I’ve been doing a lot of research on WWII. Looking back, we can see that by the end of 1942, turning points had been reached in both major theatres of the war. So, in 1943, most of the Allies seemed to feel that the eventual victory would be theirs. It’s hard to find what the Axis powers thought. (I’m posting from the U.S.A.)
So, here are my questions:
How old were you (general age group, if you don’t want to post actual ages) in 1943?
Were you a member of Allied or Axis nations?
Were you (or close family) actual combatants or involved in war production or an ordinary citizen?
What was the general feeling you had or saw about the war’s end, based only on what could be discerned up to 1943?
If you weren’t around in 1943, but have something of import to add to this topic, please share.
Thanks in advance for anything informative you might bring to this thread.
I wasn’t born until late '42, (in the U.S.)so personal rememberances are nill. My father KIA South Pacific, '43. Uncle wounded in action, permanently disabled, North Africa, '43, another uncle wounded in action Germany, '44, fully recovered.
So I heard plenty of war stories.
I don’t think the feeling of certain victory was that strong in '43. Maybe only after the winter of '44/'45 did winning seem certain, IIRC.
I remember my grandmother showing me samples of “ration stickers” for butter, gasoline, etc. that she kept in a scrapbook.
Reading my post, there’s not much there for you, but people that are old enough to have first hand memories of '43 that will also be on a computer are probably not all that plentiful.
She was 26 in 1943. While she had volunteered right after the attack on Pearl, she didn’t enter service with the Red Cross until 1944; her father was Colonel in the U.S. Army from the start.
Her opinion is that nobody in the U.S. ever really thought we might lose the war, although the first several months were very discouraging. By 1943, though, with (primarily) Midway behind us, as well as Stalingrad, people knew we were going to win.
While she remembers much prognostication to the effect that the war might last until 1948; she does remember a popular saying, “Back alive in '45!”
My father was in the occupation of Europe while Japan was still fighting. He told me he remembers being worried about the possibility of being ordered to the Pacific theatre for the invasion of Japan in 1946. But, that was 1945, when he was 18 (or 19). What he remembers most about 1943(ish), was the feeling of solidarity: “It’s going to be tough, but we’re coming out on top!” But, he admits that might be closer to the D-Day and Phillipines stuff.
Ringo, you brought up Stalingrad. The Soviet theatre seems to be the most difficult to research. But, with the exception of C/B/I, it may have been the worst place to be for the average soldier, either side.
Sorry about your dad, Captain Carter. Was he Marine? Navy? Land or sea battle? Don’t answer if I’m prying too much.
Thanks so far, guys, and keep it coming!
If you are doing extensive research on WWII, particularly from a humanitarian perspective, it is impossible to ignore the suffering, sacrifice and ultimate (unlikely) victory of the Russians over the Wehrmacht. I thoroughly recommend this book which has been written in the light of relativley recently released material from Russian archives.
(Off topic, given current affairs I think there are many parallels between the Stalinist Russia and the incumbent Iraqi regime. With America’s eagerness to pursue military options in Iraq, there are important lessons from Germany’s failure on the Russian front that should not be forgotten. Despite the overwhelming technological and strategic advantages of the Wehrmacht, the Nazis underestimated the resolve of a brutal regime that had no qualms in sacrificing it’s own people. They eventually foundered by allowing themselves to become embroiled in bitter urban fighting with a Russian population forced to choose between facing death at the hands either of the enemy or their own political officers).
NoClueBoy, I missed out on 1943 by twenty-seven years, but I am nuts about radio & films of the 30’s and 40’s.
Long story short, I have quite a bit of archived news broadcasts related to WWII. I also have quite a bit of propaganda that the Reich broadcast to allied forces, some of which is quite bizarre-- Imagine popular English & American tunes rewritten by Nazis with an imperfect grasp of the subtleties of English.
Very odd, and one of many songs meant to encourage desertion.
At any rate, I think, for me at least, listening to hours of contemporary news broadcasts gives an immediate sense of what it must have been like during wartime, and illustrates how life changed for people between '39 and '45.
