That's where I spent lots of time
You're right as it could be mistaken for somewhere exotic.
DOWN MEMORY LANE
- Thread starter Richie
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You're right as it could be mistaken for somewhere exotic.
Yes you were as it has been known that its sting can be lethal even to humans, but is very rare.That does look a lot like it! I had a lucky escape then
Have you come across one of those Ritchie?
looker-on
aka Thomas the Kraut
Is it a snail then? What's the name?
looker-on
aka Thomas the Kraut
What is it?
I have seen one or two in small rock pools Jessica. Is where most people are stung as they think they can play with them.Have you come across one of those Ritchie?
looker-on
aka Thomas the Kraut
I'm writing this because Ritchie has shown his home here, too, which I find interesting.
This is the house I grew up in. ( The four windows on the left side on the first floor as it looks today) I was born in hospital, however, five minutes after my twin brother. Living in a single-family house was virtually unknown simply because they were non-existent. There were either villas owned by rich entrepreneurs or apartment buildings like this one usually with six flats. The town I grew up in was flattened by Anglo-American bombers destroying eighty percent of the houses including our own apartment building (below) which was just opposite the one I grew up in.
The town was a target because Junkers military aircraft, including the Ju 87 "Stuka", were being built there. My elder brother was born in a bunker during one of those attacks in March 1945. We were lucky, though, that our district was less hit than other parts of the city and that our house was hit by a phosphorus bomb and not by an explosive bomb enabling my father and his parents to escape uninjured. My mother, who was to give birth to my elder brother one and a half week later, had decided to live with her parents outside of the city.
Sixteen years later as six y.o. boys we were still playing in derelict houses and ruins around us. Climbing and jumping around them playing hide n seek was a risky thing to do. "Never touch ammunition" was one of the most important warnings our mum had for us. The flats in our house had a loo with flush inside the flat which was considered a luxury at the time. A fair number of my classmates were living in worse conditions. A bath with a coal furnace was installed in our 4-room flat in the late sixties at the expense of the smallest room which used to be my elder brother's room. We had two gardens, the smaller one in the backyard plus chicken-house and run for Italian or white leghorn chickens.
Aged 21, I left home and town.
This is the house I grew up in. ( The four windows on the left side on the first floor as it looks today) I was born in hospital, however, five minutes after my twin brother. Living in a single-family house was virtually unknown simply because they were non-existent. There were either villas owned by rich entrepreneurs or apartment buildings like this one usually with six flats. The town I grew up in was flattened by Anglo-American bombers destroying eighty percent of the houses including our own apartment building (below) which was just opposite the one I grew up in.
The town was a target because Junkers military aircraft, including the Ju 87 "Stuka", were being built there. My elder brother was born in a bunker during one of those attacks in March 1945. We were lucky, though, that our district was less hit than other parts of the city and that our house was hit by a phosphorus bomb and not by an explosive bomb enabling my father and his parents to escape uninjured. My mother, who was to give birth to my elder brother one and a half week later, had decided to live with her parents outside of the city.
Sixteen years later as six y.o. boys we were still playing in derelict houses and ruins around us. Climbing and jumping around them playing hide n seek was a risky thing to do. "Never touch ammunition" was one of the most important warnings our mum had for us. The flats in our house had a loo with flush inside the flat which was considered a luxury at the time. A fair number of my classmates were living in worse conditions. A bath with a coal furnace was installed in our 4-room flat in the late sixties at the expense of the smallest room which used to be my elder brother's room. We had two gardens, the smaller one in the backyard plus chicken-house and run for Italian or white leghorn chickens.
Aged 21, I left home and town.
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Never knew you had a twin brother Thomas. Your home all those years go still stands and looks in excellent condition too.
A touching but compelling narrative Thomas. It must have been terrible for your parents facing constant bombing. There was still live ammunition all about and I suspect unexploded bombs too. So lucky you boys were not injured.I'm writing this because Ritchie has shown his home here, too, which I find interesting.
This is the house I grew up in. ( The four windows on the left side on the first floor as it looks today) I was born in hospital, however, five minutes after my twin brother. Living in a single-family house was virtually unknown simply because they were non-existent. There were either villas owned by rich entrepreneurs or apartment buildings like this one usually with six flats. The town I grew up in was flattened by Anglo-American bombers destroying eighty percent of the houses including our own apartment building (below) which was just opposite the one I grew up in.
The town was a target because Junkers military aircraft, including the Ju 87 "Stuka", were being built there. My elder brother was born in a bunker during one of those attacks in March 1945. We were lucky, though, that our district was less hit then other parts of the city and that our house was hit by a phosphorus bomb and not by an explosive bomb enabling my father and his parents to escape uninjured.
