74 obscure facts from the depths of WWII history. Even Mike might not know these.
Operation Hailstone (February 1944) was the American attack on Japan's primary naval base at Truk Lagoon in the Central Pacific. In two days, U.S. forces sank 12 warships, 32 merchant ships, and 275 aircraft — earning it the nickname 'Japan's Pearl H…
During the Battle of the Bulge, Technician 4th Grade John P. Hines was the lone surviving member of a 13-man forward observer team. Surrounded at St. Vith, he carried a SCR-300 radio (weighing 35 lbs) and ran five miles through active German artiller…
Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, head of the Abwehr (German military intelligence), was simultaneously running operations against the Allies AND helping anti-Nazi resistance. He recruited agents he knew were British, deliberately sent false intelligence to H…
On September 12, 1944, the Japanese transport ship Arisan Maru was torpedoed by the USS Shark in the South China Sea. What makes this tragedy uniquely obscured: the ship was carrying approximately 1,800 Allied POWs — mostly captured Americans from th…
The citizens of Sainte Marie du Mont, a town of about 500 people, hid in their basements and cellars during the D-Day fighting. When American paratroopers from the 101st Airborne arrived (several landed right on the church steeple), they found civili…
The 23rd Headquarters Special Troops (Ghost Army) didn't just deceive before D-Day. After the invasion, they mounted over 20 deception operations across Europe, using inflatable tanks, planes, and artillery — plus sound trucks broadcasting the moveme…
British-French SOE agent Violette Szabo provided covering fire outside Salagnac, France, killing a German NCO and several soldiers to cover two agents escape. Overwhelmed, she was subjected to brutal torture by Klaus Barbie and executed at Ravensbruc…
Born in London to a British father and French mother, Violette Szabo married Etienne Szabo, a French Foreign Legion officer. After he was killed at El Alamein during their daughter's first year, Violette learned to channel her grief into action and v…
Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, head of the Abwehr, recruited British agents, sent false intelligence to Hitler, helped Jews escape to Switzerland, and participated in the July 20, 1944 plot to assassinate Hitler. He kept detailed diaries. Arrested July 23,…
On May 5, 1945, four days after Hitler died, US soldiers and German Wehrmacht troops fought side by side against Waffen-SS at Castle Itter in Austria. The castle held French VIP prisoners including former Prime Ministers. German Major Josef Gangl def…
Desmond Doss, a Seventh-day Adventist conscientious objector, became the most decorated medic of WWII. At Hacksaw Ridge on Okinawa, he lowered 75 wounded men down a 400-foot cliff one at a time using rope and pulley while under heavy fire. Each time …
On March 21, 1945, the Danish resistance provided detailed floor plans and timing intelligence for a RAF bombing raid on the Gestapo headquarters in Copenhagen — the Shellhus building. The low-level bombing raid by Mosquitoes was so precise that it d…