did your grandparents spend all of WW2 sucking their thumbs?

Question

I heard an American on the UK TV news last Thursday telling me this was the case with the UK forces.

I was suprised.

There was me thinking they were fighting for their lives and liberty.

I am thinking of posting this same question on the US versin of this site to get a balanced viewpoint....just in case we are all wrong and he was right

My uncle died in WW2, the telegram said he died in combat.

My dad served through the whole war. I'm pleased ( strange eh ? ) that he is not still around to listen to this arrogance that seems to be getting worse.

Answer 1

My father went through both world wars he was Belgian.In the first he was a messenger boy in the trenches,In the second he escaped from Belgium as the Germans invaded and rejoined his unit the Belgian Paras at Manchester,The man who said that should go to Ypers in Belgium before he opened his mouth and look at all the names on just one memorial,to balance my comments here in the Northwest we remember every year the American fighter and Bomber crews who did not go home,God Bess them All.

Answer 2

Why be insulted by stupidity? There are some Americans who feel like Brits and their friends are our only real allies and I think whoever said that is an idiot. Brits fought alone for a time and if Hitler had not had some respect for the British America would have had to fight alone and we were not ready at the time of WW2 in 1939. I think that you are listening to the leftist press too much and need to realize that most Americans admire and love the British! I can't speak for whatever the idiot said on TV, but it isn't the way most Americans feel!
To those above who feel that the person you saw on TV was reflecting what we think over here, Sorry for his ignorance! I assure you all that he does not express the views of the majority of Americans and actually none of the Americans I know!

Answer 3

Well my grandad was in the army band playing saxaphone. So not sure really - he refused to talk about any combat .... so I can't answer.

I do know for sure that the Brits were at Dunkirk and therefore they must have been in occupied territory and hence probably not sucking their thumbs.

Is it possible that the Americans got it wrong - I did see a film that said they captured the Enigma machine from a German Sub - so perhaps Americans have an inherant inability to admit others were involved!

I wonder in 50years will the Brits not have been in Iraq - that could be a good thing!

Answer 4

Well my grandad summed it all up for me in 1 statement and that was this."When the Germans flew over the British ducked, When the British flew over the Germans ducked , And when the Americans flew over EVERYBODY ducked.
Hmmm still seems same to present day ie;1991 A10 tank buster opened fire on Orange (allied) marked bedford 4 tonner holding British Royal Highland Fusilliers .
So to say this I am afraid the American army is a poorly trained "Shoot first check who we killed afterwards armed force".
But i will submit this point without there help finacially and with equipment from 1939 to 1941 Britain would have probably been defeated also they helped us win WWII but the lax attitude in soldiering is something that still needs to be addressed by the pentagon dont you think.

Answer 5

My grandfather was in his early 50's when WW2 broke out, therefore he was too old to join up. He was however, a chief engineer in the merchant navy, and spent most of the time sailing across the Atlantic.
My father was in the Army and fought extensively in Africa and Europe, he failed to be evacuated at Dunkirk, but managed to commandeer a motorcycle and rode to Brest where he managed to get a lift back to the UK.
My mother lived in Southampton and was 14 when it all started, later on she became an air aid warden

Answer 6

This was that TW*T who is from the same town as the pilots who killed UK troops in Iraq! Eldron Anderson or something was his name what an A**hole.

Yes we needed help from the USA in WW2 when they finally decided to help us beat the Nazis but we had been fighting on our own since 1939 when the poxy French surrendered AGAIN to the Germans.

Funny how the USA thinks they rule the world. I wonder why so many are hated by the rest of the world. This bloke is a prat I am sure he is the minority at least i hope he is!

Answer 7

This is a case of a rather ignorant and stupid man trying to defend the indefensible. It seems to make sense to his limited intellectual capacity that if he derides the British it makes the mistake of the pilot who lived next door more excusable. Which is of course a complete non sequitor. Not that he would know what that means.

Ignore him, he likes get his ugly mug on TV and spouting such jingoistic rubbish. He is condemned by his own obvious stupidity.

I am English and live in the US.

Answer 8

Of course because we did nothing until the US turned up (half way through) - we just sat there like the damsal in distress saying "oh won't somebody please come to our rescue"...

I doubt that there are many people who's grandparents weren't part of the war effort one way or another. My Grandfather was an engineer and spent his time blowing things up.

Unfortunately it's thoughtless comments like that which tars all Americans with the same brush, which, based upon my American friends, is a shame.

Answer 9

I asked myself this question, why would our left wing TV media choose to report the views of one disgruntled American? He changed his view later, stating that he was fed up with the fact that America seems to be getting the blame for everything that goes wrong in the world. Regular contributors to this site will know what he means. The answer to the question I have posed, is that, it provided them with an irresistible opportunity to gain support for their anti-American left wing agenda. Regrettably, it worked, because people are, and continue to be, gullible, and are constantly being brainwashed and out-thought by the devious lefties.

Answer 10

I could relate a few stories passed on to me by relatives who served the WW2 effort, however, I won't bore you Did you know up until Pearl Harbour the USA was investing money in Germany? I read this in a book some years ago and now can't remember it's title.