The Great Raid

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Is it about the St. Nazaire raid? I liked the book. One thing I like was the mention that the Commandos issued Colt .45 autos as their std. handgun.


Most Americans don't know that.
 
That's due to...

Texas Star said:
Is it about the St. Nazaire raid? I liked the book. One thing I like was the mention that the Commandos issued Colt .45 autos as their std. handgun.

Most Americans don't know that.
Click to expand...

...some questions about the raid that were answered but the questions kept coming.

"What caliber is best for stopping a German?"
 
My FIL was attached to the Commando group for a while before we invaded Normandy. He was also sent to Greenland chasing the German Weather crews as he put it. He told me he liked the British troops and admired their officers for the most part. He was also stationed in Iceland for a while and said there was much German sentiment among the populace. Told me they had to be very careful. He also said there was some German sentiment in Ireland. He was sent to England in late 1940-early 41. He told me they made small raids in North Africa and in France. Wish I had taped him when he talked about it...and fighting in France. He disembarked(twice) on D day. The first boat(he said a LST) was blown out from under him the first time. I still have a S-F knife and some small mementos from his time with the Brits. He was reassigned to his battalion in late 1943
 
CustomChevyGuy said:
Stumbled upon the movie The Great Raid on HBO tonight. So far it's been pretty much build up and back story. They are getting ready to execute the raid itself now. No clue how accurate it actually is, but being that it's a WW2 movie I figured I'd give it a chance..
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If you're talking of the movie about the US Ranger raid on the POW camp at Cabanatuan, PI, then yes, it's an accurate story of the event. The movie is based on the books "The Ghost Soldiers" and "The Great Raid". the Ghost Soldiers is the better book, IMO.
 
fordson said:
If you're talking of the movie about the US Ranger raid on the POW camp at Cabanatuan, PI, then yes, it's an accurate story of the event. The movie is based on the books "The Ghost Soldiers" and "The Great Raid". the Ghost Soldiers is the better book, IMO.
Click to expand...

"Ghost Soldiers" is a fantastic book that does a great job detailing a little known operation in WWII history.
 
I recall it being criticized at the time as being "too one-sided against the Japanese".

Apparently, just as "Amistad" didn't portray the "good side" of slavery, and "Schindler's List" didn't portray the "good side" of the Holocaust, "The Great Raid" didn't portray the "good side" of Japanese torture and mass murder of POWs and civilians...

I've read several books on the Cabanatuan raid and found the movie both interesting and entertaining... but then I've never tried to the see the Rape of Nanking from the Japanese side...
 
I still have a S-F knife and some small mementos from his time with the Brits. He was reassigned to his battalion in late 1943[/QUOTE]

How bout some pictures?
Would love to see that blade and other stuff!
 
I have a lot of my stuff stored back east in Md on the farm. It is there.with a couple of guns and rare reloading items. When I get back there this summer I will take some Pics then. Talking with my FIL one day when he had a nice large cocktail..He told me his favorite weapon was a British made machete. Had a D handle with a nice long heavy blade.. He said laughing...cut a man clean in half with it..and he wasn't joking even if he was laughing. One of the true insights to a man who learned how to make sure the guy on the other side died for his country. He was grievously wounded Christmas of 1944.. Talking to him one day..I told him when I was in SE Asia I got to the point where I didn't think they could hit me..He told me he felt the same thing..Turns out we were both wrong. He earned 2 Bronze stars and a Silver Star and the French Croix de Guerre. His machine gun squad received 140% casualties. His squad captured approx 65 prisoners at one time Took too much time to deal with prisoners...so they didn't "capture" many after that...his words. The SS came from an action where he and his best buddy captured a Tiger tank and it's crew. He made it sound easy..but I don't think it was! I couldn't have had a better father in law. He was raised by his grandfather who was a horse procurement agent for Lee's Army of Virginia.. I respected him immensely. I wish I had been able to tape the stories he related to me. He had a crystal clear memory till the day he died in 2001. Just thinking of it but he lived in 3 centuries..the 19th 20th and 21st. Born May 1899 died April 2001
 
