18 obscure facts from the depths of WWII history. Even Mike might not know these.
Before becoming Prime Minister, Winston Churchill graduated from Sandhurst military academy, fought in Cuba, India, Sudan, and South Africa. He was captured by the Boers during the Second Boer War and dramatically escaped from a POW camp in Pretoria …
Before WWII reached America, Nazi agent Fritz Julius Kuhn led the German American Bund — a pro-Nazi organization of 25,000 members in the United States. He was so bold that he held a pro-Nazi rally at Madison Square Garden in 1939 with 20,000 attende…
During and after WWII, the 'Monuments Men' recovered over 5 million art objects stolen by the Nazis. But most people don't know about French art curator Jacques Jaujard, who secretly moved the Louvre's entire collection — including the Mona Lisa, Ven…
Lieutenant Colonel John Malcolm Thorpe Fleming 'Mad Jack' Churchill entered battle throughout WWII armed with a Scottish broadsword, a longbow, and bagpipes. He used his longbow to kill an enemy officer with an arrow during the retreat to Dunkirk in …
Eight German saboteurs were landed on U.S. soil by U-boats in June 1942 — four near Amagansett, Long Island, New York, and four near Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida — as part of a sabotage plan code-named Operation Pastorius. They carried high explosives,…
In April 1942, a young Polish soldier of the II Corps in Iran purchased a Syrian brown bear cub from a boy who had tied it to a string. The bear was named Wojtek (Polish for 'joyful warrior') and was officially enlisted as a Private in the 22nd Artil…
A Syrian brown bear cub named Wojtek was adopted by the 22nd Polish Artillery Supply Company in Iran. He was formally enlisted as a private and given a paybook, barracks, and even a hammock. He drank beer, smoked cigarettes (ate them), and was traine…
Geoffrey Pyke proposed building an aircraft carrier from Pykrete - 86 percent sawdust and 14 percent water frozen together. Pykrete was as strong as concrete but floated and self-repaired. The ship would have been 2,000 feet long. A 60-foot prototype…
The Great Panjandum had two 10-foot wooden wheels with rockets, designed to clear mines. Tested on Devon beaches in 1943, it was spectacular failure. Rockets fired unevenly, it caught fire and careened toward officers filming. A cameraman Lt. Col. Sm…
The Great Panjandum was a massive contraption designed by the British Department of Miscellaneous Weapons Development (an actual government department with that actual name). It consisted of two 10-foot wooden wheels with rockets attached to the rim,…
British inventor Geoffrey Pyke proposed building an aircraft carrier from 'Pykrete' — a mixture of 86% sawdust and 14% water frozen together. Pykrete was as strong as concrete but would float and would self-repair — you could shoot a hole in it and i…
Between 1944 and 1945, Japan launched 9,300 paper balloon bombs using jet streams - the first intercontinental weapons system. Over 1,000 reached North America. A balloon killed Elsie Mitchell and five children in Bly, Oregon - the only enemy-inflict…