Greatest Generation Anecdotes

An American born in Canada who voluntarily joined the Army in August 1940, at eighteen, becoming a court reporter and serving with the Army Field Historical Section in WW II in Ireland, England, Wales, Scotland, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt, Sicily, Italy, France, Belgium, Holland and Germany, sharing anecdotes, epigrams and like episodes in the context in which they appeared, it being the purpose here to tell more of the irony rather than of the hell of war. Eg. -
ILLUSION BECOMES REALITY - In the early part of August there was a plan for the 1st Canadian Corps to move to the Central sector of Italy. An elaborate deception scheme was put into effect by the Canadians to give the impression their Corps would be going to another sector - the Adriatic coastal. Then a change in plan was suddenly decided on at higher level for the Canadians togo, instead of to the Central sector, to the Adriatic coastal sector; the very illusion the Canadians had tried to create of going to the Adriatic sector becoming a reality.

ENGLAND EXPECTS EVERY RUSSIAN TO DO HIS DUTY - In 1942 there was the possibility of Russia being driven out of the war. It was felt there was doubt on the part of Russia an Anglo-American Second Front in Europe would ever take place and that Russia suspected Britain and the U.S. of letting Germany and Russia fight it out while they talked about an invasion of Western Europe. Going around was a famous British saying which had been paraphrased - England expects every Russian to do his duty.

HERE IS THE WASHING - In the early days of the war the British sang a song which went something like: Were going to hang our washing, On the Siegfried Line, If the Siegfried Lines still there...

As we passed through the line near the end of the war we noticed at one point some washing on a line by a sign reading: This is the Siegfried Line, Here is the washing.

WHERES THE STATION - A captured prisoner said, It used to be you would go to a train station in Germany and find the train gone. Now you go to the station and find the station gone.