Sixteen years later as six y.o. boys we were still playing in derelict houses and ruins around us. Climbing and jumping around them playing seek n hide was a risky thing to do. "Never touch ammunition" was one of the most important warnings our mum had for us. The flats in our house had a loo with flush inside the flat which was considered a luxury at the time. A fair number of my classmates were living in worse conditions. A bath with a coal furnace was installed in our 4-room flat in the late sixties at the expense of the smallest room which used to be my elder brother's room. We had two gardens, the smaller one in the backyard plus chicken-house and run for Italian or white leghorn chickens.
Aged 21, I left home and town.
The Stuka dive bomber was one of the most ferocious of all Nazi German aircraft with its whining noise when it went into a dive giving those at ground level the heebie jeebies. The western allies had nothing by comparison to the Stuka, to my knowledge. The Germans were also so far advanced of the US with their rocket production with their VE rockets causing added death and destruction on England, four years after the Blitz. Evidently the motor stopped on the VE and there was silence before it dropped on its target. Must have been terrifying being under one. and not knowing where it was landing.
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We are looking forward to seeing more pics of your current home too Thomas.
I have never seen the outside and only your computer desk inside from memory.
looker-on
aka Thomas the Kraut
Thanks, mate. Yes, those were times of great risk for young lads. However, I can't remember anyone getting injured or killed by touching ammunition. They did find duds regularly and up until today whole areas are cordoned off. Kids were instructed at an early age what ammunition, parts of it, or duds may look like.
Absolutely correct what you say about the Stuka bomber but lets not forget their downside, they fell easy prey when diving since they were hardly protected against enemy fire. That's why they were predominantly employed at an early stage of an attack operation when the Germans were still having air dominance. You don't see them that often during rearguard action.
Needless to say that allied area bombing was a reaction to British towns like Coventry, Plymouth, etc., having been flattened by the German air force before. I've been to Peenemünde where the V1 and V2 as the predecessors of Wernher von Braun's moon rocket Saturn V were built and intend to go there again. Here's a good overview.
https://museum-peenemuende.de/?lang=en
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Thankfully the war is over and us Brits can have German friends
looker-on
aka Thomas the Kraut
"us Brits"? You're probably the only one who has, ....well, sort of. ☺Thankfully the war is over and us Brits can have German friends
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looker-on
aka Thomas the Kraut
Upps, didn't I mention him? Here he is on the right. We are posing in the backyard of that house. To the left there would've been the garden for growing vegetable. See the cabbage on the left.
What a pair of imps.Upps, didn't I mention him? Here he is on the right. We are posing in the backyard of that house. To the left there would've been the garden for growing vegetable. See the cabbage on the left.
Pray tell what are you both holding.
looker-on
aka Thomas the Kraut
You can say that again. I wouldn't have wanted to have me or us as my children...What a pair of imps.
That's a school or sugar cone made of cardboard and filled with sweets, school supplies, and toys which children get at the last weekend before their first day of school from their parents and grandparents. The size of it may differ somewhat, so it's, or used to be, a bit of keeping up with the Jonses. When you have to make ends meet as we had and have twins, it's a strain on the parents or single parent because you always have to pay twice as much for everything. Our suits, probably the shoes, and the cones must have set them back considerably.
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Fascinating. Was, or still is, a traditional German tradition.
All neat and tidy in your school uniforms, except for your socks Thomas. What age, 6? Just starting kindergarten, a German institution which was to become a world one. Did you and your twin enjoy kinders Thomas. I recall I enjoyed my kinders year.Upps, didn't I mention him? Here he is on the right. We are posing in the backyard of that house. To the left there would've been the garden for growing vegetable. See the cabbage on the left.
looker-on
aka Thomas the Kraut
You're right, I still remember being aware that my socks had shrunk and I envied my brother. Well spotted. I forgot to mention the satchel made of pig skin and probably being the most expensive item. You see them here.
The suits were no school uniform, though, but purely private. We wore them for some time both at school and on Sunday outings. Yes, we were six y.o. and had attended kindergarten for two or three years and enjoyed it. Mum was working part-time, so it wasn't a long day for us but a welcome change. I have two photos from the kinders showing me and my brother with totally different facial expressions. You'd probably not find out why that was so. Well, he'd just been given a useless medal that had no relation to him at all and I hadn't. (See his bib) He liked it and I was disappointed.
looker-on
aka Thomas the Kraut
It might get interrupted due to too much freshwater from Greenland melting as a result of global warming which slows down the process of salty seawater sinking into the Arctic ocean on which the gulf stream depends.