The Interesting People You Meet

[DoubleTap]

Hey Gents,

Had an interesting conversation the other day at work, which in and of itself was astounding.

I had this:

On my desktop when one of the engineers, Michael, who works here commented on it Somehow we got into conversation where he mentioned his father had flown for the Romanians during WWII.

Glenn's eyes light up.

"The IR 80?" I ask.

The guy was shocked and I think pleasantly surprised that I knew the plane (who says computer games don't teach you anything).

"Yes, the IR80."

We talked for a bit. I also managed to surprise him that I knew Ploesti was the location of the Romanian oil fields which were fought over so bitterly. What I did not know was that the Romanians had fought for both sides during the war. First for the Germans and then for the Russians when they came to town.

Michael's father apparently started flying around the time the switch took place (September 1944?) in the IR80. His career did not last long as he had a run in with a group of 3 FW-190's which proceeded to shoot him down. He managed to crash land in a vineyard and sustained hip injuries which kept him out of the cockpit for the remainder of the war. His father is now 83, and alive and kicking (well, maybe not kicking, because the hip still bothers him).

Michael said the IR was not a bad airplane for this time it appeared, but was underpowered. While under the sway of Germany, they tried to purchase better engines from them, but were denied. He also said that the IR80 tended to be confused by western allied pilots as a FW because of the similar shape.

He also talked about what happened when the Russians came which was not as entertaining. Basically he said there are different kinds of bad, and the Germans were bad, and the Russians were worse. He said at one point his father was staying at a farmhouse near a field strip where he was operating, and he pretended to be the husband of the farmer's daughter by jumping into bed when the Russians came. Because he was an flight officer and by then flying for the Russians, they left her alone. Had they not...

Its amazing what you find when you talk to people. I told him to wish his dad well and tell him I am glad he made it through the war.[/code]

[B16Enk]

Thanks for sharing that Glenn.

Amazing story, and for it to come about in that manner

Nice poster too

[Arsenal]

Great story!

It's unfortunate that this generation is disappering at an alarming rate, and I think many people have forgotten the sacrifices they made so long ago. I was in my town not too long ago, and there was an old fellow that was "taking his time" in getting into a parking space, and the resulting backup of traffic, which was only three cars led to some honking horns out of the frustration of having to wait a whole 45 seconds while this fellow got situated. I noticed he had a Disabled Veteran tag, and he seemed embarassed at the honking horns, so when he got out of his car, I offered a kind word of "don't worry about it" sort of flavor. I asked him about the liscense tag on his car, and it turns out that he had been a Marine and was wounded in the back and leg during Guadalcanal. It really made my blood boil to think of the asshats who had cause this man embarassment over a 45sec wait. I also wondered what waiting 45sec on Guadalcanal would have been like in his day. I'm sure the jerks honking their horns would have a different perspective if they had experienced that hell.

[DoubleTap]

Arsenal,

Don't get me started. I agree that too many people have no idea what went on previous to their lifespan, and the horrors and sacrifices that came to those before us. It's good to be reminded because we all can forget and need to be reminded from time to time.

[Dubbo]

Sheesh! And it seems to only get worse with each generation.

There's a interesting novel by a fella called Alan Furst that tells the story of a young Romanian who gets recruited by the NKVD after the Germans occupiers killed his older brother. After training he is sent back in to set up resistance groups. Well written and well researched it certainly opened a window (for me) on an almost unknown slice of WW2. Actually most of Furst's books are very very good.

[Blairgowrie]

I'll see if they have any Alan Furst at my local library. Thnks for the recommendation Dubbo m8.