Author Topic: Famous Folks and WW2 (Read 2439 times)

Debonair · « **Reply #45 on:** November 21, 2006, 05:56:11 PM »

lol, do the dead links at an old thread like this one get buried in the tomb of the unknows?
i maked this thread

midnight Target · « **Reply #46 on:** November 21, 2006, 08:30:23 PM »

Actually the little red x in the first post is David Niven.

dhaus · « **Reply #47 on:** November 21, 2006, 08:52:52 PM »

Clark Gable flew combat missions on B-17s making training films for the Army Air Corp to train gunners. I don't believe he flew 25, but he did have combat time.

Bronk · « **Reply #48 on:** November 21, 2006, 10:27:30 PM »

Wasn't Ted Williams a Corsair pilot ?

Bronk

Debonair · « **Reply #49 on:** November 21, 2006, 11:54:57 PM »

IIRC the some of the Clark Gable flight film is in Combat America available for free fast download at archive.org (along with a 3 gig mpeg of The Fighting Lady in it's entirety & a ton of other great stuff including weekly movie newsreels for the whole of the 1940s & 1950s).
Ted Williams flew wingman for John Glenn in the Korean War in F9Fs, dont know about his 2nd world war combat record, but i want too...do know that he flew F4Us in FLA

Hap · « **Reply #50 on:** November 22, 2006, 01:59:03 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by Toad
Cuz' I think Penn is puerile, especially in comparison?

Where are the Snowden's of yesteryear?

Nice Heller allusion Toad.

Regards,

hap

Angus · « **Reply #51 on:** November 22, 2006, 02:24:29 AM »

Decorated after naval ops. Thought dead for a while:

And this one was a POW in Dresden when it was bombed;

Angus · « **Reply #52 on:** November 22, 2006, 02:54:48 AM »

And here is James Bond's dad, - commander Ian Flemming, British Naval intelligence:

Then Alec Guinness, British Navy guy, was at Sicily and then at the Balkans:

Here's a more tricky one. Gert Fröbe was hiding jews from the Gestapo at the end of the war Mostly known as Goldfinger:

And more Villains, Lee Van Cleef was in the US Navy:

Roscoroo · « **Reply #53 on:** November 22, 2006, 03:18:01 AM »

The Great Peter Sellers ... Was an Airman in the royal air force during ww2, R.I.P.

Angus · « **Reply #54 on:** November 22, 2006, 03:38:13 AM »

Yup, he was.
Denhom Elliot was also an airman, and ended up as a POW.

Debonair · « **Reply #55 on:** November 22, 2006, 04:10:16 AM »

iirc Vonnegut describes himself as amongst the worst soldiers in US military history.
expensive training & deployment, captured almost immediately.
i'd bet DoD's share of his income taxes from Slaughterhouse Five paid him off, though...

unfunny Washington Post humor columnist Art Buchwald was ground crew for a USMC Corsair squadron & wrote the squadron newsletter The U-Man Comedy.[/I]

FOGOLD · « **Reply #56 on:** November 22, 2006, 06:26:38 AM »

Roald Dahl, Childrens author and Hurricane pilot.

"1941 – This photograph was taken a few months before Dahl's 25th birthday. At the time, he was rejoining his squadron after having crashed in Libya a year earlier. That incident, recounted in Going Solo and Dahl's first story "Shot Down Over Libya", resulted in his later discharge from the RAF due to head injuries."

FOGOLD · « **Reply #57 on:** November 22, 2006, 06:32:16 AM »

Ian Smith, former premier of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Spitfire pilot. (Not a hero of mine I hasten to add!)

"Following the outbreak of World War II, Smith joined the Royal Rhodesian Air
Force and after he had completed his flying training, he was seconded to the Royal Air Force in the rank of Pilot Officer. He served with distinction in the Royal Air Force at Pembrey. On 4 October 1943, his plane crashed on takeoff resulting in Smith suffering burn and facial injuries (he received plastic surgery and half of his face was to remain paralyzed)."

FOGOLD · « **Reply #58 on:** November 22, 2006, 06:36:45 AM »

Joseph Heller, Author of Catch 22.

"After graduating from Abraham Lincoln High School in 1941, Heller joined the Twelfth Air Force. He was stationed in Corsica, where he flew 60 combat missions as a B-25 bombardier. "

"

Angus · « **Reply #59 on:** November 22, 2006, 07:28:30 AM »

Let's go Royalty:
The great BoB pilot Peter Townsend, both known for his BoB career and his affair as a divorcee with princess Margareth:

And of course, - Louis Mountbatten, the commander of the famous HMS Kelly: