OT - Odd WW2 Facts

[Michael Vail]

*Twelve Odd WWII Facts*


You might enjoy this from Col D. G. Swinford, USMC, Retired and a
history buff. You would really have to dig deep to get this kind of ringside seat to history:

1.
The first German serviceman killed in WW II was killed by the Japanese
(China, 1937), The first American serviceman killed was killed by the
Russians (Finland 1940); The highest ranking American killed was Lt
Gen Lesley McNair, killed by the US Army Air Corps.

2.
The youngest US serviceman was 12 year old: Calvin Graham, USN. He was
wounded and given a Dishonorable Discharge for lying about his age.
His benefits were later restored by act of Congress.

3.
At the time of Pearl Harbor, the top US Navy command was called CINCUS
(pronounced 'sink us'); The shoulder patch of the US Army's 45th Infantry
division was the swastika. Hitler's private train was named 'Amerika.'
All three were soon changed for PR purposes.

4.
More US servicemen died in the Air Corps than the Marine Corps.
While completing the required 30 missions, an airman's chance of being killed was 71%.

5.
Generally speaking, there was no such thing as an average fighter pilot.
You were either an ace or a target. For instance, Japanese Ace Hiroyoshi
Nishizawa shot down over 80 planes. He died while a passenger on a cargo plane.

6.
It was a common practice on fighter planes to load every 5th round with a tracer round to aid in aiming.
This was a big mistake. Tracers had different Ballistics so (at long
range) if your tracers were hitting the target 80% of your rounds
were missing. Worse yet tracers instantly told your enemy he was under fire and from which direction. Worst of all was the practice of loading a
string of tracers at the end of the belt to tell you that you were out of ammo. This was definitely not something you wanted to tell the enemy.
Units that stopped using tracers saw their success rate nearly double and their loss rate go down.

7.
When allied armies reached the Rhine, the first thing men did was pee
in it. This was pretty universal from the lowest private to Winston Churchill (who made a big show of it) and Gen. Patton (who had himself photographed in the act).

8.
German ME-264 bombers were capable of bombing New York City, but they decided it wasn't worth the effort.

9.
German submarine U-1206 was sunk by a malfunctioning toilet.

10.
Among the first 'Germans' captured at Normandy were several Koreans. They
had been forced to fight for the Japanese Army until they were captured by
the Russians and forced to fight for the Russian Army until they were
captured by the Germans and forced to fight for the German Army until they were captured by the US Army

11.
Following a massive naval bombardment, 35,000 United States and
Canadian troops stormed ashore at Kiska, in the Aleutian Islands. 21 troops
were killed in the assault on the island... It could have been worse if
there had actually been any Japanese on the island.

12.
The last marine killed in WW2 was killed by a can of spam. He was on
the ground as a POW in Japan when rescue flights dropping food and
supplies came over, the package came apart in the air and a stray can of spam hit him and killed him.
=============

[btd64]

I have that picture of Patton taking a leak in the Rhine somewhere. I'll try to find it....GP

[dr.hal]

Do a selfie!

[wdolson]

There is a movie out there about the Koreans forced into the German army. I think it was made in South Korea.

Bill

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Michael Vail

Among the first 'Germans' captured at Normandy were several Koreans. They
had been forced to fight for the Japanese Army until they were captured by the Russians and forced to fight for the Russian Army until they were
captured by the Germans and forced to fight for the German Army until they were captured by the US Army

warspite1

Here is a picture of the Yang Kyoungjong, that Anthony Beevor mentions in his one volume history of WWII (and the Wiki entry below):

Yang Kyoungjong (March 3, 1920 – April 7, 1992) was a Korean soldier who fought in the Imperial Japanese Army, the Soviet Red Army, and later the German Wehrmacht.

In 1938, at the age of 18, Yang was in Manchuria when he was conscripted into the Kwantung Army of the Imperial Japanese Army to fight against the Soviet Union. At the time Korea was ruled by Japan. During the Battles of Khalkhin Gol, he was captured by the Soviet Red Army and sent to a labour camp. Because of the manpower shortages faced by the Soviets in its fight against Nazi Germany, in 1942 he was pressed into fighting in the Red Army along with thousands of other prisoners, and was sent to the European eastern front.

In 1943, he was captured by Wehrmacht soldiers in Ukraine during the Third Battle of Kharkov, and was then pressed into fighting for Germany. Yang was sent to Occupied France to serve in a battalion of Soviet prisoners of war known as an "Eastern Battalion", located on the Cotentin peninsula in Normandy, close to Utah Beach. After the D-Day landings in northern France by the Allied forces, Yang was captured by paratroopers of the United States Army in June 1944. The Americans initially believed him to be a Japanese in German uniform, and he was placed in a prisoner-of-war camp in the United Kingdom. At the time, Lieutenant Robert Brewer of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, reported that his regiment had captured four Asians in German uniform after the Utah Beach landings, and that initially no one was able to communicate with them. Yang was sent to a prison camp in Britain. Later he was transferred to a camp in the United States. After he was released at the end of the war, he settled in Illinois where he lived until his death in 1992.

[m10bob]

The first "German" my dad saw at Omaha beach was what he described as a "Eurasian", who he felt was from Mongolia..

