Folks,

I don't know about everyone else but I was unable to get on the forum yesterday. I must have missed a notice they were doing some spring cleaning yesterday or something. Or there may have been a crash due to everyone trying to get in here all at once to read the latest Olga Saga. Yes, that might be it.

It reminded me of how I would miss the BoB and HWH forums if they suddenly disappeared. It is therfore an appropriate time for me to thank the powers that be for continuing to provide SimHQ and all its forums for so many of us to enjoy.

Thank you.

Greif1, I am a little behind in catching up on all this *excellent* content, but it really is wonderful to read. You are lucky to have had the chance to learn from your grandfather. My father was a small boy in the war and remembers many little details (such as V1 bombs and Tempests attacking them) but did not fly, obviously.

You comment on the awareness of the war in Germany. This puts me in mind of a visit I made to Hamburg last November. I happened to be wearing a poppy in my coat lapel, which is a tradition to commemorate the end of the first war (11am 11.11.1918). An old gentlemen asked me "which political party" I was representing. I was quite taken aback!

Gentlemen,

JRT,

I am here old bean! Like you I was unable to get through last night. Liked your story very much. It seems that for a short time at least, we were moving toward the paranormal in fashioning our stories. Difficult to sustain though were the lead is taken by such an earthy old boot like Olga.

Greif1 displayed a singular grasp of the situation wherein he might be required to challenge Olga and guarantee the survival of our squadron chum. Sheer common sense. Keeping her at arms length has always been difficult though essential to survival.

Sorry to learn of your loss C51. I hope the culprit's balls turn square, fester at the corners, and never drop off. Welcome back!

All,

JR2, I am just now able to gain access to the forum. There was apparently a problem somewhere in the plumbing. You made a good point as once I realized there was a problem I was worried the site had closed shop or that once back HWH would be gone. Probably an over reaction but at least a short visit here has been part of most of my days for a long time now.

Bader, interesting, your hamburg experience. Why did the fellow think the poppy was politically related?

Welcome back C51. sorry you had a bit of bad luck lately. Hope all is well or close to it now. We miss you and your quick humor around here ya know.

Folks,

Old Dux:

Thank you for reading my story and for saying that you liked it. I'd say Olga comes frightfully close to the "super un-natural" myself.

It was like old times today as I rolled in on final, touched down with just a wee bounce, leaned out of the cockpit as I taxied across the grass, and finally rolled to a stop. There were all your shining faces gathered around as before. You Dux, SNAFU, Bader, C51, and Greif1. Hot ziggity, this old thread has a life of its own.

Bader:

Over here we wear little red,plastic poppies in our lapels on Veteran's day to honor our vets. Usually members of the local VFW sell them around town for a voluntary donation. I always give as much as I possibly can when approached by one of these older gentlemen. When I hand him a few notes, usually the old guy will just look at me as if to say "Don't you want change back, sir?" and when I wave him off and turn to proudly place my poppy in my lapel and leave; I always hope that he knows I truly do appreciate their sacrifice although it is only a minor token of repayment due.

In Germany and I suppose in other countries as well I believe there has been a tradition of wearing a small pin or symbol in your lapel designating your political party affiliation and it probably continues today.

Over here, many of us have been wearing a small American Flag pin in our lapels since 9/11. Of course there are no lapels on t-shirts and sweat shirts so I don't often get to wear mine.

SNAFU:

I agree, C51 has become an integral part of HWH.

I put it down to the fact that Remembrance Sunday just doesn't exist in Germany. And why would it, given the post-war history?

Hello everyone! I guess there was a server problem the past two days as i could not get on either. I have scanned a photo of my Grandfather and some of his awards into my computer. Do one of you know how I can post them to this forum? It seems as if several of you are interested in his wartime biographical information, so following is a bit more detail. Of course I will add pictures once I figure out how to(with your help! Sometimes I feel quite inept on the computer.)

In late 1938, Grandfather was assigned to Jagdgeschwader 26 (JG26)as an enlisted pilot with the rank of Unteroffizer (Sergeant). He flew with either 4th or 5th Staffel, II Gruppe during his entire assignment to JG26. He initially flew a BF109D, Black 8 as a wingman. During the Spring of 1939, JG26 recieved its completely re-equipped with the BF109E1 and began a period of intensive training. The late summer of 1939 found the unit in the field and it was moved to western Germany to provide air defense. II Gruppe was stationed at Bönninghardt airfield, which is near Duisburg. During the first several months of the war, Grandfather flew many missions without contact with the enemy. In fact he only sighted enemy planes on two occasions between the fall of 1939 and the spring of 1940. His flight was not allowed to engage either time because the enemy planes were not in German airspace. During that time the unit recieved improved BF109E3s and E4s.

