The better part of a century after it ended, we still have a cultural fascination with World War 2. That is why we have so many movies, video...
The better part of a century after it ended, we still have a cultural fascination with World War 2. That is why we have so many movies, video games, and fictional stories related to this conflict.
But this is one case where the truth is
stranger than any possible fiction . And with Reddit's, we’ve rounded up the most insane facts about WW2!
1
TIL the most successful Nazi interrogator in World War 2, Hanns Scharff, never physically harmed an enemy soldier, but treated them all with respect and kindness, taking them for walks, letting them visit their comrades in the hospital, even letting one captured pilot test-fly a plane. Virtually everybody talked.
2
TIL that during World War 2, over 120 000 Japanese Americans were held in concentration camps around America, most without any reason except their race. It wasn't publicly acknowledged as a human rights violation by the US government until four decades later.
3
TIL that during World War 2, Ford Motor Company produced a B-24 bomber every 63 minutes
4
TIL during World War 2's "Battle for Britain" the British Home Guard was so underequipped that many volunteers received neither weapons or uniforms, with many improvising shotguns and explosives
5
TIL a dog was once inducted as an official crew member of a Norwegian fighting ship during World War 2. The canine was known for breaking up fights amongst his crew-mates by putting his paws on their shoulders and calming them down. The much-loved dog was buried with full military honors.
6
TIL After World War 2 Canada had the 4th largest air force, 5th largest navy, and the largest volunteer army in the world.
7
TIL that in World War 2 the Japanese made American and Filipino soldiers walk 96.6 km or 60 miles. They were subjected to physical abuse and given little to no food and water. With the death of thousands of soldiers, it is called the "Bataan Death March"
8
TIL that during World War 2 soldiers would keep photos of their loved ones under clear grips on their pistols. These were known as 'sweetheart grips' and soldiers made these grips themselves using plexiglass salvaged from downed aircraft.
9
TIL America recruited 29 Navajo-speaking men during world war 2, who later came to be called, Navajo code talkers. They had created a brand new set of code words in Navajo language, which even if intercepted could not be translated by the enemy forces.
10
TIL about Oskar Kusch, a U-boat commander during World War 2, whose well known and outspoken criticism of Adolf Hitler and Nazi Party got him court-martialed and ultimately sentenced to death in 1944
11
TIL in World War 2, countries had sold off most of their gold as well as their foreign investments, to pay for the war. By 1947, the United States had accumulated 70% of the world’s gold reserves.
12
TIL Rod Serling was a paratrooper in World War 2 and “The Twilight Zone” name originates from the point where a pilot cannot view the horizon. This spoke to his mission for the show: telling stories about the human condition while obscuring the view.
13
TIL, the Siege of Leningrad during World War 2, killed more civilians than bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined. The Soviet casualties during the siege were bigger than combined American and British casualties during the entire war.
14
TIL that during World War 2, the US implemented a nationwide "Victory Speed Limit" of 35 mph to conserve gasoline and rubber for the war effort.
15
TIL that men wearing wedding rings was not common until World War 2, when soldiers would wear a ring to remind them of their love back home. After WW2, it became mainstream for men to wear a wedding ring.
16
TIl During World War 2, psychologist B.F. Skinner trained pigeons to pilot kamikaze bombs
17
TIL that Orville Wright, the younger of the two Wright Brothers, expressed sadness about the death and destruction brought about by the bombers of World War 2, stating “I once thought the aeroplane would end wars. I now wonder whether the aeroplane and the atomic bomb can do it.”
18
TIL More Indians died in World War 2 war efforts than the Britons, Americans and French combined
19
TIL The clothing company, Hugo Boss, was nearly dismantled following World War 2 due to the founder being a staunch supporter of the Nazi Party.
20
TIL of Vesta Stoudt. During World War 2, she came up with the idea for duct tape at her factory job. After her supervisors rejected the idea, she wrote president Roosevelt, he liked the idea and gave the letter to the War Production Board
21
TIL In 1988, President Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act, which gave $20,000 reparations to every Japanese-American (and their descendants) who got sent to internment camps in World War 2
22
TIL that US pennies were made of steel in 1943 due to a copper shortage during World War 2.
23
TIL that when German intelligence discovered the phrase "Killroy was here" during World War 2 Hitler believed Kilroy was the name of a high-level Allied spy
24
TIL that even though World War 2 ended in 1945, the last Japanese soldier on Guam was not found until 1972. Shoichi Yokoi, a sergeant, did not know the war was over until local farmers found him and told him the war had ended 27 years prior.
25
TIL in World War 2, Allied bombers frequently dropped leaflets warning Japanese citizens to evacuate when they were about to bomb a city, including Hiroshima.
