Monday 29 August 2016

WORLD WAR II : CRAZY FACTS


During World War II a Dutch minesweeper evaded the Japanese for eight days disguised as an island. The crew covered the decks in cut trees and painted exposed surfaces to look like rocks. They moved only at night and anchored closed to shore by day, eventually escaping to Australia.


Owen J. Baggett became legendary as the only person to down a Japanese aircraft with a M1911 pistol hitting the pilot in the head while he was parachuting.
Polish Catholic midwife Stanisława Leszczyńska delivered 3,000 babies at the Auschwitz concentration camp during the Holocaust in occupied Poland.

Franz Von Werra, a Nazi POW who was transfered to Canada to deter his multiple escapes and recaptures, escaped again in less than a month, traveling through the US, Mexico, Brazil, Spain and Italy to become the only Western held POW to return to combat. On 25 October 1941 Von Werra took off in Bf 109F-4 (W.Nr. 7285) on a practice flight. He suffered engine failure and crashed into the sea north of Vlissingen and was killed. His body was never found.

The Jerrycan is named for the ‘Jerries’, which was British slang for ‘Germans’ during WW2. Captured Jerrycans were coveted by British soldiers, as they were superior to the leaky and unreliable British models. Jerrycans were so superior to previous designs that the British North Africa campaign was hindered by their inferior version, known as “flimsies”. The Allied forces reverse engineered the jerrycan to replace their ‘flimsies’.

A Japanese pilot waged a one-man war against the inhabitants of a Hawaiian island he crash landed on during Pearl Harbour. He was assisted by three Japanese locals. This incident ultimately contributed to the decision to intern Japanese-Americans during the war.

During the German Invasion of Poland, 720 Poles defended their position against over 40.000 attacking Germans, stopping their advance for three days.

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