[Orm]

Thank you for sharing. [:)]

[patrickl]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6RjuNYnA7c

The Korean movie "My Way"

[traskott]

ORIGINAL: wdolson

There is a movie out there about the Koreans forced into the German army. I think it was made in South Korea.

Bill

Do u know the title of the movie? Thanks! [:)]

[aspqrz02]

I'd seriously doubt the one about the Me-264 ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amerika_Bomber

... it had serious performance problems that make it unlikely it would have been able to reach its theoretical performance for range.\

In any case, the real contender for the title was the Ju-390 - but, again, the evidence suggests that any range listed was entirely theoretical, with experts suggesting that airframe problems would have made it impossible for the plane to take off with the fuel load required.

I suppose some sort of air to air refuelling would have made it a contender ... but only the USAAF had experience with such (and it involved hand pumps and 44 gallon drums in the refuelling plane) in the time period.

Urban myth, I'd suggest.

Phil

[JeffroK]

ORIGINAL: aspqrz

I'd seriously doubt the one about the Me-264 ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amerika_Bomber

... it had serious performance problems that make it unlikely it would have been able to reach its theoretical performance for range.\

In any case, the real contender for the title was the Ju-390 - but, again, the evidence suggests that any range listed was entirely theoretical, with experts suggesting that airframe problems would have made it impossible for the plane to take off with the fuel load required.

I suppose some sort of air to air refuelling would have made it a contender ... but only the USAAF had experience with such (and it involved hand pumps and 44 gallon drums in the refuelling plane) in the time period.

Urban myth, I'd suggest.

Phil

I believe that the 390 flew close (50 miles?) of the East Coast but without a bombload.

As to the "wasn't worth the effort". 1 sortie and 1 bomb would have seen massive panic of both civilian & military in the USA

[Rising-Sun]

The toilet part was funny, how in hell did that happen lol.

[aspqrz02]

Read ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junkers_Ju ... al_history

... (you'll need to scroll down a bit) where the allegations of this event are extensively debunked.

Another urban myth, in effect, based on the flimsiest non-evidence.

Phil

[aspqrz02]

ORIGINAL: RisingSun

The toilet part was funny, how in hell did that happen lol.

It didn't.

In that the toilet neither malfunctioned nor sank the sub.

What happened was more complex and nuanced - the toilet was a new design high pressure unit that could be flushed while running at depth. However, it was so complex that it required specially trained technicians to operate it [:D] and someone *mis*operated it.

Water flooded into the boat, but did NOT sink it ... it got into the batteries, generating chlorine gas, forcing the boat to the surface where it was spotted by British patrols, bombed, and damaged severely enough that the CO abandoned ship and deliberately scuttled her.

Another urban myth,

Phil

[btd64]

ORIGINAL: dr.hal

Do a selfie!

HA...
Good idea.
I just can't get the camera far enough away.[:D]....GP

[JeffroK]

ORIGINAL: aspqrz

Read ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junkers_Ju ... al_history

... (you'll need to scroll down a bit) where the allegations of this event are extensively debunked.

Another urban myth, in effect, based on the flimsiest non-evidence.

Phil

Interesting, grew up reading Green's books.
But the quoted range is 6030 miles and return NT-Brest is 6644 miles, cupla jerry cans and your'e there!

[Rising-Sun]

ORIGINAL: aspqrz

ORIGINAL: RisingSun

The toilet part was funny, how in hell did that happen lol.

It didn't.

In that the toilet neither malfunctioned nor sank the sub.

What happened was more complex and nuanced - the toilet was a new design high pressure unit that could be flushed while running at depth. However, it was so complex that it required specially trained technicians to operate it [:D] and someone *mis*operated it.

Water flooded into the boat, but did NOT sink it ... it got into the batteries, generating chlorine gas, forcing the boat to the surface where it was spotted by British patrols, bombed, and damaged severely enough that the CO abandoned ship and deliberately scuttled her.

Another urban myth,

Phil

Ah least they didn't lose the boat, but sure sound funny though.

[wdolson]

The toilet did contribute to the loss of the boat. If the head hadn't flooded, the batteries wouldn't have released chlorine gas, and the boat wouldn't have been forced to the surface in hostile waters.

Bill

[Rising-Sun]

Just like Russian Submarines in Cold War, they have some serious radiation leak. So this toilet remind me about the same issues.

[Shark7]

ORIGINAL: aspqrz

ORIGINAL: RisingSun

The toilet part was funny, how in hell did that happen lol.

It didn't.

In that the toilet neither malfunctioned nor sank the sub.

What happened was more complex and nuanced - the toilet was a new design high pressure unit that could be flushed while running at depth. However, it was so complex that it required specially trained technicians to operate it [:D] and someone *mis*operated it.

Water flooded into the boat, but did NOT sink it ... it got into the batteries, generating chlorine gas, forcing the boat to the surface where it was spotted by British patrols, bombed, and damaged severely enough that the CO abandoned ship and deliberately scuttled her.

Another urban myth,

Phil

Honestly, the true story here is even less believable than the myth. [X(] Talk about a really unique set of circumstances. Wrong place, wrong time, wrong flush.