Knackered!

Discussion in 'General' started by Peter Clare, Jun 19, 2008.

  1. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    Don't forget civilians needed somewhere to sleep too!
    [​IMG]
    The London Underground during the Blitz
     
  2. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

    Why not use this one ;).

    I think it's probably not mentioned enough that a large part of the physical battle the chaps on the ground were fighting was sleeping/living rough, sometimes for months on end.
    Got some statistics somewhere on the high levels of troops in the 1944 Western European winter that were out of action largely down to exposure related conditions.
     
  3. Ron Goldstein

    Ron Goldstein WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    Adam

    I think it's probably not mentioned enough that a large part of the physical battle the chaps on the ground were fighting was sleeping/living rough, sometimes for months on end.
    Got some statistics somewhere on the high levels of troops in the 1944 Western European winter that were out of action largely down to exposure related conditions.



    You are quite right to draw attention to the effect that living rough for lengthy periods of time caused many troops to be out of action with "non-wound" type of illnesses.

    I think the most miserable living conditions I ever faced in Italy was in the Cassino area and I wrote about it here.

    On March 17th, 1944, whilst my regiment (the 49th LAA) was smoke laying at Cassino, poor living conditions finally caught up with me and I erupted into a bad case of running sores, mainly on my arms and face. The lads on our wireless truck persuaded me to report sick and I duly presented myself for MO’s inspection. After a cursory glance he instantly diagnosed Impetigo and sent me off to the nearest FAP. Here they kept me a day and then sent me packing to the 93rd General Hospital based in Naples.
    The trip down, by hospital train, was un-eventful although I was immensely embarrassed to be travelling in the same compartment as a batch of ‘walking wounded’ most of them still with their original dressings and plaster casts. One chap in particular kept thrusting the plaster cast on his arm at me, wanting to know if it still smelt bad!
    When we arrived at Naples the city was covered in a grey ash as Vesuvius had chosen that month to erupt for the first time in I don’t know how many years.
    The 93rd General was perched up on top of a hill overlooking the bay and I have various strong memories of my two weeks stay.
    The best was the combination of a hot bath and clean white sheets, the first I could remember since October 1942 and producing sheer bliss.
    The fact that the hospital was bombed during the night did nothing to reduce my pleasure although I did think at the time it would have been ironical to lose my life in that manner after surviving life in the field so far.
    The worst memory was the extremely painful, twice daily, treatment sessions, none of your white starched female nurses for me, just a heavy handed male orderly breaking open scabs every time they healed and much painting with a horrible violet coloured ointment.
    We were obliged to wear ‘Hospital Blues’ a completely soul destroying operation. White shirt, red tie, blue serge ill-fitting jacket and trousers, all presumably to make us instantly recognisable as non-combatants and how that uniform itched!
    On the 30th of March (G-d bless my Army Records) I was released from purgatory, returned to my unit and was back to the same living conditions as before.
     
  4. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    The same is true in the modern army today too. In 2003 somewhere around 2,000 British Troops went down with a 24-48hr D+V virus in a very short period of time before the fall of Basra.

    It was so bad and with there still being a fear that the Iraqi regime had Chemical and possibly Biological weapons the powers that be wouldn't rule out there had been a biological attack on the troops around the Shaibah Airfield area.

    It was later proven to be a airborne virus but no one could tell where it had come from.
     
  5. Za Rodinu

    Za Rodinu Hot air manufacturer

    This reminds me of a certain Hero who wanted to flood his capital's Underground because the people were "unworthy".
     
  6. Smudger Jnr

    Smudger Jnr Our Man in Berlin

    Landser know when its time for bed:
    [​IMG]


    A photo from the Getty Images collection.

    Regards
    Tom
     
  7. Smudger Jnr

    Smudger Jnr Our Man in Berlin

  8. Warlord

    Warlord Veteran wannabe

    Tommies in Crete, after evacuation from Greece, courtesy of nzhistory.net; Greek guerrillas circa 1943, from ww2incolor.com; USAFFE forces "resting" on their way to hell, during the Death March, courtesy of ww2db.com.
     

    Attached Files:

  9. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 24, 2019
  10. Hat_Trick

    Hat_Trick Junior Member

    Of all the photos, I think this is the sweetest. :)
     
  11. Warlord

    Warlord Veteran wannabe

    [​IMG]

    Maybe an unloading party from an Engineer outfit; looks like Iwo to me.
     
  12. Slipdigit

    Slipdigit Old Hickory Recon

    Warlord is more than likely that is correct. There were no blacks in Marine combat units during the war.
     
