of a corpse maybe ? Absolutely no respect.

Agent Smith · 20-04-2011 09:06PM

Mousey- wrote: »

I lost a great uncle in The War of the Buttons

I Just lost a load of buttons

thieving bastards....

pragmatic1 · 20-04-2011 09:12PM

One of my fathers cousins won an award for bravery for something he done in Pearl Harbour. Few dead relatives fought in WW1.

joe stodge · 20-04-2011 09:16PM

my great grand father fought in the irish civil war, my nana has 2 shells from an artillery gun fired at the four courts on the mantlepeice.

Ruu_Old · 20-04-2011 09:21PM

My granddad was in WW2 and spent some time in India also. I think his main line of work was as a mechanic fixing up the planes for the RAF. He passed away last year at 90 years of age, just before I had an opportunity to go back home to visit.

He had wonderful stories about how they used to travel, take boat to place x then light aircraft to area y, etc.

The Big Red Button · 20-04-2011 09:27PM

My great great (insert an appropriate number of "greats", I think it may be between 4 and 7) uncle was Fr John Murphy from Boolavogue. Linkage. Pretty cool dude, proud to be related to him!

Muckie · 20-04-2011 09:34PM

My great grand dad fought in WW1 at the Somme and was badly wounded. He managed to be sent home where he died with he's 9 month
old son in he's arms. He was 21

He's older brother also fought but died over there. Father and Uncle have both served even my older brother too.

Solnskaya · 20-04-2011 09:48PM

My father was a machine gunner on the eastern front, his two brothers were riflemen. 1 brother froze to death at Stalingrad, dad and other brother lived through the war to almost end, returning home on troop train, train was strafed by american ground attack plane, 20mm cannon shell passed through brothers head sitting next to him, auld lad and co. jumped from train and dived into canal beside tracks. 25kg of grenades and ammo etc dragged him straight down - his friend pulled him out in nick of time. Auld lad was a hard man as a result of war experiences, very bleak, and when he got jarred he somtimes spoke about the eastern front, and it was grim by all accounts. I still have his knife and the edelweiss flower he wore on his uniform, apparently only the toughies got to wear the edelweiss - my old man was a toughie.

Eoin · 20-04-2011 09:54PM

Two of my granduncles died fighting for Germany in WW2. One was a scout and died on the Russian front. The other (I think) died of gangrene in a Russian POW camp after the war had ended. I think we have one of their iron cross medals somewhere. We also have photos that were taken by one of them, but were undeveloped until his camera was returned to the family.

marcsignal · 20-04-2011 09:58PM

Grandfather (2nd from Left, standing) in Merchant Navy WW1 and 2. 2 Uncles (Two Pics of one of them) and 1 Aunt in RAF during and after WW2. Another Aunt in the WRNS (Womens Royal Naval Service), and my sisters Father in Law was in the Wiking Div Waffen SS.

All survived the War, but now dead, bar 1 of the RAF uncles who now lives in Walkinstown.

Ruu wrote: »

My granddad was in WW2 and spent some time in India also. I think his main line of work was as a mechanic fixing up the planes for the RAF.

One of my RAF Uncles did exactly that, an aeronautical engineer, he's the one in the pics above.

For Irish boardies - did any of your relatives fight in a large scale war?

Comments