Little Known WWII Facts ( With Pictures ) Super Blog Sunday

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Little Known WWII Facts

Written By : Jeffrey R Hilton


Feb. 19,2012

WWII,  was the most destructive and devastating conflict in the history of war.  More property was damaged and destroyed,  more people were killed and the conflict caused the most far reaching changes of any war in history.


Russia suffered more casualties than any other country,  with 21 Million people killed.


Four out of every German soldiers killed were at the Eastern Front.


1.5 Million children died during the Holocaust.  It's thought that,  1.2 Million of them were Jewish along with 1000s of Gypsies.

80 % of all Soviet males,  born in 1923,   never survived WWII.


3.4 Million tons of bombs were dropped by the allies in WWII.  That's close to 28,000 per month.


Russia and the Red Army,  were accused of several war crimes including systematic mass rape of over 2 Million German women between the ages of 13-70,  along with Genocide.


The Battle Of Stalingrad,  1942-1943 was one of the bloodiest battles with somewhere in the range of 1.6 Million were killed.  It's also widely believed to be the turning point of WWII.

Auschwitz

When the concentration camps were liberated,  it was already too late for as many as 13,000 prisoners in Bergen Belsen and,  2500 Dachau survivors,  who died in the following weeks in their advanced states of starvation and sickness.

Max Heileger was a fictitious name that the SS used to open a bank account for huge deposits of money gold and jewels taken from the Jews.

The longest battle in WWII was the Battle For The Atlantic,  1939-1945

The word Nazi is derived from a Bavarian word meaning,  simple minded.


The Swastika is an ancient religious symbol derived from the Sanskrit word for hooked cross and used to symbolize good fortune and fertility in ancient Greece,  Egypt,  China and India.


In 1935 British engineer Robert Watson-Watt was working on a Death Ray that would destroy enemy aircraft,  This instead,  led to the discovery of Radar and Ranging.

German U-Boat

40,000 men served on U-boats.  Only 10,000 returned home.


600,00 Jews served on the U.S military.  35,000 or more were killed,  captured or missing  and another 8000 died in combat.  Only 2 Jewish soldiers were awarded a Medal Of Honor.

The Battle Of The Bulge was the bloodiest battle the Americans participated in,  costing 80,000 casualties.

Everyone knows that The Enola Gay,  dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima but few people know the name of the other B29,  that dropped it's bomb on Nagasaki.  It was named,  Bock's Car,  after the planes usual Commander,  Frederick Bock. 

More Russian Civilians and Soldiers were killed during the Siege Of Leningrad than any combined total of all British and American soldiers in all of WWII.


The Nazis murdered 12 Million people.  6 Million were Jews and burnt whole in ovens.

Hitler and Mussolini

During WWII, the Japanese released 9000,  wind ship weapons made from paper and rubberized silk.  These wind-ships carried incendiary  and anti personnel bombs that were meant for Americans and 1000 of these silent ships actually hit targets.   Some reached Michigan and Oregon where a pregnant woman and her 5 children were killed while they were enjoying a picnic.  These were the only casualties.

The tactic of the Japanese suicide bombers,  started in October of 1944,  sank 34 U.S ships, and damaged another 368,  killing 4900 sailors and wounding another 4800.  28,000 pilots were killed this way.

Many Jews were subjected to gross and grisly medical experiments at the hands of
Dr. Josef Mengele,  who was known as The Angel Of Death at,  Auschwitz.  He conducted painful genetic experiments on 3000 twins and only 200 of them survived.  He took one twins eye out and implanted it on the back of the other twins head.  He injected dye into eyes to see if he could change eye color.  He at least once sewed two twins together to see if he could create co-joined twins.  He froze people and tried to thaw them out various ways,  including making a women attempt to have sex with a frozen man.  He experimented with dwarfs  and many more gruesome experiments were performed.   The fact that this sick bastard finished his life while hiding in Brazil and was never brought to trial for his war crimes,  sickens me to no end.

Subjected to Mengele's experiments

many Jehovah's Witness and Gypsies were also exterminated in the camps along with the Jews.


The decision to go ahead with what the Nazis called The Final Solution was decided at a conference in Berlin in 1942.


