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WW2 Pod: We Have Ways of Making You Talk

Family Stories Series 4: Episode 9

WW2 Pod: We Have Ways of Making You Talk

Goalhanger Podcasts

Society & Culture, History, Education

4.84.4K Ratings

🗓️ 14 May 2023

⏱️ 22 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Today’s family stories take us from the snows of the Ardennes, the beaches of Normandy and a pioneering pilot who helped launch the Windrush Generation.


Family Stories runs every Sunday, telling your stories from the Second World War.


A Goalhanger Films production

Produced by Joey McCarthy and Robin Scott-Elliot

Exec Producer: Tony Pastor

Twitter: #WeHaveWays @WeHaveWaysPod

Website: www.wehavewayspod.com

Email: [email protected]



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

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0:00.0

Hello and welcome to Family Stories, the podcast written by you, our listeners.

0:25.2

This week's Family Stories take us from the snows of the Ardenne and a family tragedy

0:29.7

to the beaches of Dunkirk and a pioneering pilot to help launch the Windrush generation.

0:51.1

We begin this week with this from Kevin Milan.

0:55.3

Hello Alan James. My dad shared few memories of his wartime experiences. We learned more

1:01.4

through his letters saved by my mother and shared with us upon his death. Here is his story.

1:08.2

On December 17, 1944, my dad George Milan and his twin Joseph were serving in the heavy

1:14.3

weapons platoon of HQ Company, First Battalion, 82nd Airborne Division. The division was in

1:21.0

France recuperating from Operation Market Garden when they received word of the German

1:25.3

breakthrough in the Ardenne. Within hours they were on their way to Belgium.

1:30.6

George and Joseph were identical twins, two of six children raised in Queens, New York.

1:36.1

Growing up the twins were inseparable, so they volunteered for the Army together. They

1:40.8

were enrolled in the Army Specialized Training Program that trained talented and listed

1:44.7

men to become officers. After the Normandy invasion, the Army needed replacement

1:49.6

infantry so the program was shut down. My dad and his brother were given the choice

1:54.8

of the Infantry Replacement Pool or the Airborne. They were allowed to stay together if they

1:59.9

joined the Airborne, plus the added jump pay was a big motivator. They shipped off to England

2:06.2

where they took a rush Airborne training program before they were assigned to the mortar

2:10.3

platoon of HQ Company, First Battalion, 505th parachute infantry regiment. They served

2:16.9

together. My dad as a member of a mortar team and Joseph as a lineman maintaining communications

2:21.9

with forward observers. They served in Holland during Market Garden and then came the

2:27.0

bulge. Their battalion was sent to Trois Ponds where they set up a defensive line on the

...

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