20th Century Stories about WW1 or WW2 you have been told about your grandparents or great-grandparents

[Kwality]

In August 1994, my grandmother was living on a farm about 10 miles from Cowra with my infant father and my great grandfather. My grandfather was in airforce at Darwin guarding an airfield at that time.

Japanese POW's broke out and my great grandfather joined the effort to round them up. Leaving my grandmother alone. She told me she was fightened as to what the japanese could do to her and my father should they raid the farm. The stories people were being told about the Japanese were horrific. She hid my father in his crib in a closet, did not leave the house and carried a loaded shotgun with her until they were all recaptured.

A school mate of my father was a guard at Cowra who boasted about machine gunning escaping prisoners. Low life.

Cowra breakout | History & Facts

History of the Cowra breakout, a mass escape of prisoners of war during World War II.

www.britannica.com

 

[Kwality]

Not first hand but just saw Nuremberg trials on SBS.

Seems all those top nazis tried to squirm out of it. Only Rudolph Hoss who was commander of aushwicz was truthful and took full responsibility
Which probably took all the others down.

Not that I’m commending him, but if the others were so proud, why try to avoid their inevitable fate? Scum

I guess you are referring to Rudolph Hess, though he was never directly involved with Auschwitz to my knowledge:

Rudolf Hess | Biography & Facts

Rudolf Hess, German Nazi who was Adolf Hitler’s deputy as party leader. He created an international sensation when in 1941 he secretly flew to Great Britain on an abortive self-styled mission to negotiate a peace between Britain and Germany. Learn more about Hess in this article.

www.britannica.com

Most remembered for in the spring of 1941 hoping to bring the continuing military struggle between Germany and Britain to an end by means of a spectacular coup. He stole a plane & flew to Scotland where he bailed out & put his plan to the Brits.
Not sentenced to death at Nuremberg, he received a life sentence & died in Spandau in 1987 (when a life sentence meant life.)

 

[Rotayjay]

There is a reason why there is an almost pathological need for Russian government to install buffer states- and why Putin (or any Russian President) ain't ever going to let Ukraine join NATO

This comment aged well, and I don't mean that sarcastically.

 

[D Mitchell]

A school mate of my father was a guard at Cowra who boasted about machine gunning escaping prisoners. Low life.

Cowra breakout | History & Facts

History of the Cowra breakout, a mass escape of prisoners of war during World War II.

www.britannica.com

Assuming it's the guard who you call low life, perhaps he knew a bit about about Japanese POW camps, Nanking or even how Hardy and Jones died. Strong anti-Japanese sentiment was not uncommon among that generation. My unkle was in Changi. "Don't ever approach unkle Laurie from behind" was our warning. A bloke I ran into in London, a former car mechanic, told me he would never work on a Japanese car after his brother was used for bayonet practice in a Japanese POW camp. According to that generation, the NAZIs were gentlemen compared to the Japanese.