New Member from the southern US.

[Slipdigit]

Hi all,

I stumbled upon this forum whilst looking for something else and began to read the postings. I joined and posted a few articles and replies before I noticed this folder for new guys.

I am an avid reader of the history of WWII, but being here in the States, I have little access to stories and the history of the British Army, other than generalized references and the obligatory "I hate Monty" books. It has been interesting to read about the service of our Allied troops in this forum.

I am contractor network administrator on a USAF airbase and a former surgery nurse. I have been married for 20 years to a nurse and have two girls, who are in grammar school. I am a Baptist, as are many others here in the Bible Belt. I have been a vounteer firefighter for 12 years. My wife hates it but it is good hobby if you want someone else to pay for your fun.

I was raised on a farm and attended a private elementary, jr. and sr. high school, then a public college for my nursing degree.

I look forward to interacting with all of you, or as we say here in the South, y'all. I make no effort to diminish my strong, middle class south Alabama accent. For those foolish enough to assume that a "southern" accent is a sign of ignorance, I am already ahead of them.

Roll Tide (you'll have to look that one up).

[Owen]

Welcome Jeff,
Hope you become a regular poster.

the obligatory "I hate Monty" books.

That's made me smile.

[Peter Clare]

Welcome Jeff hope you enjoy it here.

[spidge]

Welcome Jeff,

Good to have you here and we look forward to further posts.

Originally Posted by Slipdigit

For those foolish enough to assume that a "southern" accent is a sign of ignorance, I am already ahead of them.

Sadly, this is another misnomer that Hollywood is responsible for!

Many people from overseas used to believe that Kangaroos used to run up the main street of Melbourne.

Roll Tide (you'll have to look that one up).

Do you like your football or are you looking to the future?

Are you working at Maxwell?

Cheers

Geoff

[Kyt]

Originally Posted by spidge

Many people from overseas used to believe that Kangaroos used to run up the main street of Melbourne.

Don't they? Well, in that case I'm tearing up ticket right now!

[Slipdigit]

Gunter trained a lot of foreign pilots and many are buried in a cemetery somewhere here in town (Montgomery, AL). There are maybe 50-60, mostly British and French pilots, with some Polish buried here who died during training accidents.

I follow college football (not soccer to y'all across the sea). I don't care much for professional football. Who wants to watch a bunch of guys who are too old to play college anymore?

Everyone in Australia likes to drink beer, BBQ shrimp and go walkabouts, right?

I do miss watching Australian Football. It used come on TV here couple of years ago for several seasons. It looked like an organized fight, except with nattily dressed men standing by the goals and waving flags and pointing their fingers. I loved it, wished it were still on here. Took me about 3 matches to figure out most of the rules.

[Slipdigit]

<---------- LQQK, I got a stripe! How many more posts until I make corporal?

[Andy in West Oz]

Originally Posted by Kyt

Don't they? Well, in that case I'm tearing up ticket right now!

Come to Perth, Kyt, they still do....

Jeff, you'll just have to keep posting to find out when you become a Corporal!

[Hawkeye90]

Welcome to WW2talk Jeff, enjoy yourself.

[spidge]

Originally Posted by Slipdigit

Technically I am at Maxwell, but actually at the Gunter Annex of Maxwell. Gunter AFB was an old training base that closed sometime in the early 60's

Used to be the Municipal Airport before they moved to Dannelly Field.

Gunter trained a lot of foreign pilots and many are buried in a cemetery somewhere here in town (Montgomery, AL). There are maybe 50-60, mostly British and French pilots, with some Polish buried here who died during training accidents.

I was not aware that so many British pilots trained there as most went through the Empire Training Scheme in Canada.

From: 42nd Air Base Wing: History: World War II Era

When the Lend-Lease Act became law on 11 March 1941, the British were struggling for their very survival. France had fallen to Nazi Germany in 1940, the British Expeditionary Force had retreated from Dunkirk at the same time, and a German surprise attack had not yet broken the Hitler-Stalin nonaggression pact of August 1939. Only the Royal Air Force, by denying air superiority to the Luftwaffe, had prevented an invasion of the British Isles by the German Wehrmacht. Isolated from its allies and facing a powerful and hostile opponent, the British turned to the Americans for assistance.
The United States responded by setting up several pilot training programs on American soil to train British pilots. The War Department chose the Southeast Air Corps Training Center to conduct training for 4,000 Britons per year at its schools in Florida, Georgia, and Alabama to qualify them for combat duty in the Royal Air Force. Between 7 June 1941 and 17 March 1943, 7,860 Britons entered the program, and 4,370 graduated. Maxwell Field began its foreign training program in the fall of 1941 when 750 British cadets arrived for school. The last class of British cadets graduated from Maxwell's preflight school on 26 February 1943.

I follow college football (not soccer to y'all across the sea).

A terminology for the members in the UK is "Across the Pond" (Atlantic)

Everyone in Australia likes to drink beer, BBQ shrimp and go walkabouts, right?

Wrong!

Good to see that the Australian governments marketing $'s are working well in the US. Paul Hogan did a good job with that AD campaign.

A majority drink beer, (I like a good red), never cooked a shrimp (called prawns here) on my BBQ, and the only time I go walkabout in the bush is if I am pig shooting with my Win 44 mag or Rem.243.

I do miss watching Australian Football. It used come on TV here couple of years ago for several seasons. It looked like an organized fight, except with nattily dressed men standing by the goals and waving flags and pointing their fingers. I loved it, wished it were still on here. Took me about 3 matches to figure out most of the rules.

Cable? The AFL website has another fan from Tuscaloosa who loved watching it. Not you is it Jeff?