Skeet 028 said:
My FIL was attached to the Commando group for a while before we invaded Normandy. He was also sent to Greenland chasing the German Weather crews as he put it. He told me he liked the British troops and admired their officers for the most part. He was also stationed in Iceland for a while and said there was much German sentiment among the populace. Told me they had to be very careful. He also said there was some German sentiment in Ireland. He was sent to England in late 1940-early 41. He told me they made small raids in North Africa and in France. Wish I had taped him when he talked about it...and fighting in France. He disembarked(twice) on D day. The first boat(he said a LST) was blown out from under him the first time. I still have a S-F knife and some small mementos from his time with the Brits. He was reassigned to his battalion in late 1943
Click to expand...

After my great uncle passed, the family found a bunch of letters he had written about his time in Europe and North Africa. Talk about history coming to life. Each letter was it's own adventure, of course leaving out details the military approve of. I know one of my cousins began typing them all up and posting them online for the family to read. I'll have to find that link and see how far she got with them.

As a kid, we spent a lot of time with his family, but I don't recall him talking about the war or his experiences that much.
 
CustomChevyGuy said:
After my great uncle passed, the family found a bunch of letters he had written about his time in Europe and North Africa. Talk about history coming to life. Each letter was it's own adventure, of course leaving out details the military approve of. I know one of my cousins began typing them all up and posting them online for the family to read. I'll have to find that link and see how far she got with them.

As a kid, we spent a lot of time with his family, but I don't recall him talking about the war or his experiences that much.
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Well I'm not knocking the younger generations ...but the older WWII guys who were really in the real deal mostly did everything to forget it ...I know us next generation pretty much also put the "genie" in the bottle trying hard not to relive stuff that cannot even be put into words ...The WWII guys had at least a clean war with very clear lines ...the political blurring of lines and purity (if war could remotely be called pure!) armed actions after WWII have increasingly added to the duress of the combatants ...just my opinion which is worth about 2 cents

Bear
 
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CustomChevyGuy said:
...No clue how accurate it actually is, but being that it's a WW2 movie I figured I'd give it a chance..
Click to expand...

The romantic relationship between two of the major cast members is fictional; just about everything else is very accurate.

I noted that when they stormed the camp, one of the Rangers' Thompsons fired from an open bolt...that's something only hardcore gun folks like us would pick up on, but the producers wanted accuracy.

At the end of the movie, they show old film from the actual raid, and it's remarkable how closely the actors resemble the actual participants in the raid.

Great flick...hope you enjoyed it! :)
 
Brokenbear said:
...the older WWII guys who were really in the real deal mostly did everything to forget it...
Click to expand...

When I started my career with the Baltimore City Fire Department in 1974, the Greatest Generation was still on the job.

Augie Stern, a WWII veteran, was the senior firefighter on Rescue 1, in downtown Baltimore. He was an absolute treasure: tough and brave, warm and friendly, a true role model to all of us who were privileged to work with him. He never talked about the war...and it wasn't until after he retired that I learned he had been one of the Rangers who participated in the Great Raid.

Here's Augie's obituary from 2001...it's a fitting tribute to him, and it describes his role in the Raid...

August Stern Jr | August T. Stern Jr., 82, firefighter, veteran who helped rescue POWs - tribunedigital-baltimoresun
 
BOOK GIVEAWAY - GHOST SOLDIERS

I can't bring myself to throw away a book. I have been doing some cleaning, clearing and rearranging of my library bookshelves and knew I had a copy of this book in one of the boxes. Well here it is, and I am offering it up here to the first person who wants it. I would like to ask that whoever takes it reads it, then offers it back up for the next guy, and so on, and so on...

ihIP3HT.jpg


Fair enough?

PM me your address and it will be on the way tomorrow.

Enjoy.
 
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