  13. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    [​IMG]
    Pair of American servicemen huddle under a blanket to get while crossing the English Channel atop an Army supply truck, one of many loaded on LST 317 en route to a landing on the beaches of Normandy following the Allied D-Day invasion.

    [​IMG]
    American soldiers relaxing aboard a docked LST w. their mascot "Axis Sally", a waterfront statue adorned w. a combat helmet, which was "liberated" during the ongoing battle for control of the Anzio beachhead area.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 24, 2019
  14. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    [​IMG]
    Member of RAF ground crew relaxing in shade of the wing of a Hurricane fighter plane in between sorties during the Battle of Britain.
     
  15. Passchendaele_Baby

    Passchendaele_Baby Grandads Little Girl

    [​IMG]
    This ones my favourite :p
     
  16. Biggles115

    Biggles115 Member

    I remember being able to fall asleep anywhere in the army. I remember climbing into the back of a Bedford 4 tonner while in Bosnia, only to find it was pretty much full so i curled up on the floor between a stack of bergens. I still think this was the best kip i ever had and i woke up two hours later feeling great!

    I only wish i could still do it as nightshift gives me hell these days!
     
  17. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    American soldier of a mechanized unit (parent unit insiginia removed from print as per WWII military censorship rules) catching a nap in a foxhole after long grueling march through rugged mountains. (white tape at top of pic is used by engineers to mark cleared routes through minefields)
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Group of American soldiers catch a nap beside a haystack after a long, grueling march through rugged mountains near Minturno.
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Allied soldier (prob. Australian) bundled in a blanket and huddled in a shallow foxhole while trying to get some rest during a lull in the fighting to control Tobruk.
    [​IMG]

    British soldier sleeping in a shallow foxhole dug into the desert sand during a lull in the fighting for control of North Africa. Libya 1941.
    [​IMG]

    Shell crater in town square of St. Lo is used as a foxhole to provide two American soldiers protection during their advance through Normandy in the days following the Allied D-Day landings.
    [​IMG]

    Boots of a resting American soldier sticking out of small dugout during a daytime lull in the fight for Anzio.
    [​IMG]

    Soldier of the US 1st Army taking a rest in a foxhole near the front lines around Stolberg during the push into Germany. November 1944.
    [​IMG]
     
  18. MyOldDad

    MyOldDad Senior Member

    An American GI sleeping in a dugout during a lul in the fight for Anzio.

    [​IMG]

    Tom.

    SNAP!!!!!
     
  19. MyOldDad

    MyOldDad Senior Member

    Boots of a resting American soldier sticking out of small dugout during a daytime lull in the fight for Anzio.
    [​IMG]

    As Harry Hill would say: 'What are the chances of that happening?!!'
    Tom.
     
  20. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    American soldier Elmer Habbs of Delaware resting next to signpost for the French town of Ste. Mere-Eglise as troops advance on the 2nd day of the Allied invasion of Normandy, 1944.
    [​IMG]

    air of American soldiers (L-R, Peter Lazere & David Davies) resting & reading on a beach in Normandy following victorious AII Allied D-Day invasion. 1944.
    [​IMG]

    American soldier taking a nap on bed belonging to German General Hermann Goering after elements of the US 3rd Army captured his lodge.
    [​IMG]

    American soldiers of the 69th Division taking a well deserved rest (L-R) Gerald A. Garrson, Donald Meyers, Stuart Brent, Bill McGough & Alva Goodwin.
    [​IMG]

    British soldier reading for relaxation at jungle base during WWII Burma campaign. 1944.
    [​IMG]

    Soldier relaxing after shaving in slit trench, taking a break from the action during the Cherbourg campaign, just after the Allied D-Day invasion of Normandy.
    [​IMG]

    Barefoot American soldier sleeping up agaist sandbags in front of a small dugout during daytime lull in the fight for Anzio.
    [​IMG]

    Australian soldier sleeping in a hammock during a lull in the fight to rout Japanese forces in the area. Lae, Papua New Guinea 1943.
    [​IMG]

    Exhausted American soldier sleeping against a shattered tree trunk after the savage battle to wrest the area from Japanese control. Buna, Papua New Guinea, 1943.
    [​IMG]

    British soldier 'H. Stanborough' sleeping on ledge beside ancient statues. Italy 1944.
    [​IMG]

    Exhausted Finnish soldier sleeping during a lull in the Russo-Finnish War. 1940.
    [​IMG]
     

Share This Page