WWII,  officially ended when japan signed a surrender agreement aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay in September 2,  1945.  Officially known as VJ-Day.

Anne Frank and her sister died one month before the camp at Bergen Belsen was liberated.


Thousands of people risked their lives in an effort to save the Jews.  Denmark saved it's entire Jewish Community.  Raoul Wallenberg,  1912-1947 and Oscar Schindler,  1908-1974 along with Chiune Sugihara,  1900-1986,  saved thousands of Jews.


The U.S Defense budget was 1.9 Billion before the war started and shot up to,  58.9 Billion  after the war started.


The Air Force was part of the Army during WWII,  and didn't become a separate branch until after the war.


In 1941,  a Private earned $21 per month and $50 per month by 1942.


German U-Boats sank 2000 allied ships at a cost of 781 U-Boats.


650,000 Jeeps were built during WWII.  300,000 military aircraft were built,  89,000 tanks,  3 million Machine Guns were made,  and 7 Million Rifles were made,  all in American factories.

Messerschmitt ME-262

The Germans used the first Jet Fighters in the war,  flying Messerschmitt ME-262s.  These were developed too late to change the course of the war.

The most powerful artillery gun ever used was used mostly against the Russians and could fire a 2.5 ton shell over 3 miles.  These shells could penetrate 9 feet of concrete.

During WWII,  the Acronym,  BAM was used by U.S male soldiers to describe women recruits calling them broad assed marines.  The women used their own Acronym,  HAM,  to describe the men as hairy assed marines.


The SS ran a brothel in Berlin called , "The Kitty Salon",  where women were trained in the art of extracting useful information from foreign diplomats and other such VIP visitors.
The rooms were also bugged and 20 prostitutes worked there.


WWII ended Europe's reign of being a Super Power,  and switched the role to the U.S and Russia,  setting the stage for the Cold War between the two countries.


It's generally thought that WWII began when Germany invaded Poland,  Sept. 1, 1939
but some scholars argue that it started when Japan invaded Manchuria Sept. 18, 1931 and WWII was actually a continuation of WWI with a break in between.


During WWII,  Hamburgers were instead called Liberty Steaks to avoid being reminded of their more German name.


The Nazis pirated The Harvard Fight Song,  and adapted it to their Sieg Heil March.

Josef Kramer,  Commander, Bergen-Belsen Camp

Josef Kramer,  1906-1945.  ( The Beast Of Belsen )  Commander of the Bergen- Belsen camp was later asked if he felt anything as he participated and watched the slaughter of 1000s of women,  men and children,  said he felt nothing,  because he was following orders.    He was executed for his war crimes.  This was a typical response of almost all of the Nazi Regime.

1922-1993

The Number One Ace of the entire conflict,  of any nation involved was German,  Fighter Pilot,  Erich Hartmann,  (above)  with over 352 kills.


Members of Hitler's inner circle used to call Rudolf Hess,  The Brown Mouse,  or Fraulein Anna,   because he was rumored to be a homosexual.

William Patrick Hitler

Hitler's nephew,  William Patrick Hitler,  served in WWII,  and changed his name when the war was over.


The Nazis killed millions of Poles,  but thought some of them looked German,  so they kidnapped about 50,000 of them to be adopted by German families and become Germanized.


Special  SS units called,  Einsatzgruppen followed the German Armies invasions into countries,  specifically to round up Jews,  where they would be forced to dig a pit and then shot so they would fall into the grave.  1.4 Million Jews were killed this way.


Prisoners called Sonderkommandos were in charge of burying bodies and or burn them in the ovens.  Fewer than 20 of the thousands of them survived the war.

WWII Tail Gunner

Several famous actors were decorated during WWII.  Walter Matthau,  David Niven,  Henry Fonda,  are a few of them.  Matthau was awarded 6 battle stars for his service aboard a B17.


Hitler kept a framed photo of Henry Ford on his desk,  and Henry Ford kept a picture of Hitler on his desk.


Hitlers great grandmother was Jewish.


On January 31, 1945,  ( Private Eddie Slovik )  was shot for desertion.   The first American to be shot since the Civil War and the only one to be sentenced in WWII.


