How common was it for soldiers in the Second World War to survive the entire war?

Reasonably common, even for a front line soldier.

My Dad, a Kiwi soldier, was away three years in North Africa, and one year in Italy. He and those like him did survive, but they were different men when they eventually arrived home.

Because of distance, very few New Zealanders had leave at home, but had breaks in nearby towns and cities. They did not spend time with families, their only family were their mates. They ate every day in camp,”Bully Beef”, a fatty corned beef. My Mum was a NZ Nurse in the same locations, and the hospital provided the same, all bulk supplied fron New Zealand. Sometimes they got a tin of pears to share between two. Shared all the time with thousands of flies.

Water came in 4 gallon tins, originally sent with petrol to North Africa, and was always slightly tainted.

So they missed out on family love, famiiy meals, foods lovingly prepared. Their education stopped. Dad had just got through a degree in biology, before being called up.

The food, flies and dirt often made them sick. There were huge battles and small battles. They were bombed German Stukas and shelled from a distance. They did not live in fear, bur knew every day their lives were on the line.

My uncle was killed when the Ammunition Truck he was driving was blown up. My father was thrown out of a Bren Carrier (A small open top tracked vehicle) when it was shelled. His right boot was blown off when a shell landed beside him, killing three soldiers behind him. He was stuck on a hill, wounded at Monte Cassino, (in Italy), with others, waiting for night so they could crawl back in the dark to their lines.

He was hospitalised 3–4 times as wounded, and once with pneumonia in those four years.

They survived through luck, and make no mistake, the Kiwi Army Hospitals breathed new life ino these soldiers. When sick or wounded they arrived at the hospital, were triaged and cleaned up. The nurses saw these countrymen as their future husbands, and for the wounded and sick, there were females to talk to, little bits of affection, clean clothes and bed, hot meals and so on. They were back in the family.

They did not complain, they did their job, and earned the respect of their allies and enemy.

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The Last Judicial Hanging in The United States

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Holocaust victim

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