My Grandfather saw and talked to plenty of Germans in the North Desert campaign , a friend of the family was in the 22nd army group after being a Desert rat . They used slang but treated the captured airmen / soldiers as humans . once the war ended they stopped using the terms as it was no longer needed . The most common slang from us Brits was Jerry and the jerry called us tommies , ok that one is still used as it's far more said in an affectionate way . The Pilots on both sides had a real camaraderie (especially between Commonwealth and German/Italian pilots . Many Luft pilots after being shot down were given tours of spitfires on the ground or hurricanes before they were picked up from RAF fields by the MP's . Same with RAF pilots shot down . Douglas Badder himself sat in many 109 and FW 190 variants while as a prisoner of war .
While in Tubrok my grand father had many a name calling to the Germans just a few hundred yards away which was good humoured on both sides . The Germans would sing "it's a long way to Tipperary" while he and the rest of his crew would sing :" lii Marleen" being joined by the Germans from "over the line" . He would cry every time he heard that song .
Not every vet was a bigot the vast majority were just men who ignored the bull put out the proper-gander brigade back home . Many would defend the enemy soldiers from ignorant little avacados back home . The family friends RSM even beat up a policeman when he got back home in 1946 . why ? because he made derogatory remarks about Germans . The RSM had served before WWII and fought 3 campaigns : Belgium, North Africa and Normandy right into the Rhine land . Every POW they caught had 3 things . The platoon would scrape together all the studmuffins they had to give the POWs , a tin of bully beef for each POW and a good nights sleep before handing over to the MP's .
So take your pathetic , narrow minded and insulting idea of what "Vets" are like , shove it where even Shimano can't shift it and hang your head in shame . You betray Every Thing that people died for . Most of the average man at war hated what they were doing , they couldn't wait for it to be over and to get home and not have to know that they would have to kill a man just like them .
In 6 Squadron (which was my grandfathers) of 200 ground crew 150 were awarded medals only 4 accepted (my Grandfather declined his ) he did not want a reward for helping to kill other young men .
