100 Interesting War Facts

During the American Revolution, many untrained American soldiers used bayonets to cook meat over fires rather than using them for close combat. After receiving bayonet combat training from a Prussian general, the American Army was able to win an entire battle without firing a shot

27. In one WWII battle, German soldiers fought alongside the Allies to defend an Austrian castle.

28. A Soviet soldier who went missing after a battle in Afghanistan in 1980 was found alive in 2013, living in the Afghan city of Herat. He had been rescued by locals and eventually became a nomadic sheik and healer under the name of Sheikh Abdullah.

29. During the Battle of Stalingrad, German soldiers suffered more casualties attempting to take 1 apartment building (Pavlov's House) then they did taking the city of Paris.

30. Mel Brooks was a combat engineer at the Battle of the Bulge. When the Nazis played their propaganda over loudspeakers, he responded by setting up his own sound system and playing music by Jewish singer Al Jolson

When going to battle Rajputs would fashion false trunks for their horses, making them appear to be baby elephants which the enemy's elephants instinctively would not attack.

32. According to Welsh folklore, corgis were ridden by woodland faerie warriors into battle

33. J.R.R. Tolkien's service as a Lieutenant in World War I. He fought in The Battle of the Somme, and it has been suggested that the horrors of trench warfare shaped his later depictions of Mordor in The Lord of the Rings.

34. During the Battle of the Bulge, American MPs trying to uncover German infiltrators would ask soldiers questions that every American should know. General Omar Bradley was briefly detained after he "incorrectly" identified Springfield as the capital of Illinois. The MP thought it was Chicago.

35. In World War Two, Finnish soldiers were told to "fire low", as their rifles would often jerk upwards when fired. Accordingly, their battle cry was changed to "Tulta munille!" loosely translated as, "Fire at their balls!"

More Nazis were killed by the Russians in the Battle of Stalingrad alone than were killed during the entire WWII by America

37. The Crown worn by Elizabeth II has a Ruby which has been in the Crowns possession for 700 years and worn by King Henry V in the famous Battle of Agincourt 1415.

38. In 1937 during the Battle of Nanking, two Japanese officers held a contest to be the first to kill 100 people with a sword. Both were later executed on war crimes charges.

39. The last recorded kill using a bow and arrow in the war was made in WWII by British officer Jack Churchill, who carried a longbow, bagpipes and a Scottish broadsword into battle

40. In 585 BC a solar eclipse occurred in the middle of a battle between the Lydians and the Medes. They promptly ceased fighting and signed a peace treaty.

In 86 AD, the Colosseum was filled with water to stage a full naval battle

42. A British prisoner of war named Edwin Rose missed the liberation of his camp because he fell asleep on the toilet and slept through the battle. He woke to find everyone else gone, so he shaved, put on his best clothes and walked out to freedom.

43. During a major Civil War battle, both armies briefly stopped fighting to watch a fist fight between two opposing soldiers who had both taken cover in the same place.

44. In the 8th century, Danish king Harald Wartooth, realizing he might die of old age and therefore not go to Valhalla, asked the Swedish king Sigurd for a battle. Wartooth was slain after amassing enough glory, and Sigurd was crowned king of Sweden & Denmark. 40,000 other warriors died.

45. In the 1300s, some fellows from Modena stole a bucket from Bologna (both in Italy), resulting in a great deal of humiliation for the Bolognese. They declared war, had a battle with around 2,000 casualties (split between both sides) and failed to reclaim the bucket.

There's a city in South Dakota called Gettysburg. Its slogan is "Where the Battle Wasn't."

47. In the '30s the Smithsonian recorded Confederate Civil War veterans reenacting the rebel yell battle cry. This is the only recording of actual veterans doing the yell.

48. In WW2 German field marshal, Erwin Rommel would often personally pilot a reconnaissance aircraft over the battle to view the situation. Although Rommel did not have a pilot's license, his skill with machinery made him a competent pilot, and none of the Luftwaffe officers had the nerve to stop him

49. Erwin Rommel as a junior officer in the German Army during World War 1, captured 19,000 Italian soldiers during the Battle of Caporetto over the course of 13 days with less than 150 men under his command. Six German soldiers died under his command in the battle.

50. In 2009 Kashmir, when 18-year old Rukhsana Kauser saw her parents being beaten as part of a forced marriage proposal by a militia commander, she killed one militant with an ax, gunned the commander down, then started a 4-hour gun battle with the militia.