Although Japan fought with the Americans, French, and British during WWI,  They were not satisfied and felt cheated because they didn't gain much new territory when the peace treaty was composed,  and in the early 1920s,  the Government came under control of fanatical nationalists,  loyal to the Army.  This led to the Japanese siding with the Germans in WWII.


The Great Depression had a ripple effect across the world as Germany,  wasn't able to pay their WWI reparations,  which forced Great Britain and France to default on their debts to the U.S. ,  sowing further discontent.


The most decorated unit ever in U.S. history was the 442nd.  Regimental Combat Team  consisting of all Japanese American volunteers.  They were awarded,  4,667 medals,  citations and awards.  Their motto was " Go For Broke " and they never had a single desertion.


Norvelle Gillespie,  the editor for Better Homes and Gardens, magazine designed the the camouflage pattern for the U.S. Army's service uniforms.


The greatest tank battle in history took place between the Germans and the Russians at Kursk salient,  in Russia,  July 4-22,  1943,  involving 3600 tanks.


The largest Japanese spy ring operating in WWII,  did so from Mexico,  watching the Atlantic U.S.Fleet.


Prisoner in Russian camps had a 85% mortality rate.


Germany had a total of,  3,363 generals during WWII,  while the U.S. had just over 1500.


Most Germans,  guilty of war crimes, escaped during the liberation by passing themselves off as refugees and displaced persons of the transient camps.  Most gained freedom by deceitful measures.


Before deciding to gas all Jews.  the Germans first considered shipping them all to Madagascar.


If necessity would have demanded a third bomb needed to be dropped on Japan, it would have been dropped on Tokyo.


The greatest loss of life ever in the U.S. Navy was when the Japanese submarine,  I-58,  in July, 30, 1945,  shot the USS Indianapolis,  causing 200,000 instant casualties.  Captain Charles McVay was court-martialed for losing the ship and was the only captain ever
 court-martialed during the wars.  


Calvin Graham was only 12 years old when he enlisted in the U.S. Navy.  By the time his age was found out,  he had already earned a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart.


Rudolf Hess,  Hitlers Deputy,  was the last man to be imprisoned at the Tower Of London.


Hitler envisioned the Volkswagen from the word Volk,  meaning people or nation,  while he was in prison.


During all of WWII,  the U.S. was the only country Germany officially declared war with.


In 1941,  the Russians invented the Katyusha,  a weapon that can fire 325 rockets in 25 seconds.  This weapon is still an effective weapon today,  50 yrs later.

KATYUSHA

After the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor,  President Roosevelt wanted a bullet proof car but limited spending measures allowed only a maximum of $750.  This was solved by buying Al Capone's car which had been seized as part of his assets when he was charged with tax evasion.

In 1928,  less than 3 % of Germans voted for Hitler,  but in 1938,  Time Magazine,  voted him,  man of the year.

Japanese soldier Lt. Hiroo Onodo,  who was posted on the island of Lubang,  was unaware that japan had surrendered and continued to hide on the island for 29 yrs before surrendering.

 Japan and Russia never formally ended their hostilities after WWII and the planned peace treaty in 2000,  failed because Japan wanted Russia to return a 4 offshore islands they had captured during the war.


Dusko Popov,  1912-1980,  was a Yugoslavian born spy.  He spoke 5 languages and invented
his own formula for invisible ink,  and was the first spy to use microdots,  pictures shrunk to microdot  size.  Ian Fleming based his character,  007 on him.  He also obtained information that the attack on Pearl Harbor was imminent,  but the U.S. Government would not heed his warnings.


From 1942 on the U.S. Marines in the Pacific used the Navajo language as their secret code.  400 American Navajo Indians were recruited and trained to use the code.  The Japanese never cracked it.


The Russians were the first to have paratroopers and displayed them in 1935.


The most coveted medical invention of the blood transfusion saved thousands of lives during the war.


The Nazis euthanasia program started in 1939 in Berlin,  where all of Germany's handicapped and retarded citizens,  numbering from 80-100,000,  were sent to,  and murdered.


Auschwitz was the only camp where prisoners had ID numbers tattooed on them.


The U.S, phone book had 22 Hitlers listed in WWII and zero listed,  after the war. 


50-70 Million people died during the war and half of these were civilians including women and children. 

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