Who from WW2 would you like to have a beer with?

[slados28]

7: Can I have your uniform?

Good one I'd have to think this one over a bit before throwing my wish-list in ... Hitler's a good candidate, perhaps a bit too obvious though....
I'd like to say Bormann but he'd probably be too cunning and deceitful...constantly whispering lies into other people's ears just to make me look bad and thereby strengthening his own position
I'd probably get far too drunk as well , whereas he'd stay sober all night long just to draw a moustache and write a dirty word in my forehead once I've passed out

Speer, Rommel and Rochus Misch would be on my list as well... I've yet to pick a definite candidate...hmmm..

[noelh]

Chopperman's, story of Muller reminded me of something that happened when I was about ten. I had a little job in school which involved staying outside for a few minutes after the other kids went into class. I had a Spitfire model, the Frog kit. I had even painted it. One day I was 'flying' it near the fence. A passing 'old' man paused and looked at it on the ground. 'That's a Spitfire isn't it?'. 'Yes' I replied warily, ever conscious of talking to strangers. 'I used to fly them' he said as he turned away and even my ten year old self caught the wistful look on his face. As he walked away. I was bursting to run after him and ask questions. I wished he'd stopped to say more.

On another occasion I built a Mosquito model and gave it to my little brother. He brought it to church with him one Sunday . He told me later a man asked to see it and told him he had been a Mosquito navigator in the war.

If only I could meet one now. The thing to remember that in Ireland WW2 veterans weren't exactly feted in the local community. Most kept very quiet about it. So you would never know who did what. The only one we knew of was my friend's Grandad, Andy. He served in both wars ending up as a Sergeant Major in the Ox and Bucks. My friend said he shot down a plane with a machine gun. He taught us drill. Long dead now, he's another who would on my invite list.

[Chopperman]

noelh,
This is a bit off topic but it has to deal with model kits. You might find it interesting----

https://www.warrelics.eu/forum/aviat...r-pilot-10315/

[noelh]

Thanks for the link, my day job for my sins is a Skydive pilot based out of a small airfield in the middle of Ireland. There are a couple of Cubs painted in those colours who drop in for visits every now and then. At least one actually saw service in the war. It's great to see them. I've restarted my modelling now of late, with a Wingnut Bristol Fighter in 1/32. I was inspired by the fact that there's an old WW1 RAF landing ground near me. Which had Brisfits based there.

[Thanatos]

With you Sandgroper,
Second choice would be MacArther so i could inform him he was a ego maniac and to remind him of his comments re Aussie combatants in PNG 1942 then pour the beer over his head and if his puppet Blamey was there he would cop some to (waste of good beer i know).
Cheers
Dave

[HPL2008]

An interesting question and one that is hard to answer, with quite a few names crossing my mind.

Rather high on my list of candidates would be Hitler's long-time chief adjutant Julius Schaub. Not that I admire the man, but given that he joined the Nazi Party as early as 1920 and moved within its highest and innermost circles right up to the end of WW2, he sure had a unique inside perspective with quite a lot of interesting stories to tell. He also had a reputation of being a jovial and sociable type of person, so we should be fine during this hypothetical evening at the pub.

Then I thought, why just one person? If I could invite two ghosts over, just imagine how fascinating it would be to get Rommel & Montgomery together...

In the end, I dediced to bend the rules a bit. The long-deceased person that I would really love to have a beer with had his wartime service as a Royal Navy officer during the First World War and is most famous for events unrelated to the Second World War.

Still, since he lived throughout the WW2 years, actively participated in the evacuation of Dunkirk (rescuing 127 men with his private yacht) and worked with the Royal Navy's small vessel pool up to the end of the war, I dedided he counts:

The man in question is Commander Charles Herbert Lightoller, DSC & Bar, RD, RNR.

"Hero" is a term that I rarely use, but if I have a personal hero, it would be him:
Veteran of thirty years on the seas, Second Officer and survivor of RMS Titanic, survivor of three other shipwrecks as well as a life-threatening bout of malaria, distinguished WW1 service as Naval Reserve officer, participant in the Dunkirk evacuation... Oh, and for a while gold prospector, cowboy and hobo, too. What a guy! What a life!

Read more under:
Mr Charles Herbert Lightoller | Encyclopedia Titanica

Also worth noting is the tragical fact that his youngest son Herbert Brian Lightoller was among the earliest casualties of WW2 (KIA 4 Sept. 1939), while his eldest son Frederic Roger Lightoller fell during the final weeks of the war in Europe (KIA 9 March 1945).

Flying Officer ( Pilot ) Herbert Brian Lightoller (1917 - 1939) - Find A Grave Memorial
Lieut Frederic Roger Lightoller (1906 - 1945) - Find A Grave Memorial

[Woolgar]

Great choice, you would still be listening to him long after the pub had closed !!

Nick

[Little Mermaid]

Josef Mengele. Would love to go play with the liquids in his lab....

[Paul D]

Josef Mengele. Would love to go play with the liquids in his lab....

Thats a joke , right ??

[Falschirmjager]

Mine would have to be 1st SS Panzer Regiment Commander Joachim Peiper-what an incredibly honest and decent man he was. They tried to hang him for war crime after men of his unit murdered US soldiers at Malmedy-but as was proved he explained "all these Hitler Youths coming into my unit were difficult to control and the battlefront was a huge area and i could not be everywhere at once. I was very concerned about young men from the HJ and my fears were justified after Malmedy, though as their C.O i take full responsibility for the deaths of the Americans but must express again i did all i could to treat POW's under my personal charge with respect". This was proved when a group of British soldiers taken by Joachim Peiper came forward and defended him saying that he had ensured that they were treated with the utmost respect and received food and water and medical attention where necessary. Joachim did not face the hangman as a result but spent time in prison then after his release he settled in France only to be murdered by cowardly French Communists in 1975-how many of them did it take to kill this old man and how i bet they wouldnt have stood much of a chance back in WW2! Id have shook his hand, bought him more than one Jack Daniels and just been fascinated to hear his life story.