Man the Nazis could not kill: A giant with a volcanic temper, he shot 100 enemy soldiers and won..

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2253522/Man-Nazis-kill-A-giant-volcanic-temper-shot-100-enemy-won-VC--hated-hero.html#comments ^ | 12/26/12

[LibWhacker]

Sergeant-Major Stan Hollis, of Middlesbrough was the only soldier awarded a VC at D-Day and is believed to have gunned down 100 German soldiers

During the early hours of June 6, 1944 - D-Day - lines of scared young soldiers waited in the dark for the order to board the landing craft that would take them into battle on the beaches of northern France.

At the last minute they were issued with an unexpected piece of equipment — a condom each!

‘What are these for?’ boomed out the voice of Sergeant-Major Stan Hollis, a hulking power-house of a man from the back streets of northern England.

[***SNIP***]

Hollis refused to go on the dole or take the war pension to which he was entitled. He even refused family allowance payments.

‘I don’t need charity handouts,’ he would maintain, with that same fierce pride and independence that had made him such a force on the battlefield.

[***SNIP***]

[SandRat]

Besides, your rifle with a condom on it spoke eloquently of what you were about to do to the enemy.

[notpoliticallycorewrecked]

A family friend was there on D-Day. He lost numerous friends and had survivor guilt. He married and had 6 children. He refused to talk about his experience for a very long time. Finally several years ago he started talking about it. One of his sons wisely recorded some of his stories. He passed away two years ago. RIP LD.

[driftless2]

When visiting my wife's older relatives around Norwich several years ago, I remember being questioned by one of her uncles who had served during WWII about the names of a number of the Allied aircraft of the war. I could name some of them, but his living room was basically a WWII museum of sorts with many photos of planes, ships, and other war-related things hanging on the walls.

My wife had another elderly relative whose living room was decorated similarly. Those men were very proud to be British soldiers. As was my wife's father who served as an airplane (sorry, aeroplane) mechanic in Burma during the war.