I'm not trying to be facetious or sarcastic about this, but I was obviously a small child or baby when I first met Papa, my other grandfather. They lived in Sydney then New Zealand so we didn't see them much growing up.
As per previous post, both my grandfathers were Second World War veterans but neither ever attended ANZAC Day ceremonies or events and neither ever really talked about their experiences; the few small bits that Pops ever divulged seem like volumes compared to Papa.
The only things Papa ever told me were effectively other peoples experiences around him, eg, his friend who accidentally killed another friend in the next room when he threw his belt onto the bed and the service revolver discharged through the adjoining wall; the seven times he crashed, including a botched landing at an Air Show in front of the Air Marshall, etc.
There was only one specific thing he ever stated directly to me. He had known an American Army captain whose troops 'liberated' one of the first West European concentration camps. On the second day, these men, who had seen extensive service in the violence of the Pacific Theatre, had to be dis-armed at gun-point by their own MPs (Military Police) and forced to re-enter the camp.
Papa told me 'if anyone ever tries to tell you The Holocaust never happened, you tell them otherwise'.
Ironically, given his virtual silence on his own history, there is apparently quite a bit of info about Papa on the Interweb, but I haven't looked at it yet.
Briefly; he was in the Royal Air Force at the outbreak of WWII and flew Hurricanes and Spitfires in the Battle of France and the Air war over England and the Channel immediately prior to the Battle of Britain. He was pulled from active service as a test pilot (I believe that he may have later flown the first jets - the Vampire and Meteor), and later trained New Zealand pilots and flew combat missions in the Pacific.
After the war he himself flew extensively and was a senior executive with BAC, co-developers of the Concorde, and travelled the world flying on them.
I think his full 'title' was Group Captain Charles 'Nick' Nicholls DSO OBE, and he was one of New Zealand's leading war-time aviators, but he himself would never have considered using the term 'ace'.
He would have been an honoured guest at any ANZAC celebration or commemoration, in any RSL, but he barely even spoke of it; like Pops, it was with him always and he didn't want or need to be reminded.
I find myself deeply conflicted in wanting to recognise and honour these two men and all the others before and since, men and women, in a context where to truly honour my own ancestors I should honour their choices to not engage in 'the ANZAC tradition'.
Again, it is simply not my place to tell others how they should feel, behave, or react, and this is simply to acknowledge those who might feel as my grandfathers did; I cannot imagine that two such different men who barely ever met could have such identical experiences and be the only ones.
I regret not talking to them both more about their experiences, but the reality is that they would not have told me. I miss you Pops, I miss you Papa...god bless and thankyou.
Tomorrow: City Council - What New Madness
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