With the invasion of France on 10 May 1940 combat activity picked up sharply. During the first few days of the campaign in the west, Grandfather flew over Holland and was never in position to engage the enemy. During the latter part of the first week of the campaign, JG26 concentrated its efforts in northern France. On 18 May 1940 at approximately 4:35pm Grandfather downed his first enemy aircraft of the war in the vicinity of Douai. Interestingly, Douai was an airfield that Manfred von Richtofen frequently flew from during WWI. The Hurricane's unit cannot be positively identified as aircraft from 5 different squadron were operating in the area that day, and the British loss records for that day are not quite clear which squadrons were flying where and exact times are missing, understandable with the confusion that Fighter Command was operating under at the time due to shuttling squadrons back and forth to France. The next day, 19 May 1940 found Grandfather's Staffel operating in the same vicinity. Late in the day, at 8:40pm he shot down a Hurricane, very likely from 615 Squadron near Tournai. On this mission, II Gruppe lost its Kommandeur, Hauptmann Herwig Knüppel when he was shot down and killed. It is nearly positive his victor was F/O Tony Eyre of 615 Squadron. During the period between 27 May through 2 June 1940, Grandfather's Gruppe was heavily engaged with the RAF over Dunkirk. On 29 May 1940, Grandfather scored his third victory of the war. At between 6:45 and 7:00 pm II Gruppe was involved in a large dogfight with Spitfires belonging to 64 and 610 Squadrons, which were flying top cover for the Hurricanes of 229 and 242 Squadrons. During the melee, Grandfather claimed a Spitfire, which could have come from either squadron involved, the Germans claimed eight and five were actually lost. Grandfather's victory could also have been one of the Hurricanes as the fighting was pretty confusing with a large number of fighters from both sides in the air - a preview of the Battle of Britain perhaps. Four Hurricanes were lost, with German Pilots claiming seven. The overclaiming was not one sided however, British pilots claimed 11 for the actual loss of three. On 01 June 1940 Grandfather claimed his 4th victory of the war, again over Dunkirk. During a dogfight over the beach between 12:40 and 12:55 pm BF109s clashed with Hurricanes of 43, 145, and 245 Squadrons - all understrength. At 12:50 pm Grandfather claimed a Hurricane which crashed into the surf just off the evacuation beach. It very likely belonged to 145 Squadron, which was flying from Hawkinge that day. Its pilot was P/O E.G. King, who managed to bail out safely and was returned to England. On 03 June 1940, Grandfather was someone elses victory. He was flying as part of the escort for a heavy bombing raid on the Paris airfields. He told me he was not paying close enough attention and was "bounced" from out of the sun. The first he knew he was under attack was when rounds began slamming into his right wing, cockpit, and engine. Three rounds actually holed his right sleeve and more shattered the instrument panel. Smoke immediately filled the cockpit and Grandfather said he probably jettisoned the canopy and exited the cockpit faster them he ever had before. While exiting he got hit in the right calf for his only wound of the war, a clean flesh wound. When he landed he was immediately captured by the French who took him to one of the airfields that had just been bombed. Grandfather said the French airmen were not that upset about the bombing because they immediately plied him with a large amount of cognac! By the time the French Army arrived to take him away, Grandfather said he was definitely feeling no pain! His captivity did not last long as he was freed and returned to 4/JG26 after the armistice on 22 June 1940.

Well that takes us up to the Battle of Britain period. I will take up the biography from there as their are some good stories Grandfather told me. Hopefully I will have a picture or two as well.

Sincerely,
Greif1

Folks,

Bader:

Yes, that is a good point. Why indeed? Surely they honor their veterans in some way, however?

Greif1:

Thank you for posting more information regarding your grandfather. We look forward to additional posts in the near future.

Try checking out http://www.photobucket.com and set up a free account. You can upload your photos there and then post the address here and your pics will pop right up. There is plenty of info on how to do it or just e-mail me and I'll try to answer your questions.

Amazing Greif,

As much as the horror of war is something to be avoided at all costs. I know that somewhere deep inside is a small envy as the imagined glory that your grandfather engaged in. One reason I fly flight sims, to my naive mind there was still honor and glory in those wild fights in the sky.

While I know in reality there was not, I just can't help feeling the fighter War was a "cut above". Thank you for sharing your grandfathers stories.

Now this is fantastic reading Greif.
What I find more amazing is that these pilots were at such a young age, mere boys in their late teens or twenties...
waitng for the next chapter