25 Unbelievable Facts About World War II
Each generation experiences new books, movies, games, and TV shows focusing on World War 2. You'd think most people would know everything about...
Published 3 years ago in Wow
However, some of the coolest WW2 facts are virtually secrets. Read on to learn the most unbelievable World War 2 facts!
2
Hiroo Onoda, the last Imperial Japanese soldier to surrender. Survived 29 years in isolation in the Philippines.The dude didn’t know that the war was over. Wouldn’t believe what the allies were telling him and his command when they dropped leaflets, telling him to surrender and that the war was over.-u/WalterTangoFoxtrot
3
The whole story of Ted Roosevelt Jr. He was a bazillionaire titan of industry and gave it up to serve in WWII. He was the deputy commander of the fabled First Infantry Division under Gen. Terrance Allen (who had famously been shot through the face in WWI.) Roosevelt led forces through North Africa and Sicily where he got on Patton’s sh*t list (some for good reason, some not) and wound up out of the war.
He was so determined to get back into the war he wound up leading soldiers in the first wave of landings at Normandy at Utah Beach and was the only general to do so. After that, he was awarded a second star, a Medal of Honor and command of an infantry division, but he never got to see any of that because he dropped dead of a heart attack in Cherbourg-u/Thirty_Helens_Agree6
FDR didn't really care who his Vice President was during his last term even though he was practically already dying. Party officials picked Harry Truman and FDR almost never included him in any decision-making even after they were elected. When FDR died a couple of months into their term, Truman wasn't really in the loop on what exactly was happening with the executive branch and ending WWII. A couple of months later he dropped the atomic bombs on Japan.-u/ProbablyaDrugDealer
7
There was a Polish priest named Max Kolbe. He ran one of the biggest churches/monasteries in the world at the time. When the catholic church entered into a compact with Nazi Germany, he protested and turned his church into a haven for Jews, gays and slavs. This worked well until Germany took over Poland. Then, he was sent to Auschwitz. While there he would take other people's punishments and eventually took the death penalty on someone else's behalf as well. What did the catholic church do? They made him a saint.-u/haroldtitus425
9
Near Paris, pilot Bill Overstreet and his squad were on an escort mission when they were attacked, leading to him being engaged with a German fighter pilot in a dogfight when the German tried to lose Overstreet by flying over Paris where the Nazis had anti-aircraft he thought would take him out.
Overstreet kept chasing him when the German tried to lose him by trying a crazy move by flying under the Eiffel Tower, which Overstreet also did like a goddamn lunatic, so there he is facing ground fire from soldiers and flak cannons and Overstreet still shot him down and managed to escape.
Possibly the only two fighter pilots in the world to fly through the Eiffel Tower during combat WWII fighter pilots in general from all counties were basically crazy as hell, they had none of the instruments pilots have now and were basically flying with only their eyes and basic radar, took a special kind of guy to step up to that challenge that’s why enemy fighter pilots had weird begrudging respect for each other even as they were trying to kill one another in the air-u/santichrist10
The only two countries from Latin America to officially send troops overseas to fight were Mexico and Brazil. Mexico sent a squadron of pilots who distinguished themselves in the Philippines in particular, whilst Brazil sent 25,000 troops to Europe who fought in Italy.In northern Italy, the Brazilians were ordered to advance towards a German-held town, supported by an American force and Italian partisans.
They took the town in the Battle of Collecchio, and then took the initiative to rapidly advance north and cut off a German infantry division. The Germans were using this area as a rallying point to stage a fighting withdrawal back to Italy, but the Brazilians killed or captured them all instead - within three days they’d killed 500, captured 15,000 (including two Generals) and taken 1500 vehicles and 80 guns. The idea of a fighting withdrawal was perhaps slightly fanciful, and the town held little strategic value, but nevertheless, the battle contributed to the remainder of the German Army in Italy surrendering just four days later.
Many thousands of other Latin Americans fought under Allied flags as well, and several countries participated in the Battles of the Atlantic and South Pacific. In fact, the smallest ever ship to sink a U-Boat was called CS13, an 83-foot patrol boat that sank U176 in May 1943. It was operated by the Cuban Navy.-u/seefroo18
Joseph Kennedy, Jr, the eldest brother of President John Kennedy was killed in WW2 as part of Operation Aphrodite. Operation Aphrodite involved flying unmanned bombers into targets. Kennedy was killed after arming the explosives in an unmanned bomber but before the crew bailed out.Joe Kennedy, Jr died working on the precursor to the modern-day drone.-u/slider728
19
Operation Cottage: on August 15, 1943, Canadian and US troops decided to attack Japanese troops from opposite sides of the island. But they didn’t know that the Japanese army left the island 2 weeks prior. Canadian and US troops mistook each other for Japanese and started shooting. Friendly fire resulted in 28 Americans and 4 Canadians killed. Total of 313 casualties while there was no enemy.-u/028lucky
22
My grandma is now almost 99, and what baffles me is when she talks about how during the war she felt like she was living in a women-only country. Talks about how she’d go days or longer without encountering a single man, and her and her girlfriends got to use their boyfriends' cool nice cars every day to go out and have fun together while their boyfriends were all away at war.-u/janet-snake-hole
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