I can make some of this stuff available to you if you like. If you have high bandwidth and a mail-server that allows large attachments, I can zip some up and mail it to you. Otherwise, I can make it available on my webserver for a short time, or, in a pinch, burn an .mp3 CD for you and send it via regular post.
somna…, that looks like a good book, surprised I’ve missed it so far.
Larry Mudd, my e-mail is in profile. It would work better for me if you can post on your server and send a link. ( I’m still debating the HBW stuff, will ask a IMHO Q in a while, I’m sure, cause I have 3 choices here in the OKC). Or, you could zip a small bit of it and send, like highlites?
This is why I came to SDMB. When you hit a wall, ask for the Dope!
My dad served as an infantry officer in the occupation of Germany in 1945-46. He’d spent the war as an intelligence analyst in the relative safety of a war room, and they let the guys who’d had to actually eat bullets go home first.
I was 5 in 1943, and the war made a big impression on me. I remember the rationing, black-outs and understanding we were at war. My aunt would get letters that were censored so much that they looked like someone was cutting out paper dolls. My dad and one uncle worked in a defense plant.
NoClueBoy you’re email address isn’t in your profile.
All the news stuff has descriptive filenames so I’ll just stick it in a big ol’ folder and you can pick-and-choose what you like based on interest & file-size.
I was three years old in 1943, so my memories aren’t all encompassing. I remember scenes from various movies depicting our enemies as cruel, but basically cowards who were no match for red-blooded Americans and our Allies. I remember cartoons from that era that were basically propaganda devices. I remember being badly frightened by some MovieTone News clips. My mother’s brother was a Sea-Bee in the South Pacific. My father had a critical job in an oil refinery and didn’t serve in the Armed Forces, but many of his friends did. I remember a few occasions when my father and mother cried over the loss of friends killed in combat. I remember rationing books and stamps.
No kidding - my great-aunt was an Army nurse in Port Moresby.
I myself came along during Vietnam, but both my parents were in the world by the end of '43. My maternal grandfather got out of service on some bizarre classification (he couldn’t remember what it was, but nobody else had ever seen it) and spent the war making turbines for battleships. His sister, as I mentioned, was doing medical service in Port Moresby. All four maternal grandmother’s brothers were in the service - one was killed in the invasion of southern France from Italy ~Feb 1944; the other three came in at the tail end of it and didn’t see combat, IIRC. All my paternal relations were either too old or too young to serve at that point.
Still have a lot of stuff from all the relatives who did serve - I believe Mamma O still has her aunt’s full uniform in the footlocker she used. We have the Purple Heart the KIA uncle earned, and a handful of photos from Okinawa, where one other uncle served after the shooting was more or less over. I think my mom’s parents kept ration books and whatnot for a long while, but I don’t know if my grandmother still has them or not.
It’s a bit broader then 1943, but the interviews are pretty disturbing - those interviewed by the author on either side don’t apologise for what they did at the time for example…
Kiwi, yes, excellent, isn’t it? If you know of anything similar, I’d like to see that, too.
I’ve also found quite a bit of stuff about Occultism in Nazism that kind of explores the ultra nastiness between Germans and Russians. Enlightening and scary. Can see some of that happening currently. :::shudder:::
This is all good stuff guys, thanks…
No, nothing I’ve read in the area has the same sort of mix of interview and overview.
Two E-sources I’ve seen recently which might be worth your time are:
Sometime in the last week another SDMB’er posted a link to an archive of Nazi propaganda materials and so forth (including translations of press publications and so forth) was pretty spooky, the url started with ‘calvin’. (sorry, can’t remember any more details). There’s a 1944 piece arguing that the Allied advance into Rome is actually an example of the barbaric Westerners (esp. American) absolute disregard for ‘civilisation’…
For higher level contemporary sources the FDR museum has all sorts of intriguing things on line:
this site if you’re interested in NZ perspectives (it’s a long flash download, and I haven’t looked at all the links but the Book it’s sourced from was pretty good)
All I know is that, in 1943, my grandpa was sitting in a military prison somewhere in the Pacific. He had punched out a superior officer. The officer, drunk as hell, had run over his foot with his car.
…Actually, that might’ve been 1944. I just felt the need to share it.