Urban legend?????

[LAS VEGAS]

I remember a guy telling me that he was visiting an old lady many years ago and he offered to refil her fire with coal.he went out to the back yardand she was using a genuine fj ww2 helmet to scoop the coal.this particular guy is part of a very good ss reenactment group and i have no reason to disbelieve him.have you any unusual stories like that??????

[Johnny-D]

Wow, that's amazing!!

I've heard a few stories, but nothing like that! The stories from the vets get me.... It seems most of the lads used their battledress as work overalls after being de-mobbed! It almost makes me cry.... considering the value of a genuine battledress these days!

My mates mum also threw out all of her husbands bringbacks... including officers caps, awards, paperwork and bayonets! DOH!!

[CMc]

My grandad had some of his old army uniform etc for a long time after he was demobbed, he even had some of his stuff when I was a kid, many years after the war. He was a lorry driver in civilian life as well as the army, and he kept his old greatcoat, which woud've been lovely and warm when loading and unloading in the cold, plus he had a well-worn leather jerkin which looks a lot like the WWII-era ones I've seen in photographs. I always presumed it was one he somehow picked up in his army days, he wore it while 'handballing' loads onto his lorry, with the jerkin stopping the shoulders of his clothes getting worn down or stained by the sacks or whatever he carried on his shoulder, I always took it that it was an army issue thing that people who drove and loaded lorries wore for the same reason.

Unfortunately, when my grandad died a lot of his possessions were flogged off by a side of my family that I don't really get on with (partly because of how shabbily they treated my grandad later in his life, and partly because of the afore-mentioned selling everything that wasn't bolted down after he died.) That being the case I don't have any of my grandad's uniform stuff to show you all.

[theduke635]

My Grandpa was a Pack Rat! he brought back 2 foot locker full of stuff ! Party armbands and flags and uniforms and helmets ..Well when my dad was a kid he got into to the foot lockers and thought it would be fun to play army with his friends well my grandma said she went outside to get my dad and it looked like little Berlin outside with all the neiborhood kids with swastika arm band and helmets lol well she got all the stuff from the kids and hid it in the basement ..of course she forgot where she hid the stuff so its still down in her basement!
and my grandpa just died about a year ago..so we have not gone through the basement yet

[Steve T]

My great uncle sold off most of his loot within a couple of years of the de-mob.

The only thing he kept hold of was his Lee-Enfield. About 20 years after the war he, for reasons he cannot explain, got all edgy about still having it so, late one night, took a walk down to a well known park in Leicester, stood in the middle of one of the parks well known bridges, and dropped the rifle into the water.

I know exactly where he was standing, and what side he was looking over when he dropped it.

All I need now is a set of scuba gear and a bucket......

*****sighs dreamily******

Steve T

[Comrade_Kommissar]

When i was a kid (about 15-16, aka a LONG time ago) we were vacationing in Crete, my father and i were off of the beaten track in Heraklion and found an old junk shop that had stacks of FJ helmets in conditions from poor to excellent, well my father being a collector bought 3 of the best, if i remembered exactly where in Heraklion it was I would go back and see if they were still there. The thing is my father paid a tenner a piece, he sold 2 when we got back to the UK and kept one. Makes you cry.

Will

[stuka f]

My great uncle .....

All I need now is a set of scuba gear and a bucket......

*****sighs dreamily******

Steve T

Did you ever tried with a strong magnet and a rope??

[Steve T]

I could give it a go Stuka but this is a park in Leicester town centre we're talking about. I'd have to get past 12 shoppings trolleys, half a dozen old bikes, 2 wheelchairs and a a couple of old wrought iron gates before I'd get down to the LE !

Steve T

[bikerboyzx6r]

Great stories!
My Grandad died a while ago & by the state of his Garage etc, he was a hoarder! But why NO militaria? He was in Burma WW2!!!
Well....
He arrived back from Burma with 2 sacks of gear, his kit & his memorabilia, stood on Gloucester station platform awaiting his ride home & turned to find 2 little sod's running off with his kit! He never caught them! I can only imagine what he had in those bags damn!
&
My Nan's Dad had an Officers sidearm from WW1... well she did until her Uncle threw it away in the 60's

[Redgemak]

I used to work at Antwerp ship repair when I was a Teenager and remembered that the can we used to clean our paintbrushes in, was an upside-down german M35 with three pieces of iron welded to it to form a tripod.
many farmers used german helmets after WWI as a shovel for bairley or other corn to feed the horses.