a World War II photo of Buhrdorf accompanies the article showing him in a Kriegsmarine uniform so he was a sailor. I thought that since he was manning an anti-aircraft gun that he might have been in the German Army.
Gunter Buhrdorf knew that the men (foreign laborers who were prisoners) secretly built the submarines poorly so they would not be effective, but there was little he could do about it.
When the air raid alarms would sound, sometimes everyone would sleep in the torpedo tubes for safety.In April 1945, the British captured Bremen. After this, he fought with the infantry against the advancing Russians.
He suffered one injury on his retreat westward toward Berlin. A 3-inch-long piece of shrapnel from a mortar shell clipped him in the back while he was dodging enemy fire. It's his only war scar.
--GreGen
The USS North Carolina (BB-55) My all-time favorite warship. As an elementary school student in North Carolina, I donated nickels and dimes to save this ship back in the early sixties.
Showing posts with label German soldiers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label German soldiers. Show all posts
Thursday, February 4, 2016
Wednesday, February 3, 2016
Enemies in War, 2 Vets Bond As Seniors-- Part 3: Manned A.A. Gun and Worked on U-boats
As a teenager, Gunter Buhrdorf manned 20 mm anti-aircraft guns, but action was relatively calm until the United States entered the war.
He said: "When America got into the war, that's when things changed. The bombings changed, the size of the attacking force was increased from 50 to 500."
Bremen, the northwestern German town where his family lived, was leveled.
At age 18 Burhdorf was put in charge of a crew of foreign laborers tasked with building Hitler's ambitious submarine fleet. The men were prisoners, but Burhdorf saw to it that they were fed. "Hitler would not have liked that. That was not to be advertised during the war."
--GreGen
He said: "When America got into the war, that's when things changed. The bombings changed, the size of the attacking force was increased from 50 to 500."
Bremen, the northwestern German town where his family lived, was leveled.
At age 18 Burhdorf was put in charge of a crew of foreign laborers tasked with building Hitler's ambitious submarine fleet. The men were prisoners, but Burhdorf saw to it that they were fed. "Hitler would not have liked that. That was not to be advertised during the war."
--GreGen
Tuesday, February 2, 2016
Enemies in War, 2 Vets Bond As Seniors-- Part 2: Joined German Army at 14
Gunter Buhrdorf found out that George Williams had been a bomb-dropping Allied pilot over Germany. Gunter had been manning anti-aircraft guns for the Germans.
At first, he said nothing.
Then one evening in the spring of 2013, several weeks later, a few men were sitting in the lobby at Commonwealth Assisted Living Facility in Christiansburg, Virginia, and they began swapping stories. Williams began reminiscing about the war and flying through heavy German flak.
Gunter Buhrdorf overcame his fear and started telling about his World War II experience for 45 minutes.
He had only been 14 years old when he joined the German Army in 1939. His family hadn't supported Adolph Hitler. Fighting for Germany was for love of country, not its leader.
During the war, Hitler's government kept what was happening with Jews in the concentration camps secret. Buhrdorf clearly remembers the moment in August 1945 after the fighting had ended, when he first read a newspaper account of the horror.
--GreGen
At first, he said nothing.
Then one evening in the spring of 2013, several weeks later, a few men were sitting in the lobby at Commonwealth Assisted Living Facility in Christiansburg, Virginia, and they began swapping stories. Williams began reminiscing about the war and flying through heavy German flak.
Gunter Buhrdorf overcame his fear and started telling about his World War II experience for 45 minutes.
He had only been 14 years old when he joined the German Army in 1939. His family hadn't supported Adolph Hitler. Fighting for Germany was for love of country, not its leader.
During the war, Hitler's government kept what was happening with Jews in the concentration camps secret. Buhrdorf clearly remembers the moment in August 1945 after the fighting had ended, when he first read a newspaper account of the horror.
--GreGen
Enemies in War, 2 Vets Bond As Seniors-- Part 1: Same War Different Sides
From the Jan. 10, 2016, Chicago Tribune "Enemies in WWII, 2 vets bond as seniors" by Colby Itkowitz, Washington Post.
Christiansburg, Virginia.
"On his first evening in his assisted living home, Gunter Buhrdorf ate dinner with another World War II soldier.
"He was, for the second time in his life, a stranger in a new land. The assisted living facility staff gave him an open seat at George Williams' four-person table. They hoped the men, veterans several years apart in age, would get along. But, Buhrdorf, now 90, was reluctant to share wartime stories with his new dining companion.
"Yes, the men were both veterans. But they had fought on opposite sides."
--GreGen
Christiansburg, Virginia.
"On his first evening in his assisted living home, Gunter Buhrdorf ate dinner with another World War II soldier.
"He was, for the second time in his life, a stranger in a new land. The assisted living facility staff gave him an open seat at George Williams' four-person table. They hoped the men, veterans several years apart in age, would get along. But, Buhrdorf, now 90, was reluctant to share wartime stories with his new dining companion.
"Yes, the men were both veterans. But they had fought on opposite sides."
--GreGen
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