My Grandfather's Story

For awhile I didn't know where to post this but now I feel that this is the right place. Anyway my grandfather, on my dads side, was in the Wehremacht during WWII. I don't know the entire story but my father tells me that he marched under the Arch-du-Triumph when Paris was invaded. I guess he got redeployed because his last battle was Stalingrad, he didn't die but deserted. He was sent there when things stared getting really bad, the weather, the leadership and most importantly the Russian offensive. Anyway he was an army butcher, he decided one day to return home before he got killed. All I know is that he managed to get home safely, but along the way he ate his boots because of hunger and actually got caught by a few German officers. They were going to execute him but his knowledge of meat actually saved his life. He was hiding out in a barn when he was caught. A cow was on the farm and my grandfather cut it up, cooked the meat and gave it to the officers, happy with some real food the let him go and he managed to get back to Germany, A few years later he and my dads family moved to Australia where most of them live today. There's not to much info on it like I said but we have one photograph of him in uniform which I will try and find. As of right now though it is speculated that some of his uniforms and gear are still in my grandparents attic, the bad part is both of them are unfortunately long dead and most of my family is not willing to go looking through all of their stuff! I just wanted to tell that amazing story, which could be made into a great movie. Trademark. Thanks.

Yup, definitely interesting. And definitely worth the effort to sort out the details while there may still be things like personal letters, diaries, postcards, etc. that may flesh out some of the details. Uniforms and what not would be a surprising find as he probably ditched them upon getting back home. Evidence, you know

There was a story of a German halftrack driver that deserted during the final days of the war. He was fairly near his home town and the rest of his unit wanted to desert as well. So everybody went their separate ways and he drove his halftrack all the way home. He parked it in the barn and hid it. For decades after he would occasionally go and sit in it to remember his war days. When he passed away (1980s IIRC) it was "discovered" and sold to a museum, IIRC (it is against the law for Germans to own armored vehicles). All of his kit was buried in the garden, but I think it was all rotted by that point.

Steve

I hope to look through some stuff, but getting to Australia from New York is no easy task. I have a few other stories involving family and other family friends about WWII and Vietnam. Ill post them over the summer when I get more info about them.

How the hell do you eat a boot?!That is a type of hunger I hope I do not experience!

This summer my sister went over to Australia and said that there were war journals of my grandfather and great grandfather from World War I and II but its written in script and heavy German no one can translate it. Also I also found out that it apparently was Leningrad and not Stalingrad he was stationed.

Oliver,

Just out of interest - what part of Australia? Don't worry, I won't go on a 'raid'!

Fil

filupe wrote:Oliver,

Just out of interest - what part of Australia? Don't worry, I won't go on a 'raid'!

Fil

Haha, most of my family who live in Australia live on the island of Tasmania around Hobart and Launceston.

Great Story Fleck ! Thanks for sharing it , if any one is interested in reading about the end of WWII from the German perspective of the "average" soldier ,read Berlin Dance of Death , a teen drafted to fight the Russians in the last weeks of the war and his survival through the streets of Berlin .

Flecktarn92 wrote:
Haha, most of my family who live in Australia live on the island of Tasmania around Hobart and Launceston.

Too far to swim anyway! I have visited there tho' years ago, very pretty and strangely European in some areas.

Just getting back to the topic, my paternal grandfather also has a very interesting war history, much of it unfortunately undocumented (by the family anyway). Suffice to say he flew for Claire Chennault but not with the AVG - the outfit he flew for ended up being bankrolled by the CIA (after his tenure).