51Rationing of toilet paper
During World War 2, British soldiers got a ration of three sheets of toilet paper a day. Americans got 22.
52. Berlin still hasn't recovered its pre-WW2 population
53. In World War II, German soldiers in American POW camps were sometimes allowed to leave without guards on the honor system, visiting nearby towns. Black American guards noted that German prisoners could visit segregated restaurants that even they could not.
54. The United States air-dropped thousands of leaflets over 35 Japanese cities, including Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which warned citizens that “some or all of the cities ... will be destroyed by American bombs” and to “evacuate the cities named and save your lives.”
55. During WWII, when Sergeant Leonard A. Funk was confronted by 90 German soldiers that had captured his squad, he began to laugh hysterically at the situation. Many of the enemy soldiers began to laugh along with him, until Funk wiped out his machine gun, gunning down 21 and capturing the rest.
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56Lachhiman Gurung
Havildar Lachhiman Gurung, a Gurkha soldier during WW2 lost his right hand while throwing back a grenade from his trench (after two successful attempts at hurling back the grenades), which exploded in his hand. He then "single-handedly" defended his post for over 4 hours against 200 enemy soldiers killing 31 Japanese using only his left hand.
57. Leo Major, a French Canadian soldier during WWII single-handedly captured 93 German soldiers and he declined the invitation to be decorated because according to him General Montgomery (who was giving the award) was "incompetent" and in no position to be giving out medals.
58. During WW2, a German soldier named Fritz Christen stood his ground for 3 straight days and knocked out 13 Soviet tanks and killed nearly 100 enemy soldiers single-handedly.
59. The most successful female sniper in history, Lyudmila Pavlichenko, couldn't pull the trigger on her first kill until she saw a German shoot a young Russian soldier. "He was such a nice, happy boy..." "After that, nothing could stop me." She went on to record 309 confirmed kills in WWII.
60. Audie Murphy, the highest decorated soldier of WW2, stood alone on a burning tank destroyer firing a machine gun at attacking German soldiers and tanks. Wounded and out of ammunition, Murphy climbed off the tank, refused medical attention, and led his men on a successful counterattack.
61Bicycle invasion
The Japanese invaded most of Malaysia while riding their bicycles during WW2
62. Brazil participated in WW2, the only independent South American country to do so. The 25,000-troop Brazilian Expeditionary Force worked alongside the Allies and managed to take 20,573 Axis prisoners, consisting of two generals, 892 officers, and 19,679 other ranks.
63. There was a German spy sent into Canada during WW2, but he decided to use his funds to move to Ottawa and then surrendered to Canadian authorities. They let him go because he didn't do any damage or even spying
64. Chardakhlu, a small Armenian village sent 1250 able-bodied men to fight in WW2. 853 of them received orders and medals, 2 became Grand Marshals of the Soviet Union, 12 became generals and 7 became Heroes of the Soviet Union.
65. German writer Ernst Jünger ran away at the age of 18, served both WW1 and WW2, earned the iron cross, hung out with Picasso and Cocteau, hated the nazis and did lots of drugs until he died 102 years old.
66Simeon II, Tsar of Bulgaria
Simeon II, Tsar of Bulgaria during WW2, went on to be elected republican Prime Minister from 2001-2005. He is the only living person to be called Tsar.
67. During WW2, a single American P-51 fighter plane held off 30 German fighters from attacking a squadron of B-17 bombers for over half an hour.
68. A bear fought in the Polish Army in WW2. He carried shells to the frontline and was taught to salute.
69. During WW2, Luftwaffe pilot Franz Stigler refused to destroy a damaged B-17.The German pilot escorted the B-17 to the English Channel and then saluted the American pilot and returned home. About 40 years later, they were reunited and developed a deep friendship that lasted until their deaths.
70. The Japanese pilot who attacked a town in Oregon during WW2 returned years later to present his family's 400-year-old sword in apology
71V-2 rocket production
The V-2 rocket in WW2 killed more people during production than as a weapon. 12,000 forced workers died making them while 9,000 died from the attacks.
72. Tommy Prince a Native American who served in WW2 was so quiet because of his pair of moccasins that sometimes instead of killing Germans, he would steal something from them. Other times, he would slit their throats and not make a sound.
73. In 1932 Oskar Speck was an unemployed contractor in Germany who left via kayak to seek work, but en route changed his plan & decided to see the world. By 1939 he kayaked all the way to Australia. Unbeknown to him, WW2 started & upon arrival, he was detained as an enemy foreigner until WW2 ended.
74. Eugene Bullard was the first African-American fighter pilot in history. He flew in WWI and was an integral part of the French Underground in WW2 and was a national hero in France. He spent his later years as an unknown elevator operator in America.
75. During WW2, the allies tricked the German postal service into inadvertently delivering anti-Nazi propaganda by airdropping bags of mail near bombed mail trains.
#82 and #83 shows the problem associated with alcoholism in many countries.
#85 means that USA mainly relied on British technology advancement for its military prowess.
Yeah, I’m pretty sure American “Military Prowess” came from our ability to produce 49,234 Sherman tanks, 2,710 Liberty Ships, 300,000 planes, 640,000 Jeeps, etc, etc. Not to mention the other vehicles, supplies etc.
No other country on Earth could match our production ability.
Yes but turn you did have 6 million men of fighting age doing nothing for the first 4 years of the war and only joined in on condition that your government had sole access to our technology including all the info from Bletchley Park and that we destroyed our copies
During these wars, ordinary men changed to supermen and some other things. Human beings are mysterious
Number27 states that around 20% of polands population died during world war 2 but neglets that it included over 99% of polands jews.
#42 wrong + no source
Don‘t believe ONLY the Russian soldiers behaved terrible. Some historian estimate 500,000 rape victims of Russian and 200,00 by American soldiers.
IDK who needs to hear this but killing a Nazi doesnt make you a hero..
Ah, yeah it does. They were evil.
Tim, there weren’t any US, British or French Army troops in Berlin when the Red Army overran it. So it would be hard for Allied troops to rape any women in the aftermath of the fall of Berlin. Not saying that some soldiers from all nations didn’t do bad things, but let that marinate.
America had more manpower and woman power so of course they could produce more. No country ever paid as much as UK did for the ‘friendly lease lend’ idea and the interest due under its terms.
#12 Dwight D. Eisenhower was not President during WW2. He was an Army General.
good catch now go buy yourself a coffee
Tommy Prince was from the Brokenhead Ojibway Nation in Manitoba. We use the term First Nations or Indigenous not Native American in Canada. He also served in the Korean War and is Canada’s most decorated Indigenous soldier.